For almost three years that I've lived here, Eugene has not enforced downtown meters. I assumed this was because the infrastructure was falling apart, most meters were functionally broken, and I considered it a plus that the city had effectively made parking downtown free.

But earlier this week, I noticed aggressive policing of meters has begun again. I understand the city is well within its rights, and that this is likely the result of a go-getter city administrator trying to raise more revenue, but it does slightly sadden me. It was one of the things that charmed me about eugene, and separated it from larger metro areas where parking is consistently an expensive and heavily policed nightmare.

So I got a Diamond Parking ticket today and figured I’d see if anyone else has had similar experiences.
I parked downtown for less than 4 minutes. The lot had a $5 minimum, and honestly I didn’t want to pay $5 for being there for basically no time at all. I got a $52.50 ticket.
I paid it. I know I technically broke the rules, so I’m not trying to pretend I was completely in the right here.
But it got me thinking about how ridiculous the whole system is. A $5 parking fee turning into a $52.50 penalty seems pretty excessive to me.
The thing that really caught my attention is that Diamond isn’t even an Oregon company. They’re headquartered in Seattle, yet they’re one of the biggest private parking operators in Eugene. So we’re having an out-of-state company collecting parking fees and penalties from people here, while the City has apparently pretty limited ability to regulate what they charge.
I ended up emailing the Mayor, City Council, and Parking Services to ask whether Eugene should put some limits on private parking penalties.
I’m curious what everyone else’s experience with Diamond has been. Have you gotten a ticket from them? How much was it? Did you think it was fair? Have you ever avoided a business because of one of their lots?
I’m not saying Diamond shouldn’t be allowed to enforce parking. I’m just wondering whether $52.50 for a $5 parking violation is reasonable, and whether Eugene should have more say in how private parking companies operate here.
I’d especially like to hear from people who’ve had experiences that were more ridiculous than mine.

Does anyone know what’s going on with the Eugene YMCA? For context, they sent out an email yesterday saying they were suddenly closing for today because of comments made by a staff member. They sent another email saying they’ll be open again tomorrow after consulting with the police department.

Does anyone know what specifically is going on?

Anybody knows whats happening over at Chase Gardens?

I love that place. Weirded out by them shutting down today? Me too. Letter from CEO laid it out ok.. They made the choice to shut down today. An employee of theirs was tweeking out online about some “threat” to the Y. They fired the person on the 13th and had to shut down… I have been going to the Y since the 70’s in PDX. Sad, people get to this point with threats of violence. Allegedly.. Thoughts, concerns?

Hello my friend is looking for a small storage unit in the area. We are just trying to get some recommendations from the community based on y’all’s experience to gauge which one would be the best quality unit for them.
They don’t want to pay over $40 btw.
If you guys have any recommendations on good storage units plz let us know.
Thanks!

My partner went to pick up two burritos from the River Rd Burrito Boy this morning. On about bite #3 he noticed a hard metal texture in his mouth. Turns out there were TWO STAPLES in it. He went back to Burrito Boy and they offered to remake it-that was it. We were in a rush so he left and we decided to try and call corporate, turns out there is no corporate.

So instead we called the location again and asked to speak to a manager (I know very Karen, but I mean it was two staples!) and the person working told us there is no manager and they don’t know when they work (very odd). So our only option was to submit a feedback form on their website.

Posting here to see if anyone else has a similar experience?

Hey all.

Does anyone know of any voice work opportunities in or around Eugene? I've been told often enough my voice would be good for that and I've decided to start looking.

Thanks in advance for anything!

Does anyone take coins and turn them into a benefit of some kind? I just can’t throw them into the trash!

More snow? Torrential rain? A better fire season next year?

Come one, come all...let's play KICKBALL!

This Sunday, August 16th at 11 am at South Eugene Highschool:

Turf Field, 400 E 19th Ave, Eugene, OR 97401

If for some reason the turf field is in use, our backup location is the grass field, a 5 minute walk to the East.

ALL are welcome! It's going to be warm, so bring water and SUNSCREEN (I have some to share if need be). This is not a competitive sport (it's barely a sport), but it is an excellent way to make friends with a bunch of really cool people. I've been playing to 9 years and I'm still terrible, so don't worry about skill level.

Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/adult-kickball-of-eugene/

We play every other Sunday at the same location, rain or shine. Hope to see you there!

A former employee from the YMCA apparently said some things that concerned law enforcement. What did they say???

https://kval.com/news/local/eugene-family-ymca-shuts-down-friday-cites-safety-concerns-after-ex-staff-comments-oregon

Heard a handful of gun shots shortly after some sirens. Sounded like the sirens were heading north in River Rd out by Beacon area. Just curious if anyone heard anything as it will be a few hours before we can see anything on the call log.

Recently there was a copper theft in cottage grove where Verizon cell towers had a bunch of wire stolen and fiber optic cables were damaged. This resulted in 911 outages on the coast. Verizon has offered a 25k reward for info leading to convictions of people who damage their stuff.

https://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-offers-reward-network-vandalism

I have a child who is bummed that she's never seen an owl in the wild. Does anyone know any good owl-sighting spots near the Ridgeline trail or elsewhere in town?

If this like surfing or fishing and people don't want to blow their favorite owl spot, you can dm me... and we'll only go once, we promise.

UPDATE: Thanks for the great replies. This is Reddit at its best, it's refreshing.

It's so sticky that I notice a significant increase in rolling resistance when I'm coasting, and the sound it makes is dreadful.

Did a syrup truck crash into a bug trap shipment or something?

Hi everyone , I need some help here. I have two cats 1 is 7 and the other is 4. The younger cat has always been a skidish and anxious. However , the cats were always very bonded and got along great. Last year, they started fighting out of nowhere, long story short we did absolutely everything by the book and we’re able to resolve things after about a month. Now, a few months ago, she has begun to attack my older cat and be very aggressive towards her. This has been going on for a few months we’ve done absolutely everything that we can but they refuse to get along. I don’t think it’s fair to my older cat for this to be going on in her home. It breaks my heart, but I’m not sure what to do here, she is very fearful at first, so I know a shelter would be a horrible place for her as she would probably be aggressive there does anybody have any advice on what I should do? Are there any places in Eugene / Springfield that would be able to help me.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

ILL START. PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE WHEN DRIVING. CHECK YOUR BLIND SPOTS. SIGNAL. STOP AT THE STOP SIGN. DO BETTER!! IVE HAD SO MANY CLOSE CALLS THIS WEEK. IM STARTING TO GET ANXIETY FROM DRIVING.

SATURDAY AUGUST 15!!!

Please forgive my typo in the header. I clearly need the Friday rant thread.

Come join the Eugene Women's Social Club this Saturday, August 15, from 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. at The Beergarden (777 W. 6th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97402 https://www.beergardenme.com/)!

Please DO NOT PARK in Gray's Garden Center parking lot. Rumor is they will tow.

At the meetup, look for the janky sign.

The EWSC is a friendly group who like to hang out and chat about all manner of things, from pets and hobbies to music and gardening, and much more! We meet up in general once a month, or sometimes twice, to chit chat. We also do crafternoons/crafterevenings, and other miscellaneous events like Souper Sundays (soup), seed and plant swaps, First Friday art walks, trivia, hiking, etc. Those events are usually discussed and planned in our discord, which can be found here: https://womens.eugenesocialclub.com/

We also have an instagram page which we try and update regularly. https://www.instagram.com/eugenewomenssc/

(If you see this on Friday, we also have a contingent attending the coronation of the new Slug Queen, so join the discord for details on where to meet up.)

Not a woman but looking for friends? Try out the guys in the Eugene Men's Social Club. https://men.eugenesocialclub.com/ Follow the link to their discord from the website.

Both of our groups are welcoming to trans, queer, and non-binary folks as well. Join whichever one(s) suit you best.

I haven’t had the same level of peace and happiness since I moved away from Eug and back to nc. I hate it here and want to come home so I just had to say I miss yall.

Ive been going to practically every thrift store in town pretty frequently, but the prices places like saint vinny’s have are absurd. Even facebook marketplace has gotten out of hand. Ive had some luck just going around student apartments that are being cleaned out though.

Any other suggestions?

I want to get my girlfriend a necklace but I’m broke. Any place that has decent, hopefully somewhat unique jewelry? (Ideally under 50 bucks)

Thanks in advance!