Portland A Sense of Place

Summary

The script explores Portland, Oregon's transformation into a model of sustainable urban living. It discusses the city's shift from suburban sprawl to a focus on public transit, walkability, and environmental consciousness. Key initiatives include the establishment of urban growth boundaries, investment in light rail, and the development of transit-oriented neighborhoods like the Pearl District. The result is a city that has reduced vehicle miles traveled, increased transit ridership, and attracted 'lifestyle migrants' seeking a sustainable urban lifestyle, all while grappling with challenges of affordability and preserving community character.

Takeaways

• 🌏 The script discusses the global impact of human actions, emphasizing how local activities, such as those in Los Angeles, can affect distant environments like Antarctica.
• 🚗 It critiques the modern lifestyle's emphasis on progress and technology, which has led to environmental degradation and a disconnect from the natural world.
• 🏙️ Portland, Oregon is highlighted as a model city that has successfully combated urban sprawl and prioritized environmental consciousness through land-use planning and public transit development.
• 🛣️ The city's history of urban decay in the 50s and 60s is contrasted with its current status as a leader in sustainable urban living, showing a clear transformation over time.
• 🏡 The script touches on the suburban sprawl and car-centric culture that characterized post-WWII America, which led to isolation, specialization, and environmental harm.
• 🛤️ Oregon's land-use planning law, initiated in 1973, is credited with curbing urban sprawl and promoting compact, well-organized cities that coexist with rural landscapes.
• 🚌 Portland's commitment to public transit is showcased, with the development of light rail and streetcar systems that have reduced car dependency and increased accessibility.
• 🌿 The Pearl District's revitalization is presented as an example of transit-oriented development, where living spaces, businesses, and public transit are integrated to promote a sustainable lifestyle.
• 🏢 The script mentions the challenges of balancing growth with affordability, as the influx of 'lifestyle migrants' to Portland has increased housing prices and raised concerns about gentrification.
• 🌱 Despite the progress, the script calls for continued efforts to ensure that the benefits of sustainable urban development are accessible to all residents, including affordable housing options.
• 🌐 The script concludes by advocating for a reevaluation of the American Dream, suggesting that it should be about providing choices for a sustainable and fulfilling lifestyle rather than material acquisition.

Q & A

What was the state of Portland in the 1950s and 1960s?

In the 1950s and 1960s, Portland was experiencing a post-war boom that led to environmental degradation, economic decay, and a hollowing out of the downtown area as economic activity and the middle class moved to the suburbs.

How did Portland's urban development philosophy change after World War II?

After World War II, Portland, like many other American cities, embraced a philosophy that praised technology, industrialization, and the automobile, leading to suburban sprawl and isolation.

What was the significance of the statewide decision in Oregon in 1973?

In 1973, Oregon made a significant decision to curb urban sprawl and protect its natural landscape by implementing a comprehensive statewide land-use planning process, which included the establishment of urban growth boundaries.

What is an urban growth boundary and how does it function?

An urban growth boundary is a designated line on the land that delineates areas where urbanization is permitted by right within the boundary and preserved for farm and forest uses outside of it.

Why did Portland halt a freeway expansion project in the 1970s?

Portland halted a freeway expansion project to divert federal highway funds towards developing a regional light rail line, emphasizing accessibility over mobility and reducing reliance on cars.

How has Portland's commitment to land preservation and transit-oriented development affected its residents?

Portland's commitment has resulted in shorter trips, stable or declining vehicle miles driven per person, and a higher quality of life, making it easier for residents to access jobs, markets, and entertainment without a car.

What role did the Pearl District play in Portland's urban revitalization?

The Pearl District was transformed from an abandoned rail yard into a transit-oriented, mixed-use neighborhood, demonstrating a sustainable urban lifestyle and sparking significant development along the streetcar line.

How did the development of the South Waterfront in Portland address the challenge of connecting it with the city's largest employer?

The South Waterfront was connected to Oregon Health Sciences University, the city's largest employer, by constructing an aerial tram, providing a quick and environmentally friendly link across the freeway divide.

What has been the impact of Portland's transit and land-use policies on its population growth and housing affordability?

Portland's policies have led to significant population growth and increased housing prices, raising concerns about affordability and the need for more commitment to creating affordable housing.

How has Portland managed to reduce emissions related to transportation?

Through investments in public transportation and land-use decisions, Portland has reduced emissions by 14% since 1990 and decreased per capita vehicle miles traveled by 17%, demonstrating the effectiveness of its sustainable urban planning.

What is the message from Portland regarding sustainable urban development?

The message from Portland is that by starting early with sustainable urban development, including transit and walkability, cities can achieve environmental, economic, and quality of life benefits, and that these choices resonate with many Americans.

Outlines

00:00

🌿 Environmental Consciousness and Urban Development in Portland

This paragraph discusses the environmental impact of human progress and how Portland, Oregon, has taken a leading role in creating a sustainable urban environment. It highlights the historical shift from a car-centric city in the 1950s and 1960s to a modern, environmentally conscious city with a vast public transit system. The transformation began with a statewide decision in 1973 to curb urban sprawl and protect natural landscapes, leading to the implementation of land-use planning laws. The city's focus on accessibility over mobility and the development of public transit has resulted in shorter trips and stable or declining vehicle miles driven per person, contrasting with the increasing trend in other metropolitan areas.

05:00

🚏 The Evolution of Portland's Urban Growth and Transportation

The paragraph details the strategic planning behind Portland's urban growth and transportation system. It emphasizes the creation of an urban growth boundary to control urbanization and preserve farm and forest land. The city's commitment to land preservation is underscored by its decision to halt freeway expansion and invest in regional light rail, promoting a future based on accessibility. The paragraph also discusses the pedestrian-friendly design of the city, prioritizing walkability and public transit-oriented development. The Pearl District is highlighted as a successful example of this approach, with a focus on sustainable urban living and reduced dependence on cars.

