Preserving community character is impossible
The question is not if change will come to Eugene and the South Willamette neighborhood... the question is how it will change. Do we want to carefully manage that change to allow for a brighter, more inclusive future, or attempt to hold on to what is there and ignore the possible consequences? An article in Vox discusses the impacts on attempting to preserve community character at the expense of the future.
“New development is often opposed on the grounds that it will change the character of the neighborhood. But communities that bar new development also change — a static built environment plus increased demand leads to higher rents, gentrification, and population displacement.”