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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Car Dealer on Central?
Dear Editor -
I would like to express my dis-
pleasure with allowing N. Central
to become a car dealership park-
ing lot...between Charleston and
Richmond. It doesn’t seem like it
should be zoned for this sort of ac-
tivity. Also, the people were rude
and won’t talk about their “private
event”. They were there for a cou-
ple of weeks in one huge tent and
a few others, while large diesel
buses idled down the street at Os-
wego. Lights were on 24/7. Who
allowed this to happen? When will
we get our quiet neighborhood
back? This “event” is only for a
wealthy few. I don’t know anyone
with a new Lexus.
Wayne Waits
A lack of parking
Dear Editor,
For those of us who live or work in
St Johns, it’s becoming clear that
lack of parking is starting to have
an impact on all of us. There are
several new developments in the
works that won’t have any park-
ing associated with them. The few
that do will charge residents extra
to park there, prompting many to
forgo the lot and take their chances
out on the street.
I think we’re kidding ourselves
if we think that by not providing
enough parking spaces, people
with cars are going to stop driving
and start walking and taking the
bus. I don’t envision outside peo-
ple taking the bus to St. Johns to
shop in our downtown.
“Progress” almost always means
that a new option is easier than an
old one, and driving is easier than
walking and taking public transit.
Have you visited Nob Hill lately?
Even though they have the Street
Car going right through their
neighborhood, morning, noon,
and night and there is no parking
to be had - people drive around
for twenty minutes searching for
a space and invariably end up
parking seven blocks away in the
residential area. Alberta Street and
Hawthorne? The same.
The one neighborhood that I DO
think is getting it right? Down-
town Portland. Easy access by
train and streetcar, while still pro-
viding parking garages for those
who wish to drive downtown.
While fossil fuels are on the
decline, and with them gaso-
line-powered vehicles, it’s feasi-
ble that the use of solar-powered
(and other types of) engines will
rise. We’ll still need more parking
spaces, even if we someday bring
the streetcar back to St Johns. I
hope to see you all at the St Johns
Neighborhood Association Meet-
ing on Monday, Sept 14 at 7PM at
the SJ Community Center.
Yours truly,
Shae Uisna
In Response
Dear Editor,
I would like to respond to the
8/7/15 “Letter to the Editor” writ-
ten jointly by Curt Schneider and
Cathy Hume.
1) Concerning your assertion that
this project, “meets the intent”
of the St. Johns Lombard Plan
(SJLP). For the reader that would
like to follow, if you have a com-
puter it’s simple. Just Google
“St. Johns Lombard Plan” and it
will be the fi rst entry to come up.
There’s also a copy in the St. Johns
Library. You can fi nd the SJLP
source for the following points 1
through 4 under “Planning Goals”
(pg.22) and “Desired Characteris-
tics and Traditions” (pg. 100).
There are certain things consis-
tent with the St. Johns Lombard
plan. At its heart is an appreciation
of the lovely town we do have.
We are different than other parts
of Portland, we have a small town
identity, and the plan respects and
nurtures that. Our tallest, oldest,
and most lovely buildings, which
add character and identity to St
Johns, were not to be overwhelmed
by new construction. Consistent in
the SJLP is that new construction
1) integrates into the communi-
ty, 2) that it be human scaled, 3)
one to three stories high, 4) that it
doesn’t overwhelm our historical
architecture (like the Library or
James John Elementary School).
Fahid’s four story giant fails on
all counts. It totally overwhelms,
becoming the tallest, biggest build-
ing in St Johns, built in a contem-
porary style of architecture that
does little to refer to what’s around
it. It looks just like anything being
built anywhere these days (Easy to
get an image of it. Google “Jones
Architecture”). The irony here is
that it is just the kind of thing that
the SJLP is supposed to prevent
and that supporters of the project
use the plan as justifi cation for
its construction. I ask anyone to
look at Marvel 29, get a good im-
age in your mind of that building,
then walk to Charleston and Lom-
bard and imagine that building on
that corner. Now imagine instead
the Brownfi eld Building (next to
Jowlers). The Brownfi eld is an ex-
ample of SJLP architecture.
2. What happens to the Lombard
Slip in the SJLP is unobtrusive. It
closes off traffi c and Ivy Island is
transformed into a nice pedestri-
an corridor with two ordinary one
story buildings. It’s simple, ele-
gant, no frills and with no impact
to James John Elementary School.
Very different from Fahid’s Plan in
both design and spirit (SJLP page
36 and 86).
3. The people who are moving to
St. Johns work in Beaverton, Van-
couver or Portland - they like SJ’s
proximity to freeways. They don’t
live in SJ for the high paying jobs.
