Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Periodic Atlas Of The Of The Metroscape: Warming Up The City - Mapping The Hottest (Literally) Neighborhoods Of Portland, Vivek Shandas, Jackson Voelkel

Metroscape

Vivek Shandas and Jackson Voelkel show us how urban head varies by characteristics of a neighborhood's built and natural environment. The Atlas reminds us to be aware of the potential impact on those most likely to suffer ill effects from the heat.

6 Reasons To Relax About Portland's Recent Sell-Offs, Thomas Kerr

Metroscape

Are you feeling nostalgic for Oregon-born companies like Dave's Killer Bread, Little Big Burger, and Precision Castparts? Thomas Kerr asserts that we need not fear the recent rash of acquisitions. New owners often bring fresh ideas and capital to the table while maintaining the characteristics we've come to love about our locally owned companies.

Boom Town: Prioritizing Preservation Under Pressure, Linn Davis

Metroscape

A demolition epidemic? Linn Davis explores the history of architectural preservation in the region, how it intersects with other development issues, and how we might strengthen our ability to protect architecturally important buildings amid Portland's rush to build sufficient housing and commercial space to accommodate our growing needs.

The Landscape: Walkable Tigard, Elizabeth Morehead

Metroscape

Elizabeth Morehead takes a walk in Tigard and reviews the effort to make Tigard and other suburbs - built in a car-dependent area - more walkable, healthy, and attractive to current and prospective residents

Looking Back At Planning Oregon, Henry Richmond, James Sitzman

Metroscape

An interview with Henry Richmond is the product of a new project called People and the Land: An Oral History of Oregon's Statewide Land Use Planning Program. Richmond explains the political and economic conditions in which land use program was forged, and how these have changed over time.

The full interview is available here: http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/16296

Indicators Of The Metroscape: Housing Cost Burden, Elizabeth Morehead

Metroscape

Elizabeth Morehead focuses on the percentage of households spending 30 percent or more of their income on housing.

The Landscape: Carnegie Libraries, Linn Davis

Metroscape

A brief look at the legacy of Carnegie libraries in the Portland Metropolitan Area, with special emphasis on the Oregon City Library and plans for its renovation.

Work With Me People! An Interview With Mike Weatherby, Recently Retired Mayor Of Fairview, Oregon, Sheila A. Martin

Metroscape

Mayor Mike Weatherby was first sworn in as Mayor of Fairview on January 2, 2003. He was re-elected in November of 2006 and 2010. Sheila Martin sat down with him to discuss how the town and the region have changed over hsi twelve years in office and his hopes for the future.

Rock, Water, And Gravity: Alchemy Along The Willamette, Andrée Tremoulet

Metroscape

An exploration of the Willamette Falls Legacy Project, which aims to transform and develop the former 22-acre Blue Heron Paper Company mill site just southwest of downtown Oregon City.

Voters' Choice 11/14, Sheila A. Martin, Meg Merrick, Richard A. Clucas, Carolyn N. Long

Metroscape

A review of the 2014 midterm election in Oregon. This version of the Atlas considers the results if the November 2014 elections for some key races and intiatives in Oregon and, separately, some of the important issues faced by voters in Clark County. The maps show precinct-level results; the circles within each precinct show the distribution of votes within that precinct.

Indicators Of The Metroscape: Self-Sufficiency, Institute Of Portland Metropolitan Studies

Metroscape

Overview of annual median income and self-sufficiency standards for various household types in 2014, for several Oregon counties in Northwestern Oregon.

Values & Beliefs, Sheila A. Martin, Carolyn N. Long

Metroscape

hat values are commonn to residents of the metroscape? Sheila Martin and Carlolyn N. Long examine recent survey results on topics ranging from government priorities to economic development.

Regional Connections 2: Economy, Jeremy Young, Shelia A. Martin, Meg Merrick, Robert Smith

Metroscape

This article provide Part 2 of our discussion of the connections among different parts of the region by exploring how our economy—in particular, employment in our region’s key economic clusters—creates important economic connections among the cities and counties in the region.

Part 1: http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/10978

Hiding In Plain Sight: The Baldock Restoration Project, Andrée Tremoulet, Ellen M. Bassett, Allison Moe

Metroscape

Authors Andrée Tremoulet, Ellen Bassett, and Allison Moe tell a story about balancing public concerns about encountering the homeless in highway rest areas with the need to connect them with resources to address the complex social, political, and economic circumstances underlying their lack of housing.

Training For Change: An Interview With Dr. Jeremy Brown, President, Pcc, Sheila A. Martin, Jeremy Brown

Metroscape

Interview with Dr. Jeremy Brown, President of Portland Community College, provides insights into PCC’s role in our community and in fulfilling our aspirations for a highly educated, engaged citizenry. The Indicators page shows us how community colleges like PCC fill important needs in the post-secondary education system.

Rekindling The Public Romance: Rethinking Civic Engagement, Tony Andersen

Metroscape

Public engagement specialist Tony Andersen, examines the state of the relationship between the government and the public and finds the relationship wanting. In his piece he examines new tools for public participation and channels for improving communication—always the first step on the path of reconciliation.

The Landscape: Activating The Waterfront, Jeremy Young

Metroscape

This article discusses ideas from a 6-month project (Downtown Portland Waterfront Activation Strategy) completed by a team of students in PSU’s Masters in Urban and Regional Planning program.

