The Portland Edge: Challenges and Successes in Growing Communities

by Tracy J. Prince

Book Overview

Portland, Oregon, is often cited as one of the most livable cities in the United States and a model for "smart growth." At the same time, critics deride it as a victim of heavy-handed planning and point to its skyrocketing housing costs as a clear sign of good intentions gone awry. Which side is right? Does Portland deserve the accolades it has received, or has hype overshadowed the real story?

In The Portland Edge, leading urban...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1559636955
• ISBN13: 9781559636957
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Island Press
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The successes and challenges in Portland communities

I am a professor of City and Regional Planning and I found this book a much-needed addition to the urban-planning literature. The book is written at a level appropriate for a wide range of audiences including planning students, policy makers, politicians, urban planners, and community activists. The comprehensiveness of the work provides a much-needed explanation for students yearning for a broader understanding of how an ensemble of urban elements can help American cities accommodate growth while sustaining a sense of community for their dwellers. What is unique about Portland's current land-use system? If planning is so popular, how does one explain the recent backlash? Where would be the balance between regulatory rules and other possibilities? These are examples of questions asked by The Portland Edge (edited by Connie Ozawa), written by a team of academics at Portland State University's School of Urban Studies and Planning. The thirteen chapters of the edited book are organized in four sections. The first section presents the demographic, economic, and civic character of the Portland region by presenting data on key dimensions of economy, equity, and environment. The second section traces Portland's growth-management policies and details the institutional structures by describing a range of the roles of regional and city bodies, such as Metro (the elected regional planning authority), the Portland Development Commission, citizen-involvement mechanisms, and neighborhood associations. The third section unveils Portland's social structures that allow people to create collective visions of community and offers examples of how the underrepresented groups and the citizen advocates work to voice themselves. The last section lays out several issues of the most interest, such as the liveliness of downtown and neighborhoods, housing affordability, implementation of state transportation and environment policies at the local jurisdiction level, and Portland's responses to the homeless. Those interested in examining the ways in which urban policy and planning have made a difference in the Portland region will find that the book offers a valuable overview of the region, a helpful background of the stressors on the current urban political and social system, and an effective explanation of current conditions in the context of the people and social institutions that have been influential in shaping today's Portland. The book offers the reader a comprehensive range of matters: each chapter picks a different angle of the inquiry--for example, the struggle between the well represented and the underrepresented, the competition between the central city and the suburbs, the rivalry between highways and transit, and the balance between Portland's natural landscapes and the interests of today's property owners. The bulk of the book presents a balanced view of Portland today through operationalizing the concept of quality of life. The book contributes in integrat