Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Affordable Housing Needs Study For The Portland Metropolitan Area Draft Final Report, George C. Hough Jr., Sheila A. Martin, Gerard C. Mildner, Risa S. Proehl

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

The purpose of this report is to respond to the recommendations of the Regional Housing Choice Task Force by providing information to guide housing choice policy for the Metro Council. In particular, the objectives of this project were to: estimate current and future affordable housing need for the Metro region; describe the distribution of households by income, age, and size across the metro region; describe the tenure of these households and the type of housing they will choose; identify and describe those household types that are most likely to struggle to meet the cost of housing based on their income; …

The Doctor Is In : Ohsu's New President, Joseph Robertson, M.D., Discusses Pill Hill's Role In The Region And In The State, Merilee Karr

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

An interview with Joseph Robertson, MD, the president of Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon.

A Room Of One's Own: Why We Store, Kelle Lawrence

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

Examines the storage industry in the Portland Metropolitan Area, and looks at factors influencing its growth and how it has changed. Analyzes the need for storage facilities and offers a statistical snapshot of the storage industry both in Oregon and nationally.

Periodic Atlas Of The Metroscape: Mapping Measure 37, Take One, Meg Merrick, Erik Rundell, Colin Maher

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

When Oregon voters passed Measure 37 in November 2004, its implications moved from the hypothetical to the actual. This edition of the Metroscape atlas explores how Measure 37 claims might affect Oregon’s future. This atlas describes the geographic distribution of the claims that have been filed so far because location, size, and substance are keys to the measure's effects. Given space constraints, we emphasize maps over explanatory text. Future editions of the atlas will focus in greater detail on a variety of potential impacts of Measure 37.

O, Give Me A Home: Kids, Stability, & Education, Andrée Tremoulet, Elizabeth Mylott

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

Examines the state of homelessness in Oregon, with special focus on special needs for homeless students. Looks at factors affecting housing instability, student stability rates, and what schools should do to best serve homeless students. Calls for a re-examination of homeless stereotypes, in light of the fact that one third of the homeless in Oregon are children.

Mitigating The Impacts Of Measure 37 : Implementing A Statewide Transferable Development Rights Program In Oregon, Mary L. Grothaus

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

Nonregulatory land use planning tools can be effective for achieving statewide planning goals, but only in a regulatory context. Measure 37 makes that regulatory context problematic, with planners’ flexibility in making regulatory changes stymied. To conserve wildlife habitat after Measure 37, Oregon’s planners need to turn to these non-regulatory tools. One such tool is transferable development rights (TDRs). TDRs equitably preserve the ecosystem services of rural lands and promote efficient land use patterns. A rural property owner “transfers” her development rights to an urban developer by placing a conservation easement on her property and accepting payment from the developer, who …

Getting From Here To There In The Region, Jennifer Dill

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

This paper examines personal travel by area residents.

Ecological Landscapes : Connecting Neighborhood To City And City To Region, Michael C. Houck, Jim M. Labbe

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

While many factors are unique to communities on both sides of the Columbia River, our local and regional landscapes unite us and provide a shared sense of place. Bald eagles from the headwaters of the Tualatin basin are just as likely to forage in the Vancouver Lake lowlands as on Sauvie Island. Proximity to the Columbia Gorge, coast, high desert, and the Cascades adds to the region’s mystique and quality of life. But it’s the more proximate landscapes, those within our immediate radius of reach, that we treasure most. What matters most to the region’s residents are their streetscapes, neighborhood …

Critical Issues 2007: Our Region Speaks Its Mind, Sheila A. Martin, Craig Wollner

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

The great historian Richard Hofstadter remarked that the United States was the only country born in perfection and aspiring to progress. Locally, what issues facing the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region (Clackamas, Clark, Washington, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill counties) must we deal with immediately to preserve the vaunted quality of life in one of the most livable regions in the nation? The Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies (IMS) at Portland State University (PSU) in partnership with the PSU Survey Research Laboratory regularly conducts a biennial Critical Issues survey. Consisting of a telephone canvass of regional residents as well as a mail-back …

Population Outlook For The Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Region, George C. Hough Jr., Amy Koski

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

While many people both inside and outside Oregon envision the state as a place of picturesque coastal bluffs, mountain ranges, the Columbia River Gorge, and oldgrowth forests, the population is primarily urban. It has been for many decades. In 2000, three-quarters of Oregon’s 3.4 million residents lived in towns and cities. Almost one-half of Oregon’s population lived in the metropolitan Portland area. This paper offers an overview of population dynamics in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area, which includes five of Oregon’s thirty-six counties–Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill–and Clark County in the state of Washington. It refers to the “metropolitan Portland-Vancouver …

Periodic Atlas Of The Metroscape: Geography Of Opportunity: Maps From The Regional Atlas, Meg Merrick, Vivek Shandas

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

Of the three pillars of sustainability (ecology, economy, and equality), equality has been largely absent from regional development discussions in part because policy makers lack a shared understanding of what equality means.