Nohad Toulan: The University In The City, Carl Abbott

Metroscape

A commentary on the life and significance of Nohad Toulan, founder of Portland State University's College of Urban and Public Affairs, by Professor Emeritus Carl Abbott.

Building Interfaith Bridges: Dirce And Nohad Toulan's Contribution To Interfaith Dialogue, Mark Rosenbaum

Metroscape

In early January, 2014, the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies brought together key leaders of Portland's faith community to remember Nohad and Dirce Toulan's contribution to interfaith dialogue. A conversation with Rabbi Daniel Isaak, Sister Mollie Reavis, and Imam Mikal Shabazz, moderated by Mark Rosenbaum.

The Landscape: Urban Center Plaza, Carl Abbott

Metroscape

Nohad Toulan's conception of the place that would house Portland State University's College of Urban and Public Affairs' new facility went far beyond a mere structure. A vital urban plaza that would act as a link to Portland's downtown, a transportation hub, and a gathering place for students and community members, was central to his vision. The Urban Center Plaza, over its 14-year history, has fulfilled that vision becoming an anchor of commercial, civic, and educational activity in the central city's south end. The following observations are excerpted from an article by urban historian, Carl Abbot, published in Landscape Architecture …

Regional Connections, Sheila A. Martin, Jeremy Young

Metroscape

This atlas provides evidence that the metropolitan region is indeed connected as people travel through the region to live and work. We provide two sets of maps that speak to the region’s connectedness through the movement of people. The first set of maps demonstrates how people move about the region on a daily basis to work; the second set shows how people move into and about the region as they change their place of residence.

Part 2: http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/13318

Cupa's Reach, Institute Of Portland Metropolitan Studies

Metroscape

A brief look at the numbers of graduates from Portland State University's College of Urban and Public Affairs, and their dispersal across the globe.

Community Breeders: Animal Husbandry In Portlandia, Kurt Spickerman

Metroscape

A brief exploration of animal husbandry within the city limits of Portland, Oregon, covering residents' experiences with raising chickens, goats, bees and other farm animals. Touches on new concerns relating to local sources for food, community building, and drawbacks faced by some residents.

On The Edge Of Agriculture: An Interview With Narendra Varma And Gianna Banducci Of Our Table Cooperative, Mike Simpson

Metroscape

One mile outside Portland’s urban growth boundary near Sherwood OR, a new farm business is modeling innovative practices that could become the future of Oregon agriculture. The Our Table Cooperative brings stakeholders from all levels of the food system together as member-owners within the same organizational structure. By sharing costs and infrastructure, the cooperative seeks to show that small and medium scale agricultural production can be economically viable. The farm also emphasizes diversity of crops over industrial efficiency, and its management is based on dynamic governance.. Recently, Metroscape sat down with two members of the cooperative to discuss their vision, …

Poultry And The Press: Urban Chickens And The National Stage, Nicole Iroz-Elardo

Metroscape

After a 2010 Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) conference bus erupted into chatter from a tour guide’s passing comment about a new ordinance allowing chickens into Minneapolis backyards, I wondered about the magnitude of the urban chicken movement. Legalizing urban chickens is, in fact, occurring more often. A Lexus-Nexus Power Search of the term ‘chicken ordinance’ does not even register a hit in 2000. Yet in 2010, 141 articles discussed potential changes to urban chicken ordinances. Such an explosion of national news coverage suggests urban chicken keeping reaches beyond Portland’s borders.

What is driving this interest in urban …

Stafford Triangle, Jeremy R. Young

Metroscape

This year, the Portland metro area recognizes the 40th anniversary of Senate Bill 100’s signing into law by the late Governor Tom McCall. This landmark legislation paved the way for Oregon’s renowned land use planning system and pioneering urban growth boundaries. Since the implementation of the state’s first urban growth boundary (UGB) in the 1970s, the UGB has become a model for anti-urban sprawl efforts nationwide and has helped to preserve vast areas of agricultural and forest lands statewide. Since its inception, however, the UGB has excited controversy, especially in the state’s most populous area: Portland metro. This year, as …

The Landscape Of Food Production, Nathan Mcclintock, Jeremy R. Young, Taren Evans, Mike Simpson, Jacinto Santos

Metroscape

The celebration of the 40th anniversary of Senate Bill 100 provides us with an excellent opportunity to reflect on metropolitan Portland’s agricultural landscape. The landmark legislation passed in 1973 has helped to protect countless acres of the region’s precious agricultural soils—some of the richest known in the world—from development. Perhaps most importantly, however, the legislation has helped to preserve the important bond between the region’s urban areas and their hinterland, and to secure the region’s local food system. A renewed interest in growing food in one’s own backyard, however, has shown in recent years that urban dwellers need not rely …

Indicators Of The Metroscape: Low And Very Low Birthweight Babies, Elizabeth Morehead

Metroscape

A brief look at the incidence of low and very low birthweight babies in the Portland Metropoltan region, probable causes, and emerging trends.

Indicators Of The Metroscape: Change In Employment, Elizabeth Morehead

Metroscape

Overview of Employment by Industry in Portland Metropolitan Statistical Area

Indicators Of The Metroscape: Voter Turnout, Michael Burnham

Metroscape

A brief overview of statistics related to voter turnout in Oregon for the presidential elections from 1992-2008, as voters prepared for the upcoming 2012 election.