The livability of America's cities is at risk - automobile use and sprawl are up, transit ridership and the vitality of urban cores are down. The Portland story is significant because something different is happening. Since the adoption of the 235,000 acre boundary in 1979, Portland has urbanized just 39,000 acres - about the size of one Phoenix subdivision. At the same time the population inside the UGB has increased by more than a third. The City of Portland's core is healthy and vital.
Transit provides the transportation capacity to serve downtown growth.
One third of the work trips to downtown are by transit. After violating federal health quality standards one out of three days in the 1970's, Portland is now considered an attainment area by federal regulators. What happens next in Portland holds the promise to be more significant than our past successes. As Portland moves into the next millennium, its residents are looking to transit and land use to play an even bigger role in the community's continued livability. Some 645,000 new residents are forecast to be added to the four county area in the next 20 years.