Oregon State University’s Portland Center is located at SW Sixth Avenue and Morrison Street in the heart of downtown Portland. The Portland Center was established in 2018 with the goal of expanding OSU’s presence in Oregon’s most populous region.
“The intention was to create a hub for university partners in downtown Portland,” said Sara Knott, director of the Portland Center. “We wanted to serve local students, our community, and be in the center of industry in Portland.”
The Portland Center offers several graduate-level courses, particularly in the schools of education and business, as well as workstations and spaces to host events for students, industry professionals and local organizations. While, unlike OSU Cascades, the Portland Center is not focused on providing undergraduate courses, all OSU students are welcome to visit the center and take advantage of its facilities.
“There are so many opportunities for a class to come up (from Corvallis), use the Portland Center, and then go out on a tour of whatever their industry might be,” Knott said. “It provides a level of exposure and a home base for students and faculty.”
Portland Center staff said they are constantly working to make it easier for students to travel to Portland from OSU’s main campus in Corvallis.
“There are a lot of elements of (OSU) in Portland, not just this center,” said Burt Rosen, director of marketing innovations. “There’s also the Food Innovation Center, there’s the College of Pharmacy at (Oregon Health and Science University).”
The Portland Center is also involved with Access OSU, an extension program that strives to bring university and community partners together to build robust and resilient pathways to higher education for students and families from underrepresented communities in the Portland Metro area.
“I would argue Portland is the most important market in Oregon for (OSU),” Rosen said, emphasizing the value of outreach. “There’s more donors, more alumni, more press, more influencers, more legislators who determine our outcomes … This is where the action is in Oregon.”
The Portland Center boasts a view of Pioneer Courthouse Square across the street. Nicknamed “Portland’s Living Room,” the square is one of the most popular public sites in Oregon, with over 10 million visitors and 300 programmed events each year.
“Every public transit line hits the square, so you can come in from anywhere,” Knott said.
“It’s tapping into what Portland is,” said Victoria Torregrosa, community conference services and social media manager, referring to the Center’s location as essential to OSU’s integration into the Portland community.
One key area of focus for Portland Center staff is dispelling negative assumptions about downtown Portland.
“One of the things … we seem to fight against a lot is people’s perception of downtown Portland,” Rosen said. “(That it’s) a slum, a war zone.”
As part of this effort, the Portland Center has partnered with Clean & Safe, a local government contractor. Clean & Safe conducts daily patrols of much of downtown Portland, removing litter and debris from roads and sidewalks, as well as responding to service requests by local businesses and property owners.
“We want to show the best impression of the space and really show people that Portland has changed,” Torregrosa said, describing the intent of the partnership.
Clean & Safe staff provide additional cleaning services and maintain a presence at events held at the Portland Center.
“They’ll walk you to your car if you need an escort, if you’re feeling uncomfortable or maybe aren’t familiar with the city,” Torregrosa said.
Foot traffic in downtown Portland has been consistently increasing in recent years. In 2024, downtown saw a 54% increase in foot traffic from its low point in 2021.
“Portland is going through a transition, but we’re optimistic,” Torregrosa said.
