Churchill - Eugene, OR

The Churchill neighborhood makes up one of the newer portions of Eugene developed from the late 1960s on as the city grew and expanded its urban growth boundaries to the west. Churchill’s southwestern reaches were originally dominated by a mix of agricultural land and the undeveloped wetlands lying along Amazon Creek and to the far west near Fern Ridge Lake. The northwestern portion near West 11th Avenue tended toward mixed commercial and light industrial uses.

As Eugene grew, former rural areas between Chambers Street and Bailey Hill Road to the west gave way to suburban residential development. The hills that form the southern boundary of both the Churchill neighborhood and the Eugene city limits are now the site of new streets and neighborhoods that include many large custom homes located to take advantage of views of the Coast Range to the west and the city stretching to the north.

As a purely residential area, Churchill itself does not offer any commercial establishments beyond the occasional corner convenience store and gas station. However, just a few blocks to the north along West 11th Avenue or to the east on Chambers Street, you will find many interesting opportunities for both dining and libations.

Ocean Sky Restaurant at 1601 Chambers Street has been dishing out fresh, home-style Chinese food for over 25 years. Regulars appreciate the restaurant for its large, family-size portions and generous use of fresh vegetables, and almost anything on the menu comes highly recommended. The Chef's Special Chow Mein, with its combination of shrimp, chicken, barbecue pork and big pieces of freshly-chopped vegetables, is a great choice, but you should order the Mongolian Beef and a side of fried rice as well.

Up on West 11th Avenue, you can find two local standouts that may not seem to go together at first. Sushi Island Japanese Restaurant produces a full line up of affordable Japanese foods, but the real lineups happen between 2 and 4 p.m. each weekday as locals crowd the place for the happy hour deals on the sushi conveyor belt — the selection includes spicy tuna rolls, gyoza, smoked salmon, nigiri sushi, California rolls and many other treats. Get there early to avoid the waiting list.

After all that sushi, you will need dessert, and true donut connoisseurs must stop by Dizzy Dean's Donuts at 2380 West 11th. The glazed donuts at this place melt in your mouth, and it offers fresh, hot donuts in the morning and evening as well as a half-price happy hour between 3 and 5 p.m. each weekday.

Nightlife activities mainly occur along West 11th, where numerous taverns and bars offer local brews, sports and weekend fun. The Wetlands Brew Pub and Sports Bar features a TV in every booth and a covered, heated outdoor smoking deck. Farther out 11th Avenue near the western edge of Churchill, The Keg Tavern also has an outdoor smoking deck and plenty of TVs with the bonus being that friendly, efficient staff will help you buy a cold keg to take home.

The majority of Churchill residents get around by private car. The major surface roads in the neighborhood link up with State Route 126 and Oregon Highway 99, giving easy access to the Randy Pape Beltway and Interstate 5 north and south. The northern portion and much of the west side of the neighborhood offer flat ground with dedicated bike lanes and easy access to the Eugene bike path network. In contrast, many of the residential areas in southern Churchill are located on hilly terrain that can be quite steep in places.

The Lane Transit District bus system serves Churchill with lines running on West 11th and West 18th Avenues. The bus runs south on Bailey Hill Road to cover the Churchill High School and Sports Park complex, but the majority of residential streets in the area lack bus service. You can find two park and ride locations along West 18th Avenue and one more at Seneca Station on West 11th. On-call taxis are available from several local companies, and Uber along with the car-sharing services Car2go and Zipcar operate in Eugene.

Wide-open spaces, wooded slopes, park-like settings and recreational activities are hallmarks of the Churchill area. The Willow Creek Natural Area, a pristine wetlands area popular with hikers and bird watchers, forms the western boundary of the neighborhood, and many of the parks in the area have been minimally developed and sited to take advantage of nature and the scenic views common to Churchill.

Churchill neighborhood parks include Hawkins Heights Park, Skyview Park, Videra Park and Melvin Miller Park. Hawkins Heights, an 8-acre undeveloped park offers a dog-friendly looped jogging path in a natural setting with remnant orchard trees and native ashes, oaks and firs. The notable point about Hawkins pertains to its location very near the site of the first Renaissance Faire, which was held in 1969 and the direct precursor to the now legendary Oregon Country Fair in Veneta.

Skyview Park, a 5-acre neighborhood gem, offers views of the south hills, an ADA-accessible play area, an informal sports field and a looped path that includes a boardwalk across a wetland area. Skyview showcases nature with its stands of big native Douglas Fir and several large Oregon white oak and California black oak trees.

The premiere recreation facility in the neighborhood, Churchill Sports Park lies to the southwest of Churchill High School at the intersection of West 18th Avenue and Bailey Hill Road. The Sports Park supports a wide range of activities with facilities that include informal sports fields along with natural and synthetic turf soccer fields, baseball fields, basketball courts, a track, tennis courts and a skatepark among others. The site of Churchill school-related athletics and a popular venue for seasonal youth and adult soccer and softball clubs, Churchill Sports Parks gets a lot of use for sports and leisure activities as well as for neighborhood concerts and other special events.

Although the cost of living in the Churchill neighborhood runs about 2 percent higher than the national average, costs drop significantly compared to the neighborhoods of South Eugene just to the east. A one-bedroom apartment in Churchill averages $605 per month. Gas prices hover about 12 percent above the national average, while a one-way LTD bus ticket costs $1.75. A pint of local microbrew goes for about $6, but plentiful happy hour pricing and specials make it easy to cut that in half.

The most convenient shopping area for Churchill residents can be found at the intersection of Bailey Hill Road and West 11th Avenue where a large complex supports Lowe's Home Improvement, a Fred Meyer grocery and department store and many other useful establishments.

One unique shop in the Fred Meyer complex is Skip's Records & CD World – Eugene's largest independent record store since its opening in 1989 and still the home of rare vinyl LPs as well as the newest artists on CD. Locals also hit Skip's for items such as concert tickets and Country Fair passes.

Find high-quality knives and all types of cutlery supplies at Edge-N-Knife. This unique shop stocks over 180 models of Oregon-made Benchmade and Kershaw knives along with dozens of other brands and everything else from knife-making kits to swords and machetes.

Another interesting stop just across from the Lowe's store, Zany Zoo Pets provides a home for many exotic animals as well as typical family pets like puppies, kittens and bunnies. In business since 1991 and committed to the ethical treatment of animals, Zany Zoo offers everything from monitor lizards to sugar gliders. It has many rescued iguanas looking for a good home and some strange creatures like the agouti and lemur. Kids love Zany Zoo because the owners make many of the animals available for petting and holding.

Churchill residents can do most of their grocery shopping at Fred Meyer, with Bi-Mart, Albertsons and the upscale Market of Choice just a few more minutes away in the Chambers Street-South Eugene area. For those looking for seasonal produce and a variety of natural products, the Lane County Farmers Market is located close by in Eugene. The market guarantees that all items brought to the market were either produced or grown by the vendors.

The west end of 11th Avenue also supports several specialty bakeries and meat markets, including the Oregon Lox Company – home of premium smoked salmon and lots of yummy free samples.