A Site is in Sight

Drum roll please (or an eye roll will do)…

Fernhill Park, Portland, Oregon

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/13556521

Located in NE Portland, this park hosts a combination of disturbed land, open lawn, recreational hardscape, and  mature trees. As the former site of the condemned Whitaker Middle School building, this park is located in a neighborhood that is sorely missing a middle school (1). Furthermore, it is located at the edge of the Cully neighborhood, where 18% of inhabitants are in poverty (compared to 10% of Portland), and only 5% of people live within 1/4 mile of natural habitat (compared to 64% of Portland overall) (2). The site is less than three miles from other lower income neighborhoods and is fairly well connected by the current transit system, making it well-suited to a magnet school program.

And for my next trick, perhaps I can make a program appear out of thin air!

(As a side note, I was very tempted to title this post “May I Cite my Insight That a Site is In Sight” or something equally obnoxious and punny).

Sources:

(1) Murphy, Todd. “Whitaker Site’s an Idea Magnet.” Portland Tribune. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. <http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121563748068387700>.

(2) “Appendix A: Neighborhood and City Summary Table.” Coalition for a Livable Future’s Regional Equity Atlas. Coalition for a Livable Future. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. http://www.equityatlas.org/tables.html.