Abstract:
In the past 10 years, craft fermented beverage businesses – breweries, urban wineries, cideries,
meaderies, and distilleries – have proliferated in Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood. This study
documents the changes that have occurred in the neighborhood and the community’s
perceptions of those changes. Based on these observations, I draw out lessons to help
community and economic development practitioners better harness the benefits and mitigate
the impacts of neighborhood-scale change. Although the Whiteaker’s transformation has been
far from painless, the neighborhood’s experience offers insight into conscientious development.
Land use changes have resulted in an emerging economic prosperity without completely
undermining the neighborhood’s identity.