Portland has five "eco-district" pilot projects in the works. The first two are expected to begin implementation over the next year, and organizers are hoping they lead to more sustainability efforts throughout the city.
It's a new take on urban renewal, with a sharper focus on neighborhood-level sustainability.
"Should the concept take hold, future development in those areas would aim to embrace all facets of sustainable development, including everything from green building and redevelopment, to low-carbon transportation options, renewable power generation and farmers markets.
'What we're trying to do with eco-districts is really trying to layer all of those strategies as a way of concentrating resources and strategies in one neighborhood' to see whether it works, said Naomi Cole, program manager of the Portland Sustainability Institute."
FULL STORY: Eco-districts take center stage
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Launched in 2009 as an effort to choose five neighborhoods where sustainability measures could be quickly implemented and tested out, the city of Portland's EcoDistricts are entering their pilot phase.
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research