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A new poll conducted by the city of Portland finds that residents are split on whether the Portland Development Commission should create a new urban renewal area around Portland State University in downtown.

The local polling firm of the 500 Portland residents they polled as part of the city’s public budget survey, 49 percent support the new 130-acre downtown URA that Mayor Sam Adams first pitched during his recent State of the City Address. Only 18 percent of the people polled strongly support the project, while the other 31 percent only somewhat support it.

Conversely, 42 percent of the respondents oppose the creation of a new urban renewal area around the public university, with the opposition being evenly divided between strongly oppose and somewhat oppose.

The poll, which was commissioned by the mayor at a cost between $25,000 and $40,000, was meant to gain public insight as the city moves toward adopting a new budget by mid year. Other questions centered on the new leaf collection fee and fines for not removing graffiti in a timely fashion, among other things.

Adams pitched the new URA after another downtown URA was shot down amid public opposition last year. That URA was nearly three times the size of the proposed PSU URA. The city hopes the new URA can help spur private development as the public university starts work on expanding its student population from 28,000 students to 36,000 students over the next 15 years.