Above Portland, mountains, forests and fields tightly rim the urban area. Above metro Detroit, the flat urban landscape around the city stretches into the horizon.
Street scenes are different, too.
Although Detroit can boast of new developments, vacant buildings still face many downtown streets. In downtown Portland, crowded railcars and buses, as well as bicyclists and motorists, wind through bustling streets packed with row houses, shops, galleries, restaurants and cappuccino bars. With a no-growth zone overseen by an elected regional government, Portland has taken center stage as a model of how to manage urban growth and sprawl. Much of Portland's success resulted from political decisions made more than 25 years ago, residents and officials say. The Urban Growth Boundary stopped sprawl in its tracks.