Celebrating The Whit

As a recent transplant I again attended the Whiteaker Block Party — an amazing event celebrating a highly influential neighborhood in this wonderful city. Because I don’t fully understand the relationship between those organizing the event and the city of Eugene, I simply want to ask some questions. 

Is Blair Boulevard from W. 5th Avenue to W. 2nd Avenue so crucial to Eugene that it couldn’t be closed for 24 hours? Likewise with W. 2nd Avenue to Jackson Street and then close Jackson to W. 4th? Or is better to let drunk pedestrians spill over the sidewalk and into the street where they battle it out with cars and bikes?

I am fully aware that to close any road for any reason costs money and resources. Will those money-saving efforts be comforting after a tragedy occurs? 

Thank you to those that organized the Whiteaker Block Party and, more importantly, thank you to those that cleaned up after and returned the Whiteaker to its state of eclectic beauty. I hope city leaders, if they don’t already, support the Whiteaker Block Party and continue to find ways to make the event fun, safe and a way to highlight the things that people love and enjoy about Eugene.

Josh Gebhart 

Eugene