Local economy
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3/24/2009
Overall I think that the economy is ok here. At the time of this writing the unemployment is about 12%. I feel that the economy here is mostly small businesses and nick nack shops like soap vendors and home made jewelry ect. Eugene is not very conducive to big businesses being here. There were several attempts to have them come to our city but the city counsel said that they don't feel that they would fit in and imposed many stringent regulations on them. This is one of the reasons why there are two very large vacant pits in downtown where water and trash sits. I was talking with one of my good friends who is getting his MBA and he is running into this sort of problem (depending on who you are) where he is over qualified to work at many of the employers in Eugene. That is really the only draw back to the economy here. Although, the community of the businesses that are here is very close nit which is uncommon in most others. I think that Eugene will grow a lot but I only see it growing in the clean energy/environmental job market because most of the other markets have just for some reason or another not been able to make it very well here. We are definitely a campus town, home to the University of Oregon. A number of the events that go on here that draw a lot of revenue and attention for our city is the university sports events such as the football and basketball games. The city decreases a lot in traffic during game times and fewer people are out shopping and the likes. All in all, I would rate this as a good place for small businesses and people with an interest in the environmental job field.
Grant | Eugene, OR