This edition of the Periodic Atlas features several maps from the Regional Equality Atlas that begin to tell a story of existing challenges and the highly dynamic nature of the relationships among people, place, and opportunities in the metroscape.

Metropolitan Briefing Book, 2007, Craig Wollner, Sheila Martin, George C. Hough Jr, Amy Koski, John Tapogna, Mike Houck, Jim Labbe, Jennifer Dill, Steve Novick, Ethan Seltzer

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

The Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies (IMS) was created to connect the resources of higher education to the needs of the six-county, bit-state Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area (Clackamas, Clark, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill Counties). In this spirit, we offer our 2007 Metropolitan Briefing Book. Our theme is regional variety. Variety has been touted as "the very spice of life" (William Cowper) and as "the mother of enjoyment" (Vivan Grey). Our region enjoys a good deal of variety--in its landscapes, in its economy, and in its people, their cultures, and their attitudes. These differences are important to local vitality and beauty. …

Periodic Atlas Of The Metroscape: The Geography Of Eating Well - Food Access In The Metroscape, Joy Margheim

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

This issue of the Atlas looks at food stores in the urban metroscape, their locations, their variety, and their neighborhood settings, raising questions about food access in this region.

The Preservation Perplex: Finding The Balance Between Our Past And Future, Elizabeth Mylott

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

James Conway’s September 2005 description of Portland in Preservation typifies the city’s image as a place where innovative planning has created an exceptional and impressive urban landscape. Portland prides itself on being uniquely livable. Known for clean streets, urban parks and a laid back lifestyle, for many it’s the very model of a successful city. Public transportation is widely used, the city’s downtown remains vibrant, and smaller neighborhood commercial centers provide big draws for shopping and entertainment. Local natural amenities are widely enjoyed, as residents fl ock to urban parks and natural areas outside the city. As a result, the …

Five Questions For The Future, Ethan Seltzer, Sheila A. Martin

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

We suspect that every generation views its times and challenges as tougher and more challenging than any preceding time. Sometimes the issue is money, others it’s that elusive sense of leadership, or even “the vision thing.” Nonetheless, it’s less about what times used to be like that matters, and more about what we’ll do with the hand we’ve been dealt. Fundamentally, it’s about the future. As we reviewed the materials now in your hands, we identified a number of issues, five to be precise, that will distinguish or diminish the prospects for this region in the future. Certainly, other readers …

What Is Driving Measure 37 Claims In Oregon?, Sheila A. Martin, Meg Merrick, Erik Rundell, Katie Shriver

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

With over 7,500 claims covering 750,000 acres of farm and forestland, Measure 37 claims harbor the potential to change the landscape in Oregon. The majority of these claims are located in the Willamette Valley, where growth pressures and the value gradient between land for farms and land for residential development is great. This paper explores those relationships by describing and mapping the claims in terms of location, size, and current and proposed use, and then analyzes factors that appear to be driving the claims. At a county level, variables such as population growth, farm income, farm tenure and average age …

Public Finance : Differences, Similarities, And No Quick Fixes, Steve Novick

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

Candidates for office, in every place and at every level of government, often talk as if they think they will be able to revolutionize both government services and the local (or state, or national) economy by, in some way, changing the structure of public finance. They’ll improve funding for basic services by prioritizing government spending. They’ll boost the economy by cutting taxes. They’ll replace an outdated, irrational structure by reforming taxes. They’ll make corporations and the rich pay their fair share. Et cetera. A review of the structure of public finance in the Portland metropolitan region suggests that any and …

Educational Achievement: Shaping The Region's Reputation And Driving Its Economy, John Tapogna

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

Any region’s reputation in education is a key to its economic vitality. Businesses look for signals of a quality workforce. Families want good schools for their children. The Portland-Vancouver region is making progress in education, but the news is not uniformly good. On the positive side, Portland is rising in the ranks of so-called “well educated” cities—a reputation that benefits the region as a whole. Portland’s attractiveness to young, recent college graduates is well documented and has played an important role in the trend. The influx of young professionals is a plus for the regional economy. However, instability of K-12 …

Microclimates In The Portland-Vancouver Regional Economy, Sheila A. Martin

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

Portland-Vancouver operates as a regional market for labor, housing, entertainment, and a broad range of goods and services. The 2006 Regional Business Plan was developed with the understanding that each part of our region is linked economically and that the economic performance of each community depends on the success of its neighbors. Nevertheless, the region is not economically homogeneous. Each community demonstrates specific industry concentrations. These concentrations are driven by factors that encourage similar or linked businesses to locate near one another. And population demographics vary, affecting each sub-region's economic performance as our workforce travels throughout the region to find …

When Worlds Collide: A Report From The Cultural Divide, Meryl Lipman

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

Discusses the cultural clashes generated when communities attempt to assimilate foreign refugees. Focuses on the difficulties refugees have adapting to new cultural milieus, problems finding and maintaining employment, and how religious practices can complicate successful resettlement.