The terms typically used to portray Portland, Oregon's urban growth boundary (UGB) efforts convey images of a lively urban center and carefully planned suburban developments adjacent to prosperous farms on rich soils in the historically agricultural Willamette Valley. Portland's quality of urban life and success in containing urban sprawl are, indeed, exemplary, especially with respect to U.S. cities of similar size. A closer look at how the UGB has functioned in the metropolitan area, however, reveals a transitional landscape with mixed uses reflecting changes in how the state regulatory agency has implemented the 1973 legislation mandating urban growth boundaries in Oregon cities and differences in how the counties of the Portland metropolitan area have interpreted state laws. It also embodies the challenges planners and area residents face in crafting a landscape that accommodates the goals of the UGB -- preserving agricultural land and containing urban sprawl -- with projected increases in population and ongoing demand for exurban homes.
Oregon's urban growth boundaries were developed to protect farm and forest lands from urban encroachment. Portland's UGB, adopted in 1979 and covering 24 cities and the urban portions of three counties, included just over 232,000 acres of land, or 363 square miles. It was designed to include 20 years of growth. By 1999 sharp boundaries between urban and rural land uses are evident in parts of the metropolitan area. Discussion in Portland has revolved mainly around containing sprawl and managing residential development, with less emphasis on the effects of urbanization on farm and forest lands outside the UGB.
In this study we analyze the impact of the urban growth boundary on rural landscape change in Portland, Oregon and Clark County, Washington and assess the importance of rural and agricultural landscapes to residents of the rural-urban fringe. The kinds of questions we are interested in addressing include: How does the value of rural landscape as urban amenity vary between urban and rural areas? Between areas already experiencing significant land use change and those beginning to feel the pressure of development? Between a highly regulated land use environment such as that found on the Oregon side of the Greater Portland Metropolitan area and the more mixed use landscape of Clark County, Washington? Finally, how can this information serve policy makers and people concerned about the volatile issues of urban sprawl and the regulatory solutions to problems of urban growth?
Project Authors:
Tom Harvey
Associate Professor of Geography
Portland State University
Portland, OR 97207-0751
503-725-3164
harveyt@pdx.edu
Martha Works
Associate Professor of Geography
Portland State University
Portland, OR 97207-0751
503-725-3165
mworks@pdx.edu