Portland

Environmentalism

Climate Mayors Make Their Case to Climate Senators at their First Hearing

Five "climate mayors" addressed the Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis at their fist hearing on July 17, titled, “A Blueprint for Success: U.S. Climate Action at the Local Level.” Transportation was a major issue.

August 2, 2019 - Curbed

Portland Street

$60 a Day to Commute by Lyft. Is it Worth It?

By paying 1,400 employees up to $60 a day, an employer could pay more than $80,000 a day to lessen the number of cars parked at the office.

August 2, 2019 - The Oregonian

Portland Statue

Et Tu, Portland?

Opinion: The Rose City joins the nationwide attack on neighborhood-scale public involvement—and throws its pioneering model of grassroots democracy under the bus.

July 23, 2019 - Michael Mehaffy

Amtrak Acela

Report Makes Business Case for Vancouver-to-Portland High Speed Rail

Washington State released a report detailing the business case for connecting Seattle to Portland and Vancouver by high-speed rail.

July 19, 2019 - Business in Vancouver

Portland

Uncertain Future of Portland’s Neighborhood Associations Causing Controversy

A proposal to dissolve the groups has led to a debate about their purpose and who really benefits from them.

July 18, 2019 - Oregon Live

Biketown

Searching for Equitable Road Pricing in Portland

A new task force is being assembled in Portland to implement new road pricing mechanisms that convinces people to ditch their cars for more efficient modes of travel, while also ensuring low-income communities don't bear too much of the burden.

July 11, 2019 - The Oregonian

Portland, Oregon

Portland Development Map Focuses Around the Urban

New apartment buildings and new civic buildings are some of the developments under construction in the City of Roses.

July 9, 2019 - The Oregonian

Portland Streetcar

Transit Planners Studying a Tunnel Under Portland

Oregon Metro and TriMet are studying the feasibility of a subway tunnel under Portland that would cross under the Willamette River to speed up MAX trains through the city.

June 30, 2019 - The Oregonian

America's Bike Capital

Idaho Stop Breezes Through the Oregon Legislature

Before the Republicans in the Oregon Senate skipped town, they managed to approve a bill that legalizes the Idaho Stop for bikers around the state. The Oregon House also approved the bill this week.

June 27, 2019 - Willamette Week

Portland Light Rail

Details on the Portland Region's Proposed $2.7 Billion Light Rail Line

The Southwest Corridor light rail project has a preferred alternative route, but there's still a lot of work to do before the ambitious project can begin construction, much less begin shuttling riders between Portland and Bridgeport Village.

June 24, 2019 - The Oregonian

Freeway Underpass Encampment

Boulders to Replace Rose Bushes in ODOT Effort to Inconvenience the Homeless

The Oregon Department of Transportation anticipates spending about a million dollars to bring boulders to road embankments so that they are less hospitable to the homeless.

June 24, 2019 - KGW

Michael Graves

Portland Building, Remodeled Instead of Demolished, Might Lose Historic Status

A renovation saved the Portland Building, designed by postmodern pioneer Michael Graves, from demolition, but its likely doomed its status on the National Register of Historic Places.

June 21, 2019 - The Architect's Newspaper

Vermont BRT

Portland Mulling BRT 'Red Lane'

City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly intends to debut a plan to install several miles of bus-only lanes in the city.

June 17, 2019 - Willamette Week

Accessory Dwelling Unit

ADU Reform Moves Forward in Seattle

A sweeping reform of Seattle's current accessory dwelling unit (ADU) rules is currently underway. Proposed legislation sets the stage for an ADU boom to potentially match Vancouver and Portland.

June 11, 2019 - The Urbanist

Portland Food Carts

The 'Economic Value Atlas': A New Tool for Assessing Economic Development

In an effort to generate a new approach to economic development and infrastructure investment, the Brookings Institution has developed a new "Economic Value Atlas."

June 7, 2019 - Brookings Institution

Disabled Ramp

More Fourplexes Could Mean More Wheelchair Accessible Housing in Portland

Beyond adding more housing to the market, fourplexes could bring a lot more federally mandated wheelchair accessibility to Portland.

May 23, 2019 - Sightline

Designing Park Space on the Former Location of a Post Office

A planning process launched after Portland bought the former location of the city's Central Post Office from the federal government has yielded a final design concept.

May 11, 2019 - The Oregonian

Portland skyline from the Benson Hotel

SROs Are Getting People Off the Streets in Portland

Single-room-occupancy hotels are providing much-needed affordable housing for the city’s most vulnerable residents.

May 10, 2019 - Oregon Live

Tilikum Crossing

How Much for Roads and Highways in a Proposed Portland-Area Transportation Funding Measure?

A regional transportation tax could be on the 2020 ballot in Portland and surrounding communities in Oregon. How much of that money created by the new tax, should it pass, will go to transit and how much will go to cars is an open question.

May 5, 2019 - Willamette Week

JR Shinkansen

Cascadia High Speed Rail Authority Has its First Funding

The state of Washington has allocated funding from its 2019-2021 biennium transportation appropriations bill to study the creation of the Cascadia High Speed Rail Authority.

May 4, 2019 - The Urbanist

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Transportation Planner I

KFH Group Inc.

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100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.