Study Sites - Sherwood
Zoning with 1999 Parcel Overlay, RLIS 2000.
1999 Land-Use
1989 Aerial View
1994 Aerial View
1998 Aerial View
2000 Zoning
Once three days distant from Portland by wagon, Sherwood is now a growing bedroom community for metropolitan area commuters. Sherwood is unique among the study sites because it contains a townsite that existed prior to metropolitan growth and suburban development. The historic townsite of Sherwood (first settled in the 1850s, incorporated in 1892) is oriented toward a set of railroad tracks which were completed in the late 1880s and cut across the northwest corner of the study site. The UGB follows the eastern and southern edges of incorporated Sherwood. The southern part of the study area is in Clackamas County. Areas to the east of Sherwood and along the easternmost and westernmost edges are in Washington County. Part of the study area to the east of incorporated Sherwood consists of a private shooting range, a large gravel operation, and very few rural residents. South of Sherwood proper, in parts of both counties, is rural residential development with some farms. The most obvious land use change in this study site is the growth of Sherwood out toward the edges of the UGB. Between 1989 and 1994 approximately 179 acres and 843 parcels were developed. An additional 43 acres and 232 parcels were developed within the UGB between 1994 and 1998. Outside the UGB expansion of developed area is not apparent, although changes in the nature and character of dwellings create a cultural landscape contrary to the exclusive farm use presumed of areas outside the UGB. Transformation of rural and farm residences into exurban homes for people who are not full- time farmers nor locally employed reflects the transitional nature of this zone.