Eugene survey: homelessness, housing and downtown safety top concerns; representative sample draws 942 responses

At a Sept. 10 work session, city staff presented results from Eugene’s 2025 community survey, reporting that homelessness, housing affordability and downtown safety were the top concerns raised by respondents.

Jason Dedrick of the city manager’s office presented the survey, saying the representative survey produced 942 completed responses — a 16% response rate — and an opt‑in, public version on Engage Eugene produced 477 responses. Dedrick said the representative sample was weighted to match census demographics and will be the primary focus for reporting.

The survey found most respondents report being satisfied with their lives and neighborhoods, but homelessness was the most frequently written response to the open‑ended question about improving quality of life. Dedrick said, “Homelessness was the dominant response,” and noted homelessness, housing cost and safety showed the largest expectation gaps between how important issues are to residents and how city government is delivering.

Why it matters: Council and staff said they will use the survey to inform the city’s strategic plan and the upcoming budget process. Dedrick framed the survey as part of a recurring cycle that feeds the city’s four‑year strategic plan and annual reports, and said results are posted on the city website and will be shared with staff to guide service delivery.

Methodology and key findings The consultant‑assisted, representative survey used mailed invitations to randomly selected residents in June and met a high response rate relative to typical community surveys, Dedrick said. The open, opt‑in survey was available from July 10 to Aug. 3. The representative sample closely matched the city on gender, income and BIPOC identification; it over‑sampled homeowners, Dedrick said, which is common for address‑based surveys.

Major themes included: - Homelessness: the top issue in both 2022 and 2025 surveys, with a wider margin over other concerns in 2025. When asked whether the city is headed in the right direction on homelessness mitigation, 49% said “wrong direction.” - Housing affordability: 49% said housing was headed in the wrong direction (down slightly from 51% in 2022). Open‑ended responses listed housing cost and affordability as the top concern. - Safety and downtown: new safety questions (not asked in 2022) showed respondents feel safest walking in their neighborhood during the day and least safe visiting downtown. Three‑quarters of respondents visit downtown at least monthly; concerns about safety and homelessness were the leading reasons respondents said they would visit downtown less often. - Belonging: nearly 70% said their neighborhood is a place where they feel they belong; 59% said Eugene overall is a place where they feel they belong. However, 24% said they do not feel comfortable expressing their opinions in Eugene. - Budget/taxes and economy: concern about the city budget and taxes rose into the top five urgent concerns for the next year and the next 3–5 years.

Focus groups and qualitative findings Dedrick said staff conducted four focus groups with roughly 50 survey respondents to add qualitative detail. Participants described aggressive behavior and perceived lack of crisis response resources as key drivers of feeling unsafe; opinions on license‑plate cameras were mixed. Focus groups also emphasized a preference for active, regular communications from the city (opt‑in emails and short updates) rather than only passive website information.

Council reaction and follow‑up Several councilors raised procedural and interpretive issues. Councilor Groves said, “I’m still frustrated the council really has no input into how the survey is designed and the questions that are asked,” urging more council participation in future survey development. Councilor Yeh said she supports relying on survey experts for question wording but wants stronger focus on underserved and minority populations in the belonging section. Councilor Keating confirmed the safety questions were new and asked staff to dig into what residents specifically described as making downtown feel less safe; Dedrick pointed to the focus groups and said downtown staff will analyze open‑ended responses for more nuance.

Data availability and next steps Dedrick said staff will provide ward‑level comparisons and a geolocated distribution map so councilors can see how responses vary across the city; he cautioned that individual participants remain anonymous. He said survey results are posted on the city website and staff will use the data to inform departmental service delivery and the budget process. Dedrick said the next citywide survey timing is likely late 2026 or early 2027.

Ending Councilors and staff framed the survey as one input among many, useful for strategic planning and budgeting but not the only engagement tool. The work session closed with staff agreeing to share ward breakdowns and for departments to use the findings in upcoming work sessions and project planning.