Eugene, Oregon

Eugene is the third largest city http://www.ci.eugene.or.us/local/euggov.htm#Facts:Cite_sources and boasts the second largest metropolitan population http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=1119225167&men=gcis&lng=en&gln=xx&dat=32&geo=-223&srt=pnan&col=aohdq&pt=a&va=x&geo=-3793 in the state of Oregon, and is also the county seat of Lane County, Oregon. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie River and the Willamette River, about 60 miles (97 km) east of the Oregon Coast. According to the 2000 census, it has a total population of 137,893. As of July 1, 2003 the US Census Bureau estimated the population of Eugene to be 142,185. The city's population is expected to further grow to 228,400 within the next 10 years.

Community

Eugene is possibly most famous for its "community inventiveness." Many University students remain after, or instead of, graduating. There are very few jobs, resulting in a large amount of citizens looking for "life's meaning". That usually leads to community projects; many US trends in community development originated here.

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The non-profit Saturday Market was the first "Saturday Market" in the US, starting in 1970, and since recreated in cities around the country. It is still the most radical in the country; only the farmers and craftspeople themselves can sell there.

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The annual non-profit Oregon Country Fair is one of the largest volunteer events in the US, and one of the most successful. Its primitive ecotopian atmosphere is stunning.

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The University of Oregon's participatory planning process, known as 'The Oregon Experiment', was the result of student protests in the early 1970's. The process, now in disuse, was famous in planning & architectural circles, and the book of the same name is a major document in modern enlightenment thinking. The plan & process was created, in Eugene, by Christopher Alexander, whose works directly inspired the creation of the Wiki. Much of the research for the book A Pattern Language, which inspired the Design Patterns movement and Extreme Programming, was done by Alexander in Eugene. Not coincidentally, those engineering movements also had origins here. A Pattern Language is the best-selling book on architecture & planning of all time.

Related Topics:
Oregon Experiment - Christopher Alexander - Wiki - Pattern Language - Design Patterns - Extreme Programming

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Perhaps the single event in the US that most resembles the World Social Forum, is the Environmental Law Conference, an annual gathering of people's advocates from around the world.

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In the 1970's, Eugene was packed with co-operative & community projects. It still has small natural food stores in almost every neighborhood, and alternative schools have been part of the school district for years. And the old Grower's Market, downtown near the train depot, is the only food co-operative in the US with no employees. It is possible to see Eugene's trend-setting non-profit tendencies in much newer projects, such as the Tango Center, and the Center for Appropriate Transport.

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