In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

6 Metro Visions Oregon has not adopted a plan to stop growth. We know that growth is going to happen. If we foreclose development of agricultural land then we have to ensure that land within the cities is developed properly to accommodate the growth that we will experience. . . . If the part of our planning program that determines where growth is supposed to go doesn’t work, then we open up the dam. The whole planning program will go down the drain, inevitably. —Henry Richmond, founder of 1000 Friends of Oregon, 19781 We’ve done a horrible job. If we don’t figure out how to do density and infill, that’s where the system’s going to fall apart. —Jon Chandler, Oregon Building Industry Association, 19992 The one thing about Damascus that I want you all to understand, is that Damascus has been rural for a long time, and they’d like to retain their rural character. —Dee Wescott, mayor Damascus, Oregon, 20023 They didn’t ask us in Damascus! —Rallying cry for the Damascus Community Coalition, 20064 When flying into Portland International Airport on a clear day (they do happen), a visitor is likely to be struck by the majestic natural beauty of snow-­ covered Mount Hood, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens (the nearest in the chain of volcanic peaks that forms the Cascades Mountains in Oregon and Washington). One is also likely to be struck by the magnificent Columbia River Gorge (and, because the airport sits on the Metro Visions 157 riverbank, perhaps by the fact that your airplane appears headed to land in the great river itself). Surrounded by so much natural beauty, one might fail to notice the remarkable human signature on the landscape. The authors have not flown from Phoenix to Portland. It would be an interesting flight. From the air, the Phoenix metropolitan area, with 14,598 square miles and 3.2 mil­ lion people in the 2000 U.S. Census, seems to roll out into the desert like an endless carpet of suburbia. In contrast, the Portland metropolitan area had 5,133 square miles and 1.9 million people in the 2000 Census.5 Thus, Phoenix is home to about two-­ thirds more people but occupies three times more land than Portland. Even more remarkable, seen from the air Phoenix seems intent to expand forever, whereas Portland quite deliberately comes to a visible abrupt stop. The urban growth boundary (UGB; see chapter 2) that separates rural from urban areas around Portland (and all Oregon cities) forms a very bright line. In urban areas like Portland that are pressing up against their growth boundaries, when you have crossed into, or out of, the UGB, you know it. It is an unmistakable physical manifestation of Oregon’s unique land use politics. Descending from cruising altitude as you approach the Portland airport , it looks serene enough. You probably will not hear the verbal battles taking place over these bright lines down below, in small places with odd names like Happy Valley, Boring, and Damascus. City of Green Dreams On the ground, you might wander into Portland’s Pearl District, walking distance from the heart of the city center—an area the New York Times describes as “Portland’s answer to SoHo, [that] has evolved rapidly from a raw industrial zone into a neighborhood of galleries, parks and condos,” part of the city’s “vibrant downtown, overflow[ing] with urban pleasures like chic restaurants, funky nightclubs and spritely neighborhoods crackling with youthful energy.”6 The district has also been described as “one of the best-­ known urban reclamation projects in the country” and a product of “a growing appreciation for urban life.” (The district was named for the “pearls” of economic activity and artistic creativity taking place inside the crusty exteriors of reclaimed former industrial buildings.)7 But 158 Planning Paradise the district is more than a playground for next-­ generation young urban professionals: it is also home for an intended 12,500 people (many living in converted warehouse lofts and high-­ rise condominiums) and future professional workspaces that will allow still more residents to live and work in the district without cars. The humming, high-­ energy, high-­ density Pearl District may seem unconnected to the sleepy small towns at the edge of Portland’s metropolitan area, but it is not: it is part-­ and-­ parcel of the city’s vision for tightly limiting urban expansion. Portlanders know, and are justifiably proud of the fact, that...

Share