Blog: Understanding planning, part 10
I wrote this series of blog posts to try and articulate for a non-professional audience some of the main planning concepts that should be guiding the long-term development of our communities, and the...
View ArticleBlog: Big zoning changes coming
The city of Portland is in the midst of significantly changing the zoning code to better implement ambitious policies for providing more affordable and better-designed housing choices. Last month the...
View ArticleBlog: DOZA and the PDX Main Streets Design Initiative
In the last few years the city has spent a lot of time and resources to revise both its design review process and its design guidelines and standards. This has been a long time coming and was much...
View ArticleBlog: Residential Infill Project draft is ready to review
After several years of work, debate, state legislative action, extensive outreach and more work, the Residential Infill Project (RIP) is ready for final review and adoption by the Portland City Council...
View ArticleBlog: Parking and the climate crisis
One of the most controversial consequences of Portland’s growth and subsequent redevelopment of many inner-city neighborhoods over the last 10 years has been the impact on parking. This is a real...
View ArticleBlog: Planning and racism
In the past few years the planning profession has begun to actively confront the inherent racism (intentional or not) of past planning practices in this country. Community planning and its zoning...
View ArticleBlog: Changes coming to traditional neighborhoods
As mentioned in my previous post, the planning profession in the mid-20th century was not aware of some of the negative consequences of its zoning practices. Single-family housing was assumed to be the...
View ArticleBlog: A climate-smart and just urban transition
The solutions to the two biggest planning challenges of our time are intertwined. Climate change and affordability seem to be separate issues, but there are planning and urban design approaches that...
View ArticleBlog: Planning and the pandemic
The last month or two has been a unique time in modern world history, and its full impact is yet to be felt – especially in our cities. When the virus is brought somewhat under control (full control...
View ArticleBlog: Climate change — Earth’s pandemic
The pandemic has caused us to make lightning-fast changes to the human environment in response to the serious threat to our health. Climate change is a slow-moving pandemic for the natural environment,...
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