To afford these new apartments
they work someplace else. These
people are not going to give up
their cars. In your letter you talked
about the high cost of developers
providing parking, and following
that with a logic that it increases
the cost of housing. What increas-
es the cost of housing is the desire
for profi t. Current landlords are
not increasing rents because of
an issue of parking. They’re in-
creasing rents because they can.
And they want to make more
money. Also, the developers love
the “Public Transportation Ideal,”
for that allows them not to spend
money creating parking and to
spend it where the real money is,
apartment units to rent. Providing
parking was part of the SJLP plan
(Planning Goals, pg. 22).
I invite all interested parties to
join us at the SJ Neighborhood
Association Meeting on Monday,
Sept 14 @ 7PM at the SJ Commu-
nity Center.
John Teply
The St. Johns Review * #19 Sept. 18, 2015 * Page 3
COMMUNITY NEWS
U of P ranked 7th in West
For the 21st consecutive year,
University of Portland has re-
ceived a top-ten ranking by U.S.
News & World Report, which re-
cently released its “2016 Ameri-
ca’s Best Colleges” publication.
The University is ranked 7th out of
118 institutions listed in the “Re-
gional Universities – West” classi-
fi cation. The full rankings can be
seen on U.S. News & World Re-
port’s website.
“I am proud that we continue
to be recognized among our peer
institutions for the superb educa-
tion we provide our students,” said
University president Rev. Mark L.
Poorman C.S.C. “Though these
rankings are just one indicator of
excellence, they help showcase
the success of our core mission of
teaching and learning, faith and
formation, and service and leader-
ship.”
The “Regional Universities” cat-
egory includes institutions that of-
fer a broad scope of undergraduate
degrees and some master’s degree
programs but few, if any, doctor-
al programs. U.S. News’ method-
ology for this category includes
peer assessment, student retention
rates, faculty resources, student
selectivity, fi nancial resources ear-
marked for educational purposes,
and alumni giving rate.
Additionally, University of
Portland ranked 12th out of 118
western regional universities in
“Best Value Schools,” a listing of
schools that offer the best value as
determined by a formula that re-
lates a school’s academic quality
to the net cost of attendance for a
student receiving the average level
of fi nancial aid. The Shiley School
of Engineering ranked 46th na-
tionwide among schools whose
Editor’s Note: The meeting men-
tioned in the above letters had al-
ready taken place by the time this
issue was available.
___________________________
Letters to the Editor are welcome
and encouraged. They must con-
tain a signature to appear in this
publication. Views expressed are
not necessarily the opinion of the
Editor/Publisher and the Editor/
Publisher are not responsible for
their content. They may be edited
for available space or content.
highest degree is a bachelor’s or
master’s. The University of Port-
land also ranked 7th in the western
region for “best colleges for veter-
ans.”
In August, the University wel-
comed 945 fi rst-year students, the
Class of 2019, which is the sec-
ond largest and among the most
diverse and academically gifted
classes in school history.
Continuing a trend over the
past decade, the University saw
an increase in the number of stu-
dents applying for admission with
11,198 completed applications – a
new school record – topping last
year’s record of 11,079.
The UP Class of 2019 is also
highly
academically
accom-
plished, with an approximate aver-
age SAT score of 1197 and aver-
age high school GPA of 3.66.
The Class of 2019 is taking
advantage of small class set-
tings (14:1 student-faculty ratio),
award-winning faculty and ten
new or renovated campus facil-
ities, including the new Beau-
champ Recreation & Wellness
Center. Other new and renovated
facilities include a completely ren-
ovated Clark Library (completed
in August 2013), a state-of-the-art
engineering hall (Shiley Hall, ded-
icated in 2009), two new dormito-
ries (Fields and Schoenfeldt Halls,
dedicated in 2009), a remodeled
and vastly expanded dining facil-
ity (Bauccio Commons, dedicated
in 2010), a new bell tower (dedi-
cated in 2009), a renovated science
building (Romanaggi Hall, ded-
icated in 2010), an expanded and
renovated multipurpose athletic
facility (Chiles Center, dedicated
in 2012), and an upgraded Joe Et-
zel Field (dedicated in 2015).
The University has also begun
construction of a new residence
hall with room for approximate-
ly 270 students and to be located
on the UP campus adjacent to the
newly constructed Beauchamp
Recreation & Wellness Center.
The University aims to complete
the project prior to the start of
the 2016-17 academic year. Also,
renovations on a redesigned Pilot
House will be completed this fall.
For the fi fth consecutive year,
University of Portland was the top
Oregon school in Kiplinger’s Per-
sonal Finance annual ranking of
best values in private colleges and
universities. University of Port-
land was also ranked 65th nation-
wide among all private colleges
and universities.
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