I am writing in response to the editorial in the Jan. 31 Emerald (“UO, include stakeholders in Portland site move”) as well as the article about the possible University satellite campus move to the White Stag building in Portland (“UO considers moving Portland site.”) I lived in Portland for five years before moving to Eugene specifically to study architecture at the University. I lived within a mile of both the White Stag building and the University’s current Yamhill location. I walked and biked through the so-called menacing old town almost on a daily basis, as a young female student. Sure there are poor people there, and yes there are probably drugs being trafficked in the neighborhood, but it is a city. Those are the types of activities that go on in the real world in the heart of large cities. The current location of the University satellite campus is less than a mile away, still very close to the river, Waterfront Park, and the bus mall, where many a “vagrant” can be found.
Upon reading about a possible move and renovation of the White Stag building, I was elated. What a brilliant idea! It is literally at the center of Portland. The Rose Garden, Pearl district, downtown proper, north, and southeast Portland are all minutes away on foot, bike, the MAX or Trimet. It would be the most centrally located University in Portland. The “Made In Oregon” sign is a nice touch as well. How fitting it would be to put a campus inside such a landmark building.
In my experience living in Portland over the last five years, I have witnessed a pretty amazing transformation and “cleaning up” of the downtown, especially Burnside. It is only a matter of time before old town undergoes this transformation itself. The University would revitalize the area, an area which is already home to many businesses and is connected to the rest of the city by the MAX as much as the current Yamhill District location.
Michelle Rummel is an interior architecture major at the University