UNST 107A Portland Sy Adler
Fall, 2011 370N Urban Center Bldg.
MW 11:00-12:15 503-725-5172;
Cramer Hall 101 Office Hours: by appt.
Course Description
The City of Portland, Oregon, and the greater Portland metropolitan area will provide the resources used in this Freshman Inquiry course to address the University Studies goals of Inquiry and Critical Thinking, Communication, The Diversity of Human Experience, and Ethics and Social Responsibility. During the academic year students will engage with various aspects of the city and the metropolitan area in a variety of ways. They will study how the City and the metropolitan area as a whole have changed over time. Students will also select rankings that compare cities and metropolitan areas across the United States and study why Portland ranks where it does. Working in groups, students will begin to critically analyze aspects of the City of Portland’s Central City Plan, which the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability is producing.
Course Requirements
Text
· Carl Abbott, Greater Portland: Urban Life and Landscape in the Pacific Northwest. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.
Assignments
I. Demographic Analyses: Due in Final Form on November 30.
Length: 2-3 pages of discussion plus tables.
Presentation of: Updated Tables One (p. 52) and Three (p. 111) in Abbott’s Greater Portland book about Cities, Counties, and the Metropolitan Area, and discussion of changes since 1950.
Presentation of: Population changes in one of the Central City 2035 Plan neighborhoods and discussion of changes between 1990 and 2010.
Drafts of the updated tables and discussions are due on November 7.
The information needed to do those analyses is here:
2010 Oregon Counties and Cities Population Reports: http://www.pdx.edu/prc/census-2010-data-for-oregon
Washington: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/53/53011.html
Neighborhoods: http://www.portlandonline.com/oni/index.cfm?c=28387
The Central City 2035 Plan neighborhoods are: Buckman; Downtown; Eliot; Goose Hollow; Hosford-Abernethy; Irvington; Kerns; Lloyd District; Northwest District; Old Town/Chinatown; Pearl District; South Portland.
II. Central City 2035 Plan Memo: Due on December 5.
Length: 2-3 pages.
Read the first 15 pages of the Central Portland Plan Assessment, which is available here:
http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?c=52119 and write a memo that identifies either one strength of the Central City to maintain or one Central City problem to address that you think is interesting and important, and relate it to this term’s readings and class discussions.
III. Ranking Project Research Design. Due in Final Form on December 7.
Length: 4-5 pages.
For this project you’ll address the following questions: Why is Portland ranked where it is? Are the measures used to create the ranking valid and reliable measures? If there’s more than one measure used to create the ranking, are the measures given equal weight, or are some given more weight than others? Are there measures that weren’t used, but you think should have been used to create the ranking? What does Portland’s rank say about the quality of life in the city or the region, and should there be efforts to either keep the ranking where it is or change it?
The fall quarter product is a paper that includes an overview of your ranking and the measures used, a reflection on whether or not you’re surprised to see Portland rank where it does, your initial thoughts about why Portland ranks where it does in light of the reading you’ve done and your observations of Portland, and your design for how you will address the questions above. The design will identify the kinds of information you will need to collect to answer those questions, and how and where you will get the information you need. You should interview at least one government official and one Portland State faculty member who are knowledgeable about the kinds of things that were measured to create the ranking. Identify your interview subjects. You should also identify at least five academic articles from scholarly journals that you will use to analyze the ranking, and say what each one will contribute to your understanding.
A draft is due on November 14.
The ranking project will continue during the winter quarter; a class presentation will be scheduled, and a paper will be due at the end of winter term.
Here’s a list of websites that contain rankings.
Asthma: http://www.asthmacapitals.com/
Walkability: http://www.walkscore.com/rankings/
Job Growth: http://www.newgeography.com/content/002211-large-cities-rankings-2011-best-cities-job-growth
Travel and Leisure: http://www.travelandleisure.com/americas-favorite-cities/2010
Miserable cities: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/02/0226_miserable_cities/1.htm
Road Rage: http://www.affiniongroupmedia.com/themes/site_themes/affinionassets/releases/autovantage/Road_Rage_09/Minneapolis.htm
Fitness: http://www.americanfitnessindex.org/quickview.htm
Volunteering: http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/rankings/Large-Cities/Volunteer-Rates/2010
Stoned Cities: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/04/19/420-celebrations-americas-pot-smoking-capitals.html
Accidents: http://www.menshealth.com/health/injury-prone-cities
Literate Cities: http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=8227
Anger: http://www.menshealth.com/health/angry-cities
Transportation: http://smartercities.nrdc.org/topic/transportation/americas-smartest-regions-transportation
Energy: http://smartercities.nrdc.org/articles/american-cities-get-smart-about-energy#
Urban Sprawl: http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/sprawlindex/MeasuringSprawl.PDF
Sustainability: http://www.sustainlane.com/us-city-rankings/
Bicycling: http://www.virgin-vacations.com/11-most-bike-friendly-cities.aspx
Technology: http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/02/broadband-wifi-telecom-technology-cio-network-wiredcities.html?boxes=custom
IV. Reflection Pieces.
During the course of the term you will write three short reflection pieces – 2 page essays that are based on your initial engagement with Portland State University and the region.
