Portland and smart growth: What you can learn from the portland experience

Abstract

As the nation turns its attention to growth management and smart growth, the magnifying glass has been focused on Oregon and the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area. The Oregon statewide land use planning program is a 30-year work in progress, longer if you include earlier less successful precursors. It is known for the use of urban growth boundaries, preservation of farm and forest land, and the rigorous use of comprehensive planning shaped from outside the local community by statewide planning goals. The Portland region is known for its regional government, Metro, its sustained effort to develop a truly multimodal regional transportation system, including the use of light rail, and its collaborative approach to regional growth management that exacts mutual accountability from all jurisdictions within Metro's jurisdiction, south of the Columbia River. Long a source of interest and sometimes inspiration for planners and regionalists, the Portland experience is now drawing the attention of commentators ranging from the Congress of New Urbanism to the Reason Public Policy Institute to the Natural Resources Defense Council. © 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.