Meet Your New Mayor and City Council

We were invited, were you? Let us know!

Oregon: A List of Rankings

Some interesting factoids on Oregon and Portland courtesy of Sunun Setboonsarng, an International Trade Officer with the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department (OECDD).

1. Portland is America’s greenest city (2008 Popular Science)
2. Portland is ranked #1 in SustainLane’s 2008 US City rankings of sustainability
3. Portland has the highest per-capita concentration of hybrid vehicles
4. Portland has highest per-capita concentration of LEED-certified projects and third most overall (2008 Business Facilities)
5. Car sharing (as in Zipcar) started in Portland
6. Portland is #1 US city for number of people who bike to work (2007 US Census Bureau)
7. Portland is only major city to receive a platinum rating in the League of American Bicyclists 2008 ratings of bike friendly communities
8. Portland is #6 best US city to live and launch (2008 Money Magazine)
9. Portland is #4 hottest spot for knowledge workers (2007 CNN Money)
10. Portland has #4 most educated workforce (2008 Business Facilities)
11. Portland is best city to have a baby (2008 Fit Pregnancy)
12. Portland is #2 city to “eat smart, be fit and live well” (2008 Cooking Light)
13. Breweries in the greater Portland area claimed nine medals at the 2008 World Beer Cup – more than any other city in the world
14. Forbes ranked Oregon #2 on its list of greenest states (Oct. 07)
15. Oregon ranked #1 Greenest State by Business Facilities (2008)
16. Oregon ranked #2 by Business Facilities (2008) in manufacturing momentum, which recognizes how well states are succeeding at building business climates conducive to manufacturing
17. Oregon is ranked #2 in terms of promoting energy efficiency (2008 ACEEE – American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy)
18. The 2nd and 3rd ranked utility green power programs (based on renewable energy sales) operate in Oregon – PGE & PacificCorp (Dec. 2007, National Renewable Energy Laboratory / US DOE)
19. Oregon has more LEED buildings per capita than any other state (same may be true of Portland vs. other cities)
20. University of Oregon listed on Princeton Review’s 2008 Green Rating Honor Roll
21. Oregon State University received a 2008 Green Power Leadership Award from EPA for its commitment to green power

OPJ Article on Climate Change

Climate Change: As Planners, We Must Do Our Part

Scientists from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and others estimate that global CO2 emissions need to be reduced by 60 to 80 percent below 1990 levels to avoid dangerous interference with the climate system.  This target is based on limiting CO2 to double the level that existed prior to 1750.  Beyond this level, the risks of catastrophic climate change increase significantly. Serious adaptation actions still will be needed, even if emissions are held below this threshold.

- Oregon Strategy for Greenhouse Gas Reductions, 2005

In response to this challenge, the Governor signed House Bill 3543 in 2007.  This bill codifies the Governor’s greenhouse reduction goals as follows:

• By 2010 begin to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
• By 2020, bring GHG levels 10% below the 1990 levels
• By 2050, bring GHG levels 75% below 1990 levels

Unfortunately today, Oregon’s fossil fuel use and GHG emissions are causing climate change to grow rapidly.  To maintain  the livable communities we all enjoy and  reach the above goals, stewards of urban growth – planners, planning commissions and elected officials – must be engaged and take active roles.  Our efforts should be deep and wide, including:

