Skip to content

Jefferson Avenue Area-Wide Planning Community Survey | Eastern Oregon University Focus

The City of La Grande and its consultant (Stantec) are working together on a plan for the Jefferson Avenue corridor in Downtown La Grande with the goal to better activate this corridor and to make the entire Downtown area feel more cohesive, functional, and vibrant, including exploring new uses, improvements to the roadway and general area conditions for people walking, biking, and driving, support local businesses. The figure below identifies the area of focus and the local context.

We would like your feedback on this brief survey to help guide an important and exciting planning effort in Downtown La Grande; your answers will help us understand local sentiments and desires for the area. **This survey is intended to obtain unique ideas from current students and faculty of Eastern Oregon University - if you are NOT a current student/faculty member of EOU, please take the public survey associated with this project at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JeffersonAWP_public 

Historically, the Jefferson Avenue corridor supports a mix of light industrial and commercial services, but there is potential to attract more diverse businesses. There are several vacant buildings that could be repurposed for new land uses, and fortunately, several private entities are actively renovating some of the legacy buildings in the corridor. Additionally, Jefferson Street itself is showing signs of wear and there is a lack of streetscape elements like decorative lighting, trees, and art features. 

Potential outcomes of the area-wide plan for Jefferson Avenue include the following:
  • Define the community’s vision for the Jefferson Avenue Corridor.
  • Identify community improvement projects that would enhance the corridor.
  • Define zoning and regulatory strategies that would better support business start-ups and quality development projects.
  • Outline a branding and marketing strategy to promote the corridor and to entice new investment.
  • Create an action plan for the City and local stakeholders to implement in the immediate future.
Jefferson Avenue Focus Area Boundaries (outlined in Red) Source: City of La Grande On-Line Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Map Application, Google Earth
Figure 1: Jefferson Avenue Focus Area Boundaries (outlined in Red) Source: City of La Grande On-Line Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Map Application, Google Earth
Demographics
1.Indicate your affiliation with Eastern Oregon University in La Grande.
2.Indicate your age from the categories below (Select one)
3.Describe your employment status from the list below (select one)
Downtown Connection
4.How often do you visit Downtown La Grande (on average)?
5.What brings you to Downtown La Grande?
6.What types of businesses, services, and/or venues do you tend to visit Downtown? (Select all that apply).
Desired Downtown Amenities
7.Describe the types of services, businesses, or public amenities you would like to see added to Downtown. (Select all that apply).
8.Indicate on the slider bar below your opinion of the Historic Buildings in Downtown La Grande (i.e., how important are the area’s historic buildings?)
Historic Buildings are not that important to me
Downtown’s Historic Buildings are important but should not be the focus of this planning process
Downtown’s Historic buildings are very important to me
Corridor Perceptions/ Streetscape Enhancements
9.Indicate on the slide bar below your opinion of Jefferson Avenue today in terms of appearance and functionality.
Jefferson Avenue is not attractive or functional.
Jefferson Avenue is okay but needs work.
Jefferson Avenue looks nice and is very functional.
10.On the slider bar below, indicate how comfortable you feel walking or biking on Jefferson Avenue in Downtown during daylight hours?
Jefferson Avenue does not feel safe to walk/bike.
Jefferson Avenue needs some walking/biking safety improvements.
Jefferson Avenue feels safe for walking/biking during the day.
11.On the slider bar below, indicate how comfortable you feel walking or biking on Jefferson Avenue in Downtown after dark?
Jefferson Avenue does not feel safe to walk/bike.
Jefferson Avenue needs walking/biking safety improvements.
Jefferson Avenue feels safe for walking/biking after dark.
12.Indicate which street intersections along Jefferson Avenue feel particularly dangerous for walking and/or bicycling.
13.If the City chooses to improve Jefferson Avenue, indicate from the list below the types of improvements you would like to see added to the street. (Select all that apply).
14.Indicate your concerns relating to the active rail lines that pass through Downtown La Grande (select all that apply).
Community Priorities
15.What community features or amenities would you like to see on Jefferson Avenue Downtown? (Check all boxes that apply).
16.Describe “One Big Project” that you feel would make Jefferson Ave in Downtown La Grande a better place to spend time. (Examples: public park or water park; connected bicycling paths; community center)
17.Describe any other features you would like to see added to Jefferson Avenue in Downtown La Grande.
18.Indicate the types of Downtown services/resources/land uses would better support students attending Eastern Oregon University (select all that apply)
19.Tell us your ideas about how the City of La Grande and Eastern Oregon University can better provide the needs and desires of current university students.
20.Do you intend to stay (and live) in the La Grande community after you complete your studies at Eastern Oregon University (select one)