Oregon

Portland, Oregon

What Went Wrong With Oregon's Climate Bill?

The Oregon Climate Action Program, which would have priced carbon emissions by establishing a cap-and-trade program similar to the one in California, was defeated on Saturday, the penultimate day of the 2019 legislative session.

July 2, 2019 - The Oregonian

State capital building

History Made: Oregon Legislature Ends Single-Family Zoning

A bill that seemed like it could be a casualty of a bitter partisan feud managed to squeak under the wire. With Governor Kate Brown's signature, single-family zoning will be prohibited throughout the state of Oregon.

July 1, 2019 - The Oregonian

Portland Streetcar

Transit Planners Studying a Tunnel Under Portland

Oregon Metro and TriMet are studying the feasibility of a subway tunnel under Portland that would cross under the Willamette River to speed up MAX trains through the city.

June 30, 2019 - The Oregonian

America's Bike Capital

Idaho Stop Breezes Through the Oregon Legislature

Before the Republicans in the Oregon Senate skipped town, they managed to approve a bill that legalizes the Idaho Stop for bikers around the state. The Oregon House also approved the bill this week.

June 27, 2019 - Willamette Week

Portland Light Rail

Details on the Portland Region's Proposed $2.7 Billion Light Rail Line

The Southwest Corridor light rail project has a preferred alternative route, but there's still a lot of work to do before the ambitious project can begin construction, much less begin shuttling riders between Portland and Bridgeport Village.

June 24, 2019 - The Oregonian

Freeway Underpass Encampment

Boulders to Replace Rose Bushes in ODOT Effort to Inconvenience the Homeless

The Oregon Department of Transportation anticipates spending about a million dollars to bring boulders to road embankments so that they are less hospitable to the homeless.

June 24, 2019 - KGW

Michael Graves

Portland Building, Remodeled Instead of Demolished, Might Lose Historic Status

A renovation saved the Portland Building, designed by postmodern pioneer Michael Graves, from demolition, but its likely doomed its status on the National Register of Historic Places.

June 21, 2019 - The Architect's Newspaper

Exurban Commute

California Looks North for a Climate Partner

California has been lonely for the last seven years as the only state that prices carbon emissions from most sources. Oregon is expected to decide this month whether to join them.

June 18, 2019 - CALmatters

Vermont BRT

Portland Mulling BRT 'Red Lane'

City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly intends to debut a plan to install several miles of bus-only lanes in the city.

June 17, 2019 - Willamette Week

Portland Food Carts

The 'Economic Value Atlas': A New Tool for Assessing Economic Development

In an effort to generate a new approach to economic development and infrastructure investment, the Brookings Institution has developed a new "Economic Value Atlas."

June 7, 2019 - Brookings Institution

Disabled Ramp

More Fourplexes Could Mean More Wheelchair Accessible Housing in Portland

Beyond adding more housing to the market, fourplexes could bring a lot more federally mandated wheelchair accessibility to Portland.

May 23, 2019 - Sightline

Designing Park Space on the Former Location of a Post Office

A planning process launched after Portland bought the former location of the city's Central Post Office from the federal government has yielded a final design concept.

May 11, 2019 - The Oregonian

Portland skyline from the Benson Hotel

SROs Are Getting People Off the Streets in Portland

Single-room-occupancy hotels are providing much-needed affordable housing for the city’s most vulnerable residents.

May 10, 2019 - Oregon Live

Green Bike Lane

Bike Lanes Continue Through Intersections, According to New Oregon Law

A law recently passed by the Oregon State Legislature redefines the ontology of bike lanes.

May 9, 2019 - The Oregonian

Tilikum Crossing

How Much for Roads and Highways in a Proposed Portland-Area Transportation Funding Measure?

A regional transportation tax could be on the 2020 ballot in Portland and surrounding communities in Oregon. How much of that money created by the new tax, should it pass, will go to transit and how much will go to cars is an open question.

May 5, 2019 - Willamette Week

JR Shinkansen

Cascadia High Speed Rail Authority Has its First Funding

The state of Washington has allocated funding from its 2019-2021 biennium transportation appropriations bill to study the creation of the Cascadia High Speed Rail Authority.

May 4, 2019 - The Urbanist

Portland, Oregon

$1.36 Billion in Federal Transit Administration Grants Awarded

The Federal Transit Administration announced a new round of funding for the Capital Investment Grants program last week.

April 15, 2019 - Federal Transit Administration

Donald Trump

Trump Signs Two Executive Orders Limiting States' Authority Over Energy Pipelines

The Trump administration's "energy dominance" agenda depends, in part, on growing the energy distribution network, namely pipelines, rail facilities, and ports. However, states can use the Clean Water Act to block pipelines and coal terminals.

April 15, 2019 - InsideClimate News

Portland

Oregon Could Be Next to Legalize the Idaho Stop

The Oregon State Legislature is moving forward with Senate Bill 998, which includes an amendment that would legalize the practice of rolling through stop signs and blinking red lights on a bike when no car traffic is present.

April 11, 2019 - OPB

Speed Limit

Portland Completes Massive 20 MPH Speed Limit Overhaul

All of Portland's 3,000 miles of residential streets now have a maximum speed of 20 miles per hour. Similar changes could be coming to more Oregon cities in the future.

April 10, 2019 - The Oregonian

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.