1. Be acquainted with the Recommendations of the “Big Look” Oregon Task Force on Land Use Planning. These recommendations contain a reference to reducing vehicle miles traveled. The principles recommended in the proposed legislation are a good start, but they will need strong implementation actions. Please refer to the article by Brian Campbell in this issue.
2. Support recommendations of the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association’s (OAPA’s) revisions to the Big Look recommendations, particularly elevating the recognition of response to climate change as the necessary primary focus of needed changes to the land use system. Additional funding will be needed to direct technical assistance and other public investments so that local governments can update their development codes and related strategies. This action would help institutionalize a coordinated response to the Governor’s GHG reduction targets.
3. Be aware of the impacts of development particularly from buildings and vehicle miles traveled. According to the American Institute of Architects (AIA), buildings account for 50% of all GHG emissions and these emissions are increasing.  In the U.S, two-thirds of the development expected by 2050 is not yet designed.. In 2030, the AIA issued a challenge to its members to reduce emissions caused by buildings and development. Another recent resource is APA’s 2008 policy guide on planning and climate change that calls for a range of achievable land use, development, permitting, education and advocacy actions. The Urban Land Institute/Smart Growth America’s Growing Cooler study published earlier this year points out that if sprawling development continues to fuel growth in auto use, the projected 48% increase in miles driven between 2005 and 2030 will overwhelm expected gains from vehicle efficiency and low carbon fuels.  Travel patterns, jobs, housing and related transportation choice strategies are essential.
4. Form and/or join a local learning community on climate change. The International Society of Sustainability Professionals is an international Web-based community. Many cities are initiating climate change and/or peak oil response strategies. Communities in the Portland metropolitan region are actively engaged in a discussion about how to accommodate the more than one million new residents expected in the area by 2030.  It is sobering to note that none of the scenarios studied in the first round of analysis resulted in changes that would meet the Governor’s targets for GHG reduction. More aggressive action will be needed.
5. Help develop land use and transportation solutions that will meet state and Western Climate Initiative’s targets described above. This legislative session, Governor Kulongoski is expected to introduce legislation institutionalizing a cap and trade system for the state’s largest emissions sources. He also is expected to institute a program for net zero emission commercial and residential buildings, energy performance certificates for new buildings and financial tools, including help for low income families to take advantage of efficiency programs. However, land use and transportation solutions to meet the 2015 goals are only beginning to be developed and will need our collective attention and input. A first step could be to develop a standardized methodology to evaluate and monitor GHG emissions for transportation emissions and buildings.  See also the Governor’s Climate Change and Transportation Vision Committee reports as background.
6. Attend to emerging best practices. Our best practices as a planning community are rapidly evolving and will continue in response to consumer preferences, price increases and climate change. Planning actions such as zoning and incentives for compact and transit-oriented development including schools, employment areas and other public uses; design standards for buildings and energy production; diversity in food production; transportation choice (transit, walking, bicycling), demand management strategies and diverse financial tools – incentives, market models and others – that encourage these results will be essential.
7. Follow technological changes. Watch for and support innovations in building and development standards as well as centers of excellence from where market-based solutions are expected to emerge.   OAPA can be a great portal for information on emerging solutions from a wide variety of sources. The need for development standards to increase efficiency, reduce demand and even generate renewable power will continue to emerge at a rapid pace. One local source is the Cascadia Regional Greenbuidling Council.
8. Be inspired by others. Communities here and across the country are working to sustain our environment and the planet we call home. A few examples, and there are thousands more, include: on a statewide and municipal level, California just passed SB 375 which builds on their previous AB 32 GHG emissions reduction strategy by adding the first-in-the-country law to control  these emissions by using land use and transportation strategies to curb sprawl (see article in this issue); the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement was launched in 2007 in Washington, with now more than 500 signatories in 2007; Eugene and Springfield have initiated GHG benchmarking inventory strategies; the Corvallis area engaged hundreds of citizens and 130 community partners to launch an effort to create a more sustainable future; and Portland and Multnomah County have realized reductions in emissions by a combination of investments and strategies. Actions are myriad and should be customized to fit communities’ local desires, aspirations and assets.
9. Model sustainable practices. Feel good about being part of the solution and help inspire others by using transit, walking to work or errands, driving less and when you do need to drive, drive smarter, buying green power, reducing, reusing and recycling and planting trees.
10. Collaborate and communicate. Be a part of the living laboratory for change that is a hallmark of living and working in Oregon.  This article certainly is not a definitive list of actions or solutions.  Please contribute your thoughts, ideas, concerns and suggestions.

The 2008 APA policy guide on climate change and planning sums it up well “…a dramatic new response to climate change is required.  Business as usual or small, marginal reforms will not suffice.”

Special thanks to Brian Campbell, Arnold Cogan, Nohad Toulan, Richard Ross, Greg Winterowd and other members of the OAPA Re-Engage Oregon Committee and the Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners (FAICP) for their leadership and continued interest in and support of renewing the Oregon planning program to meet 21st century challenges.  Thanks also to Elaine Cogan, Rob Manning and Bob Wise for assistance with this article.  All errors and omissions are my own.

Article written by Kirstin Greene, AICP, a principal in Cogan Owens Cogan, LLC.  The article will appear in the Oregon Planners’ Journal, a publication of the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association (OAPA).

City of Portland Reorganization

Check out Oregon Live’s online news story about how Sam Adams plans to reorganize Portland’s government.  Among other big changes, the Office of Sustainable Development and the Bureau of Planning are merging!