Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Zoning Out: Urban Agriculture, Sustainability, And Development In Portland, Oregon, Brian Elliott

Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper examines the recent history of urban planning policy in and around Portland, Oregon with respect to efforts to enhance local agriculture. Despite recent and ongoing efforts to promote distribution and direct sale of local food products in the city, I argue that the dominant effect of the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) in place since the 1970s has been to push agricultural production further from the most populous areas of the city. Whereas the UGB at present cannot include areas zoned specifically for agricultural use, I argue that it must reformed to allow for "agricultural reserves" within the boundary. …

Racial Justice Is Climate Justice: Racial Capitalism And The Fossil Economy, Julius Mcgee, Patrick Trent Greiner

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The narrative of oppression moves through dialectical pressures. Capitalism evolved from the feudal order that preceded it, creating new forms of racial oppression that benefited an emerging ruling class [1]. Racial tensions evolve alongside economic oppression that subjugates labor to capital. The preceding racial order molds to emerging mechanisms of expropriation and exploitation by way of force and resistance. Beneath the surface of these tensions lies the interconnected threads of ecological and human expropriation. At the heart of all oppression, lies the manipulation of reproduction. The social processes necessary to reproduce black and brown communities, the ecological processes necessary to …

How Long Can Neoliberalism Withstand Climate Crisis?, Julius Mcgee, Patrick Greiner

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The climate crisis is proving to be antithetical to the neoliberal machines that define current forms of social organization. On the one hand, reducing fossil fuel consumption, the largest contributor to climate change, requires collaborative efforts. These efforts must take into consideration the foundational role of fossil fuels in modern economies. We must acknowledge, for instance, that most peoples’ livelihoods are tethered to fossil fuels, which recent studies have demonstrated is not the result of random historical development but deliberate policy.1 Fossil fuels continue to be used as a form of social domination—a means to expropriate productive and reproductive …

Prosperity And Industrial Development: Review Of Concepts And Measurements, Emma Willingham, Peter Hulseman

Northwest Economic Research Center Publications and Reports

This report, researched and written for the Port of Portland by the Northwest Economic Research Center, summarizes local efforts to measure and improve regional prosperity, both within and outside of Portland, Oregon, and offers a framework for assessing varying industrial land uses with respect to prosperity. As part of this review, definitions of prosperity from a variety of sources are presented. The purpose of the report is dual: First, a context for community and regional economic prosperity is established via the review of existing definitions and initiatives, and secondly, NERC offers a framework for assessing specific uses in terms of …

Pearl District Market Study, Thomas Potiowsky, Scott Stewart

Northwest Economic Research Center Publications and Reports

Economic viability assessment of the Pearl District in Portland, including descriptions of demography, industry, and office space supply and demand.

Contribution Of The Film & Television Industry To The Economies Of Oregon And The Portland Metropolitan Area: An Economic Impact Analysis For The Oregon Governor’S Office Of Film And Television, Jeff Renfro, Jenny H. Liu

Northwest Economic Research Center Publications and Reports

Research report on the economic footprint of the TV and Film Industry in Oregon and the Portland Metro Area.

Where The Ends Don’T Meet: Measuring Poverty And Self-Sufficiency Among Oregon’S Families, Melissa Rowe, Sheila A. Martin, Danan Gu, Webb Sprague

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

This report uses the Self-Sufficiency Standard developed by Dr. Diana Pearce at the University of Washington to analyze the extent to which Oregon households earn enough money to meet their basic needs without a public subsidy. This standard, a vast improvement on the federal poverty level, accounts for differences in the cost of living based on family structure, age of children, and county of residence. Dr. Pearce has defined the income required to meet basic needs for every county in Oregon and a number of household types. A large number of Oregon households not considered poor by the federal poverty …

Structural Change And Employment Decline In Oregon's Wood Products Industry, James G. Strathman, Anthony M. Rufolo, Lois M. Bronfman

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Employment in the wood products industry in Oregon has declined over the past decade despite a recent resurgence in demand for the industry's products. Reviewing employment and productivity data over the last decade, it is apparent that wood products employment in the state has been reduced as a result of productivity increases. Thus the industry processed more timber in 1986 than in 1979, but with about fifteen percent fewer workers. Continued reductions in wood products employment pose potentially serious adjustment problems because much of rural Oregon remains heavily dependent economically on the industry. There are also indications that timber supply …

Labor Productivity In Wood Products: Using Interviews To Supplement Statistical Estimates, Anthony M. Rufolo, Lois M. Bronfman, James G. Strathman

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

In 1986 the wood products industry in Oregon was producing more output than in 1979 but with about fifteen percent fewer workers. The employment decline in the wood products industry in Oregon can be traced to a variety of causes, including reductions in timber harvest and changes in output mix between the more labor-intensive plywood production and the less labor-intensive lumber production; but increasing labor productivity in the industry was a major factor. Despite substantial amounts of research regarding such productivity increases, there is still ample room for debate about the specific causes of the observed productivity improvement.

In section …

Employment Decline I Timber Dependent Regions, Anthony M. Rufolo, James G. Strathman, Lois M. Bronfman

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Employment in the wood products industry in Oregon has declined over the past decade despite the resurgence in demand for the products of the industry in the last few years. Because of the dependency of rural regions on this industry, the Ford Foundation funded the authors to undertake a study of the causes and consequences of employment decline within the industry. Such information can contribute to the development of strategies for improving the economic viability of these regions.

Tunber dependent regions in Oregon fit the classic export-base model of economic development These areas produce wood products for export to other …

Portland State University's Impact On The Portland Smsa Economy, James G. Strathman

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Portland State University's contribution to the metropolitan Portland economy is both diverse and considerable. A 1982 study estimated that the expenditures made by the University, its faculty and staff, and its full-time students generated over $150 million in gross output in the region. Given the changes that have taken place over the past five years, a re-examination of the University's economic impacts is warranted. This report examines Portland State University's contribution to metropolitan economic activity based on data from the 1985-86 academic year.

The approach taken in this report differs in several respects from the 1982 study. In addition to …