Planning Pool

So my cell phone contract expired about a month ago now, and I thought I’d give life a shot minus the long arm of AT&T.  I purchased a Skype number, so as not to fall entirely incommunicado, but my days are largely spent without the luxury of instant telecommunication.  Overall, things have gone smoothly, but my lack of a phone has led to a series of revelations.  Most apparent is the lack of payphones in Portland, which had me walking all the way to Union Station to make a phone call (a fair walk from where I was located).  Perhaps it’s my unhealthy love of noir detective stories, but the death of the payphone is troubling to me.

Sure, wifi will soon make even cell phones irrelevant, so bemoaning the loss of the payphone is a little … Continue Reading

Baseball… How I love a good baseball game on a sunny afternoon in Portland. Being able to watch the triple-A Beavers play in a classic downtown ballpark at an affordable price doesn’t hurt either. Unfortunately, most Portlanders don’t seem to have the same zeal for the old passtime as do I. Maybe baseball isn’t in the cards for Portland — or, as some suggest, perhaps the city has graduated to the major leagues. At least one fan-base is sure of Portland’s major league credentials… but they’re not baseball fans.

In addition to owning the Beavers, Merritt Paulson (son of Henry) also owns the Portland Timbers of the United Soccer Leagues (not a typo). Like the Beavers, the Timbers play their games in charming PGE Park. … Continue Reading

With the recent release by Metro Vancouver (GVRD) of the draft 2040 Regional Growth Strategy, some are noticing conspicuous similarities to the policy tools of another northwestern metropolis.  In the South Fraser Blog, Nathan Pachal appropriately identifies the resemblance of the GVRD’s reshaped initiatives to those of Portland Metro (Portland). 

Portland has long been lauded (and, in some circles, jeered) for its strong measures to combat sprawl and manage growth.  I posted a video last month from the Big Look Task Force last that gives a good background on Oregon’s strong land-use regulations.  In Portland’s case, the regional government has control over the well-documented Urban Growth Boundary (UGB).  In his post, Pachal correctly states that the Green Zone of the Livable … Continue Reading

I’m enjoying delicious coffee and beer in Portland for the week, so I’ve got some Oregon things to share.

• What is the role of zoning in issues of free speech?  This Portland Mercury article details a push in Oregon to create new zoning regulations for stores selling “adult materials”.  State law currently makes no distinction between sexually oriented businesses and those exercising free speech to express less libidinous views (like religious bookstores).
• Portland is often lauded for the success of its urban growth boundary, but elsewhere in the state, local governments are less than thrilled.  This is largely because regional land use is strictly limited by the Oregon legislature in all regions aside from Portland’s Metro, which has special status.  Though recognizing the success of the state’s regulations in preventing sprawl, the bi-partisan Big Look … Continue Reading