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‘Made in Oregon’

Being from the Portland Metro Area I always pay attention when the ODE has some news about what’s going on back home.

Recently the only news has really only been about the White Stag building in Portland and the ‘Made in Oregon’ sign atop it.

Perhaps I’m jaded, perhaps I don’t know anything about “tradition” but am I the only one who honestly couldn’t care less about the University wanting to change the sign?

Portlanders are getting pissy because the sign is important to the city’s “identity” and yet it’s only been the way it currently is since 1997. Portland’s identity is not wrapped around a stupid sign.

Portland’s identity is wrapped around how far its residents can shove their heads up each others’ asses in their attempts to “keep Portland weird.” Pretentious assholes.

This sign thing has gotten so out of hand that the city council is considering using eminent domain to keep the sign the same. If it’s that important to them they should just buy the sign.

I’m so glad that with everything else that Portland needs to deal with like Trimet cutting several of its lines, an increasingly smaller budget, and their on-going homeless problem that the city council and its members couldn’t find anything else better to do than worry about a sign, that’s changed several times since its inception.

Personally, I want to see the sign changed so I can shove it Portlander’s faces. I enjoy Portland, as a city it’s nice, the culture is pretty good, and downtown is great on a spring weekend. However, the city also reeks of pretention and I do get some enjoyment when they get slapped across their faces.

I might just be a very bitter person…

  1. nike urbanism duk says:

    Correction-UO leases the building. They get a option to buy in 2012. If you owe does not get their way just set the players loose with bb guns to take out the sign ! That will prove Frohnmayers “hot brand” means business.

  2. Keyser Soze says:

    Let’s see now…

    It’s the UO’s building, right. And the sign came with the building. The UO should be able to do whatever they please with the sign.

    In fact, it might be a good representation of the reputation of the UO to put up in neon the three idiot basketball players, Cedric Josh Crittle, Michael R. Dunigan and Teondre Javon Williams, for their recent display of community spirit.

    Come on UO, be proud of your multi million dollar investments ($220 million dollar playground for Crittle, Dunigan, and Williams) in basketball and put the faces of the programs

  3. nike urbanism duk says:

    Eminent domain showdowns rock-Leonard tar and feather them ducks !

  4. T says:

    I’m not even sure how that scenario could come to pass. Undoubtedly the city or the Design Commission could claim that such a sign violated some zoning ordinance.

  5. CJ Ciaramella says:

    Can we all at least agree that the best sign in Portland is the Hung Far Low sign?

  6. Timothy says:

    Michael – There are places in Oregon east of the Cascades? Huh, never knew that.

    Tyler – That’s right! I liked the White Stag one better than the Made in Oregon one. But, I mean, we can’t LET OUR CHILDREN POTENTIALLY MAYBE BE EXPOSED TO A PORN MESSAGE!

  7. Ossie says:

    It could say “Portland, where you only have to be 18 to…”, ah, forget it.

  8. T says:

    No, the sign was White Satin, then White Stag and now Made in Oregon. What’s really ridiculous is Randy Leonard’s reasoning for obtaining the sign through eminent domain: He didn’t want it to have some sort of porn message because … THAT COULD HAPPEN.

  9. Michael G. says:

    Speaking as someone who grew up east of the cascades, I’d personally like to see the sign changed to “Fuck you, Portland!” instead…

  10. Timothy says:

    It’s not really much of a voluntary sale with a gun to your head. Didn’t that used to be a 7up sign?

  11. T says:

    “If it

  12. Brandon says:

    If you think the sign controversy is bad and an example of Portland at its most inane, run a Google search on the Major League Soccer deal.

  13. Sakaki says:

    You’re not the only one.

    However, I propose a little different of a solution: Move the sign to another building, and allow the U of O to put up it’s own sign in it’s place.

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