Downtown update: reclaiming our city’s heart

Downtown is the heart of our city — and when the heart is strong, the whole community thrives. It’s where our local businesses launch and grow, where neighbors and visitors gather, and where we showcase what makes our region special.

Lately, we’ve faced some hard truths about our downtown. But calling out challenges isn’t negative — it’s honest. And honesty is where real progress begins. Naming what isn’t working gives us permission to build what will.

We know downtown doesn’t need saving; it needs commitment. It needs people who care to keep showing up, keep working together, and keep saying yes to new ideas that make this place safer, cleaner, more welcoming, and more alive.

Through Elevate 2028, the Chamber and Onward Eugene are doing just that: bringing partners together to fill empty storefronts, build more housing, support local businesses, and create the kind of downtown we’re proud to call ours. With so many people invested in the same vision, we’re already seeing momentum grow — from new businesses opening their doors to fresh partnerships tackling big challenges head-on.

Revitalizing downtown will take strategic, tangible actions on parallel tracks to achieve success. Housing development opportunities like the current RFP for the North Butterfly Lot, or activation opportunities that bring people into small businesses throughout downtown — like the Taste of TrackTown event this Saturday, June 21st — are both real examples of progress in motion.

​This is how we reclaim downtown as the beating heart of regional prosperity: not by glossing over hard truths, but by meeting them with courage, optimism, and follow-through. When downtown feels alive, the ripple effects reach every corner of our region — from new jobs and higher foot traffic to a stronger sense of pride in where we live. Let’s lean into this moment together — and keep saying yes to the future we know is possible.