FRESHMAN INQUIRY: THE WORK OF ART
Fall 2019: The City as a Work of Art
PORTLAND FLÂNEUR
The final project for fall term requires you to take on the role of the flâneur or flâneuse—the
quintessential urban walker of the nineteenth century who sought to observe and understand
the city and its inhabitants, while at the same time remaining an objective outsider. Although
the nineteenth-century flâneur recorded observations in literature, poetry, painting, or essays,
yours will take the form of a blog.
The goals are 1) to try to convey your personal experience each place 2) to analyze, to the
best of your ability, the social, economic, historical and architectural character of the
neighborhood 3) and to draw some general conclusions and comparisons between them
based on concepts covered in this term’s readings/discussions. There are numerous links on
D2L that will provide useful models and sources.
You must write two posts for each neighborhood, one of your observations from
experiencing the neighborhood, the second comprising analysis of what you experienced,
bringing in at least three examples from class readings and/or the sources on D2L, for a
total of at least 2,500 words. Blogs must and carefully written to avoid spelling and
grammatical errors. You may consult outside sources for background information, but please
cite or link to any publications or websites you consult.
In mentor session, you will create an individual blog account. If you already have an existing
blog, you may append this to it, but keep in mind that it will be seen by myself and the other
students. You are strongly encouraged to take advantage of tools such as Google Maps to
document your experience and create a map of your itinerary. E-mail the URL of your site to
Grades will be based on: 1) Insightfulness of observations 2) Connection to readings/course
themes 3) Attention to writing/grammar 4) Originality/creativity 5) Following assignment
guidelines.
NEIGHBORHOODS
Your blog will document your observations and experiences exploring three neighborhoods
in Portland on foot, one from each column. You are advised to research the locations of the
neighborhoods and their boundaries before setting out.
A
Alberta District (NE)
N. Mississippi (N)
Pearl District (NW)
Sunnyside (SE)
Multnomah Village (SW)
Sellwood (SE)
B
Central Eastside Industrial
District (SE)
Old Town/Chinatown
(NW)
Foster-Powell/Lents (SE)
Hollywood (NE)
Corbett-Terwilliger-Lair
Hill (South Portland)
(SW)
Boise (N)
C
Montavilla (E)
Linnton (NW)
St. Johns (N)
Parkrose (NE)
Brooklyn (SE)
Piedmont (N)
GETTING STARTED
The idea is to experience the city from the ground and to negotiate the urban space as it is
constructed. Use may use a map or navigation app to find the central part of each
neighborhood, but don’t use it while walking (unless you get really lost). Bring a small
notebook or some paper to jot down notes while you’re still there—you will forget more and
more of the details of the experience the longer you wait to record your observations. You
must bring a camera or phone to take photos for your blogs—at least one photo per entry,
but more is better and maps, diagrams, drawings, or other information are encouraged.
Observe how you experience these two urban spaces as a walker and record your
observations by writing field notes. Start by looking for small clues: What architectural styles
do you see? What kinds of businesses are present? What kind of people are there? What are
the sounds and smells? What can you gather about the neighborhood and its past by what
you see? What is appealing about it? What are problems you see? Does it feel safe? What can
you observe about types of buildings, landscaping, signs, windows, width of sidewalks, and
so on. (The chapter “Clues” from Alan Jacobs’ Looking at Cities has helpful pointers.)
ISSUES TO CONSIDER
Housing:
Is it primarily a business or residential neighborhood? Are there single-family houses?
Apartments? Condos? What state of repair is it in? Does there seem to be a correlation
between foot traffic and housing density in this neighborhood?
Mobility
Is the area geared primarily toward cars? Toward pedestrians? Are there bike lanes? Light rail
or other transit options? Are there people on the street? Why or why not? How does it feel
to be a pedestrian in the neighborhood? Does it change depending on the time of day?
Public Space
Are there green/open spaces? Are they used? What seems to make it successful, or
unsuccessful? Do they feel safe? Why or why not? Is there public art? Is it successful in
shaping the environment? Are there sidewalks?
Infrastructure
How do architecture, street layout, people, businesses contribute to your experience of the
place? Are there windows/shops at street level? How wide are the streets/sidewalks? Do the
streets/sidewalks/crosswalks seem to be well maintained?
Look at pdxlisted.com or another comparable site. How are the statistics on issues such as
walkability, home ownership, transit reflected in the feel of the neighborhood?
Design
Where do you see evidence of design in this neighborhood? How does it affect your
experience of the place? Does it reflect the ideas of Lewis Mumford, Jane Jacobs, Robert
Moses, or someone else? Be specific.
Socio-economic makeup
What kinds of people are evident in the neighborhood? Are they predominantly of a
particular race, ethnicity, or social class? What factors do you believe might contribute to this
makeup? Was it always this way?
History
How old is the neighborhood? (Hint: look at sidewalk stamps) Are there signs of change in
the neighborhood? What is the history of that neighborhood? How does it connect to
Portland’s past in regard to urban renewal, civil rights, controversies over gentrification, and
so on? (There are numerous links on D2L to online resources to aid you in finding this
information.) If it seems affluent now, are there signs that it once wasn’t? Conversely, if it
seems rundown now, are there signs that it once wasn’t?
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