Portland

Powell's Bookstore

How Bike Racks Are Weaponized To Displace Unhoused People

In Portland, a set of mysteriously installed bike racks is prompting questions about their true purpose.

June 7, 2022 - The Portland Mercury

A diagram of funding programs for the The Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF), including clean energy, workforce training, regenerative agriculture, and innovation.

Funding Urban Climate Justice

The Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund stands out as an example of local grassroots climate action—in this case, the kind of action that makes other climate projects and programs possible.

June 7, 2022 - Joan Fitzgerald

MAX Light Rail

New Portland Transit Budget Targets Driver Shortage, Express Service

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon plans to restore pre-pandemic service, expand its light rail lines, and move toward an all-electric bus fleet.

May 26, 2022 - TriMet

Portland Interchange

Can Portland Have its Climate Goals and Expand its Highways Too?

Portland wants it both ways, but so do most places. But if Portland can't quit the car habit, which cities can?

May 12, 2022 - The New York Times

Economic Recovery Plan

Portland Extends Pandemic Public Space Programs

PBOT will continue two highly successful COVID-era programs that allowed businesses and community groups to repurpose public spaces for pedestrian-oriented uses and engage with customers in safe, accessible outdoor settings.

March 16, 2022 - City of Portland

Biketown

Traffic Deaths Reach Three-Decade High in Portland

In spite of the city's commitment to Vision Zero goals, more people died on Portland's streets than anytime in the last thirty years, with unhoused people most vulnerable to traffic violence.

March 3, 2022 - KATU.com

Oregon

Building Safety, Climate Change, and Equity

A Portland coalition is drawing attention to the disproportionate impacts of unsafe and inefficient housing on low-income households and pushing for legislation that would mandate building improvements and tenant protections.

March 1, 2022 - High Country News

I-84 to I-5 Interstate Freeway in Portland Oregon with Long Exposure Vehicle Traffic Motion

Oregon Youth Activists Protest Highway Expansion

A group of young climate activists are demanding an end to traffic-inducing road expansion projects and a renewed commitment to sustainable, transit-oriented transportation.

January 27, 2022 - Bloomberg CityLab

I-84 to I-5 Interstate Freeway in Portland Oregon with Long Exposure Vehicle Traffic Motion

Feds Toss the Environmental Assessment for Portland Controversial Freeway Widening Project

It's back to the drawing board for the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project.

January 20, 2022 - The Oregonian

Tilikum Crossing

Portland and Multnomah County Push for Lower Speed Limits on Bridges

The Portland Bureau of Transportation and Multnomah County agree on a 30 mph speed limit on five downtown bridges, but the state's department of transportation denied the change on two key spans.

October 25, 2021 - Bike Portland

An aerial image of the neighborhood of Buckman in Portland, Oregon.

Homeowner Groups Find an Antidote to Zoning Reforms: National Register Historic Districts

Many neighborhoods are moving to create historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in response to the growing number of states, cities, and neighborhoods loosening single-family residential zones.

October 22, 2021 - Sightline Institute

A TriMet MAX Red Line light rail train heading for the Portland International Airport comes to a stop at Pioneer Place in downtown Portland.

MAX Red Line Extension Wins Federal Funding in Portland

The "A Better Red" project won the federal funding it needed from the federal Transit Administration's Capital Investment Grants program.

September 29, 2021 - Federal Transit Administration

Numerous orange Portland Biketown bikes are parked at a facility in Northwest Oregon.

Draft West Portland Town Center Plan Seeks Public Comment

Always a closely watched planning jurisdiction, Portland, Oregon is proceeding with a new vision for the future of the western end of the city.

September 15, 2021 - BikePortland

View of Portland, Oregon from Pittock Mansion

The Long Road to Portland's Historic Residential Infill Project

How the journey of one zoning reform campaign can inform future efforts.

August 16, 2021 - Sightline

A single bike rider wearing a mask rides along a waterfront in Portland, Oregon.

Can Portland's Bike Boom Outlast the Pandemic?

"Anytime the city does something to dramatically improve streets for people and limit car access...it’s hard to take them back."

August 13, 2021 - Oregon Public Broadcasting

Rendering of Broadway Corridor redevelopment project

'Unprecedented' Portland Community Benefits Agreement Prioritizes Racial Equity

The Broadway Corridor CBA is designed to create high quality jobs, housing, and opportunities for historically excluded communities.

July 22, 2021 - The Brookings Institiution

Flood waters overwhelm a park, full of empty benches, on a sunny day.

Detroit Floods as the Pacific Northwest Bakes: It's Time to Shift the Conversation About Climate Change

The record-breaking heatwave in the Pacific Northwest has mostly been depicted in the media by kids running through fountains, but images of flooded highways and stranded vehicles in Detroit tell a more accurate story of climate change.

June 30, 2021 - Daily Detroit

Tilikum Crossing

A Game-Changing Bike and Pedestrian Bridge Opens in Portland

A bridge in the works since the 1970s marks significant progress for active transportation in Portland, Oregon.

June 10, 2021 - Bike Portland

Alternative Pedestrian Walkway, 60th Avenue, Portland

Portland Installs 'Alternative Pedestrian Walkway'

The walkway is simpler and faster to build than a sidewalk, letting the city quickly and cost-effectively improve pedestrian safety on important walking corridors.

June 2, 2021 - Bike Portland

I-5 Bridge

Opinion: Columbia River Crossing Just Another Highway Expansion

Billed as a "bridge replacement," the latest iteration of the Columbia River Crossing project is a costly expansion that will impose new tolls and cost upwards of $5 billion, according to an article by Joe Cortright.

May 12, 2021 - City Observatory City Commentary

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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.