Inspired Ethonomics: Portland, a Global Model of Transit-Oriented Development

Portland, Oregon, is consistently ranked as one of the country's most livable cities. And it continues to show solid growth despite having the second lowest per capita transit spending of the 28 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. A system of trains, streetcars, buses, and aerial trams give the city one of the most diverse transportation portfolios in the world. In this episode of e², we find out how have city planners integrated transportation planning into their decision-making over the past 40 years.

[IMAGE '413' /]Peter Calthorpe | Calthorpe Associates:  A formula for a transit-oriented development (TOD) is very simple. Its diversity: diversity in population and in land use. So you have a place where you have a range of housing opportunities. You don’t ever want to say this is a place for one kind of person; lofts for young people, or condos for empty-nesters, or apartment buildings for seniors, or anything like that. You want it to be a complete neighborhood, so you get a pretty broad range of household types and ages and incomes.

And then is has to be mixed with local destinations, local stores, cafes, shops, civic places, parks, schools. So diversity of populations and of land use. Now that’s not enough, I can show you places in the suburbs that are actually diverse, there are office parks on one corner, a shopping mall on another, and a condo on the 3rd and a subdivision on the 4th. Yet there’s no walk-ability, they are all divided by these huge massive arterials with giant pedestrian unfriendly crossings.

We really had to work hard to invent a landscape that would make a local destination a car trip. It took some doing, but we somehow achieved it. Any local destination now happens to be on an arterial, a place where you look kinda foolish walking, if not in danger.

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