Planning Pool

Hundreds of Edmontonians came out to City Hall last Monday to support the second reading of the new draft growth plan, The Way We Grow. Thanks to Mastermaq on flickr for the wonderful Creative Commons photo!

Thanks largely to a local alliance of citizen advocates, the City of Edmonton, Canada, is moving forward with a draft Growth Plan that gets serious about food security. The Greater Edmonton Alliance, composed mostly of churches and unions, has played a key role in shaping the draft plan, entitled The Way We Grow. (A giant PDF file lurks behind the link, but it is definitely worth a read.)

Edmonton is located at the northern edge of North America’s wheat belt and is surrounded by a wealth of productive farmland, … 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