Ideas, inspirations and discussionson creating better, smarter cities

Outdoor School in Oregon, A Good Cause in the 60s: A Good Cause Today. My involvement and two great videos

Watch Outdoor School on PBS. See more from Oregon Field Guide.

For me, it all started with a sticky bun. But, of course, it started much earlier with the first Outdoor School in Oregon in the 1960s and the story got complicated by Measure 5 property tax limitations and all that, but for me, it did start with a sticky bun…

The Success of Regulation–Salmon in the Willamette!

This morning on my commute into work I looked over the Willamette River and saw what to many Portlanders isn’t such an unusual sight–people fishing for salmon. And soaring above them a pair of ospreys, or fish hawks.

Tell Metro about your ideas to reduce carbon pollution from cars

Metro, the Portland Oregon regional government, is asking about Greenhouse gas reduction strategies here Focus is on motor vehicles and transport with a bit of land use thrown in. *Note: Opt In is an innovative on-line civic forum with almost 20,000 registered participants from all around the metro region begun when I was a Metro [...]

Off Street Parking and Neighborhood Livability: photo essay

Over 20 years ago, the City of Portland removed off-street parking requirements for residential development along streets served by transit. Check out this photo essay on how off-street parking (for years required by cities) disrupts the “traditional” neighborhood character, community interaction and aesthetics…

Traditional development along transit streets

Urban Reconstruction: the living side of things

The Portland region is one of the few in the US that is actually increasing its urban tree canopy. Trees are making a difference in air quality, temperature, stormwater and beauty. How did this happen? Surprise, it was citizens taking action to make a difference…

The President talks Climate

“We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms…

The climate is changing, but how should we?

While we wait for the “big boys” to act (or not) at their annual conferences in far flung locales, there is much we can be doing on the local level to reduce carbon emissions and address the changes wrought by a changing climate. But what should we do first?