The Road to Damascus, OR

The Portland, Oregon area is well known for preserving agricultural land separate from urban areas. In the new town of Damascus on the border of the growth boundary, landowners are seeking a way to mix the two.

August 11, 2009, 9am PDT | Tim Halbur

Land use is a contentious issue along the urban growth boundary in the Portland Metro area, as landowners on one side are allowed a much more valuable use of their land than those on the other.

"High-density apartments on one side, and the other side is combines," as Clackamas County Commissioner Charlotte Lehan puts it.

"Oregon land use is very dichotomous," she says. "You're either urban or rural -- urban with 10 houses per acre or rural with one house per 80 acres. I'm coming to the opinion that maybe we need to recognize another kind of animal which is neither fish nor fowl."

Thanks to AYap

Full Story:

Blurring the urban-rural line in Damascus

Published on Sunday, August 9, 2009 in The Oregonian