One essay should be based on careful observation of what you see and otherwise experience on your journey from home to our classroom. When you’re on the way to class, note your reactions to the physical aspects of the environment through which you pass – features of the natural landscape, the different types of land uses and buildings – as well as to the people you encounter. Consider the ways in which your mode of travel – walking, biking, driving, riding the bus, the streetcar, or light rail – influences your experience of the trip.
Due on October 12.
Another essay should be based on your observation of – and, perhaps, your participation in - one or more meetings of government officials – for example, members of a city or county commission or Metro council, a city or county planning commission, a school board, the Trimet board, or a neighborhood association. You can find meeting schedules on the websites of each of the government agencies. A schedule of Portland neighborhood association meetings is here: http://www.portlandonline.com/oni/index.cfm?&c=29014
Reflect in your essay on what you expected those meetings to be like before you went, and compare those expectations with what you experienced. Pay particular attention to anything that surprised you.
Due on November 2.
The third essay should be based on visits to Pioneer Place in downtown Portland and Lloyd Center Mall in northeast Portland via light rail transit; travel between them is free. Reflect on the similarities and differences between the stores, the people, and the shopping experience in the two locations, and on the transit trip.
Due on November 16.
Grading
Attendance and Participation – 15%
Attendance at all main class sessions and all mentor sessions is required.
Mid-Term Exam – 15%
Final Exam – 25%
I. Demographic Analyses – 15%
II. Central City 2035 Plan Memo – 10%
III. Ranking Project Research Design – 10%
IV. Reflection pieces – 10%
Class Schedule and Assignments
9/26 / Overview
Assignment for 9/28 class: Strategic Self-Assessment
Write one paragraph on each of your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT).
9/28 / Class introductions: Mention where you live now, where you lived before you moved to your present location: city; suburb; small town; rural area, and give some initial observations about similarities and differences between Portland and where you lived before.
Week Two
10/3 / Overview of the nature of cities
Read and be prepared to discuss:
Carl Abbott, Greater Portland: Urban Life and Landscape in the Pacific Northwest. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.
“Introduction: Portland’s Historical Personality.”
10/5 / Movie: Portland’s Promise.
Week Three
10/10 / Overview of demography and economics
10/12 / Read and be prepared to discuss:
Abbott, Chapter 1: “Capital of the Columbia.”
Week Four
10/17 / Read and be prepared to discuss:
Abbott, Chapter 2: “Everyday Portlands.”
10/19 / Rankings discussion.
Read: http://sandbox.dillonm.com/pdxbamap_finalgroup_101213.pdf
Mid-Term study questions distributed.
Week Five
10/24 / Mid-Term Exam covering the readings and class discussions through 10/19.
10/26 / Library session – Room 170 in the Library
Week Six
10/31 / Overview of urban government, politics and planning
11/2 / Read and be prepared to discuss:
Abbott, Chapter 3: “The Best Planned City?” pp. 129-156.
Week Seven
11/7 / Read and be prepared to discuss:
Abbott, Chapter 3: “The Best Planned City?” pp. 156-198.
11/9 / Read and be prepared to discuss:
Abbott, “Conclusion: Civic Opportunity.”
Week Eight
11/14 / Civic Engagement: The Public Work Done by City People
Read and be prepared to discuss:
Amalia Alarcon De Morris and Paul Leistner, “From Neighborhood Association System to Participatory Democracy: Broadening and Deepening Public Involvement in Portland, Oregon,” in National Civic Review, Summer, 2009.
11/16 / Introduction to and Overview of Central City 2035 Plan
Week Nine
11/21 / Movie: Portland: Quest for the Livable City
11/23 / Ranking discussion
Week Ten
11/28 / Demography presentations: one for each of the twelve Central City 2035 Plan neighborhoods
11/30 / Review of Greater Portland
Final Exam study questions distributed.
Week Eleven
12/7 / FINAL EXAM. A take home comprehensive exam covering all of the readings and class discussions during the term. Due in my office by 5 PM. No more than a total of 9 double-spaced pages, 12-point type, to answer three questions.