Glenna Leonard lived in different parts of the nation before moving back to Oregon several years ago. She says that as the airplane approached Portland, she looked out the window and saw snow-covered mountaintops, tall evergreen trees and rolling fields. It felt good, she says, to be back home amid the beauty of Oregon. Oregonians are very aware and very appreciative of their natural surroundings.
Nobody seems to take that beauty for granted.
That explains the widespread support for rules that limit development and preserve open space. Tradeoffs must be made, however, in order to prevent sprawl. Leonard lives in the nearby town of Keizer, where new houses are built closer and closer together. Housing developments get to look like apartment houses because there's no land to develop. Each place has just a little patio.