[PDX City-State]

From Willamette Week
Hank Stern

Oregonian architecture and urban-design critic Randy Gragg is leaving the paper.

Gragg, 48, says his last day will be May 11 and that he's departing on good terms after his 17-year career at the paper, which included a Loeb fellowship at Harvard's Graduate School of Design.

"I have absolutely no complaints,'' Gragg says."They've allowed me to explore my interests as a writer and as a critic."

As to what's next, Gragg says he wants to "explore new avenues" but isn't saying yet what those new avenues are. Gragg does say that he will stay in the area.

But WWire's real question is this: What will this man do without one of his all-time foils?

[MarkDaMan]

hire Brian Libby.

[PDX City-State]

Brian Libby is a better writer, but he always apologizes for his stance on things. He could be a great critic if he wasn't always saying sorry.

[tworivers]

Agreed. Libby needs to cultivate his unapologetically-critical side. Backbone. It must be tough being in that kind of position in a small town city like PDX.

[PDX City-State]

Of course, it may not have been in his best interest to be too critical. This is a small town, and people really hold grudges. With Randy gone, it gives Brian and others the opportunity to speak out a little more. I used to really enjoy Randy Gragg's work, but it's seemed watered-down for the last couple of years, which may have more to do with The Oregonian than Gragg himself. He'll move on to bigger things I'm sure, and this move will pave the way for new (and younger) voices in Portland. I mean--with one of Portland's most promising developers under 30 (Pat Kessi)--not surprising the guard would change.