THE city most comparable to Portland might be Vancouver in Canada, reckons Sam Adams, Portland’s 
mayor, although “we look to Amsterdam, Helsinki and Stockholm” for ideas. Ethan Seltzer, a professor of urban planning in Portland, thinks little Freiburg, in Germany, is the best comparison, with its similar obsessions about recycling, sustainability, public transit and bicycling. Others pick Zurich, which, like Portland, has a view of snow-capped mountains, orderly (bordering on staid) streets with trams, even the same peculiar fondness for direct democracy and tolerance of assisted suicide.
So begins a profile of Portland in the Economist. More here.
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seems strange that the article tries to cast Portland as an “elite city” out of the reach of the poor when the city has about 11 per cent unemployment, many young, who are able to live quite cheaply.
A couple of years ago I was in the young, 20 something category, and although married, had no children. My wife and I are attracted to these compact cities where we can walk everywhere, experience community and don’t need oodles of space in our apartment. Just like the people The Economist says are attracted to places like Portland. However, my wife and I now find ourselves sliding into the ‘family’ bracket with a four month old baby and are now ’30 somethings’ (young 30s I’d like to point out!). Apparently we should be headed to Phoenix or somewhere similar. We (in a few years anyway) will have a dilemma. With a couple of kids, there’s no way we can afford a 3 bedroom place in downtown (Vancouver – where we are now). We will still want to stay connected to a community, able to walk and take transit, and I will want a short commute to downtown. But we’ll also want some space for our family. Keeping families in urban centres in hard. I want my kid(s) to grow up experiencing community and not have to get in car every time they take a trip. I’m not sure what the answer is but as my ‘green’ generation grows up and has a family, this will become more and more of an issue.
Tim, obviously we need more places like downtown Vancouver outside of Vancouver. There clearly is a demand for walkable communities, but we’re lacking the supply. Fortunately there are a few other walkable communities in the lower mainland with lower residential prices… but we could always use more *complete* communities with good transit connections to other centres if employment demands it.
Our family of 4 has been car-free in New West for >6yrs now. No regrets. Good connections to many places in the region. More and more local amenities every year.