10:02

🚋 The Impact of the Streetcar System on Portland's Development

This paragraph focuses on the introduction and impact of Portland's modern streetcar system. It discusses how the streetcar was envisioned as a connector to foster development and reduce car usage, aiming to create a lively urban landscape while minimizing the carbon footprint. The streetcar's success in promoting development and increasing property values is highlighted, along with the private sector's significant role in the city's transportation systems. The paragraph also touches on the challenges of managing growth and ensuring affordability in the face of increasing popularity and gentrification.

15:03

🏥 Linking Transportation with Economic Growth: The Aerial Tram and South Waterfront

The paragraph describes the innovative approach to linking economic growth with sustainable transportation in Portland. It details the decision by Oregon Health Sciences University to expand within the city rather than moving to a suburban location, and the subsequent development of the South Waterfront. The construction of the aerial tram to connect the university with the waterfront is highlighted as a key element in this strategy, promoting transit-oriented development and fostering a dense, lively, and affordable neighborhood. The paragraph also discusses the human aspect of these developments, emphasizing the importance of providing choices for residents to live a sustainable urban lifestyle.

20:04

🌟 Portland's Sustainable Future and the American Dream Redefined

In this final paragraph, the focus is on Portland's achievements in sustainability and the potential for other cities to follow suit. It discusses the city's success in reducing emissions and vehicle miles traveled, and the increase in transit ridership and bicycling. The paragraph challenges the notion that sustainability equates to deprivation, arguing that it can enhance the American dream by providing choices for a better quality of life. It emphasizes the importance of public transportation investments and land-use decisions in achieving environmental and economic benefits, and suggests that the American dream should be redefined to prioritize aspirations and effective action over material acquisition.

Keywords

💡Urban Sprawl

Urban sprawl refers to the expansion of human populations away from central urban areas into low-density, car-dependent suburban and rural areas. In the video, it is discussed as a negative consequence of post-World War II development in the United States, leading to isolation, specialization, and fragmentation of cities. The script mentions how Portland, Oregon, made a conscious effort to curb urban sprawl by implementing an urban growth boundary, which helped preserve farmland and promote more compact, well-organized cities.

💡Environmental Consciousness

Environmental consciousness is the awareness and concern for the environment and the impact of human activities on it. The video underscores the importance of being environmentally conscious in urban planning and development. Portland is highlighted as a city that has made significant strides in this regard, with its land-use planning laws and public transit system aimed at reducing emissions and promoting sustainable living.

💡Public Transit

Public transit refers to transportation systems available for use by the general public, typically managed on a schedule, such as buses, trams, and trains. The video emphasizes the role of public transit in Portland's transformation into a sustainable city. It details how the city's vast public transit system, including light rail and streetcars, has contributed to reducing vehicle miles traveled and fostering a more connected community.

💡Land-use Planning

Land-use planning is the process of regulating and designing the use of land in an area to ensure its sustainable development and management. The video discusses how Oregon was the first state to implement a comprehensive statewide land-use planning process, which included the establishment of urban growth boundaries. This planning strategy has been instrumental in shaping Portland's development, preserving agricultural land, and promoting compact urban centers.

💡Sustainable Urban Lifestyle

A sustainable urban lifestyle refers to living in a way that minimizes negative environmental impact and promotes the efficient use of resources within urban environments. The video showcases how Portland has become a model for a sustainable urban lifestyle, with its focus on walkability, public transit, and mixed-use development. Residents are encouraged to live with fewer cars, reduce their carbon footprint, and engage in activities that support the local economy and environment.

💡Transit-oriented Development

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban planning that increases density, mixed-use development, and multi-modal transportation options around transit stations or along transit lines. The video describes how Portland planners used TOD to revitalize areas like the Pearl District and South Waterfront, creating neighborhoods where residents can live, work, and play without relying heavily on personal vehicles.

💡Pedestrian-Friendly

Pedestrian-friendly refers to urban design and planning that prioritizes the safety, comfort, and convenience of people walking. In the video, Portland is described as a city where pedestrians are the 'first-class passengers,' with wide sidewalks, well-timed intersections, and policies that make it easy and safe to walk or bike around the city.

💡Affordable Housing

Affordable housing refers to housing that is affordable to those with low to moderate incomes, ensuring that they can live in safe and decent conditions without spending more than 30% of their income on housing. The video mentions Portland's commitment to affordable housing, with over 3,000 units in the Pearl and River districts, and a policy that 30% of funds spent in urban renewal areas will be committed to this cause.

💡Emissions Reduction

Emissions reduction refers to the decrease in the release of pollutants and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The video highlights Portland's success in reducing emissions related to transportation, with a 14% decrease since 1990, demonstrating the effectiveness of the city's sustainable urban planning and transportation strategies.

💡American Dream

The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. In the video, the concept is revisited to suggest that it should not be about material acquisition but about enabling people to make the most of themselves and their communities. The video argues that Portland's approach to urban planning aligns with this redefined American Dream by offering choices for sustainable living.

Highlights

The desire for a modern way of life that threatens our future is questioned.

The interconnectedness of global environmental issues is emphasized.

Portland, Oregon is presented as a city that has made significant strides in environmental consciousness and urban planning.

In the 50s and 60s, Portland faced similar urban decay as other U.S. cities, with a shift to suburban living.

The 1973 statewide decision in Oregon to curb urban sprawl was a pivotal moment for the state's development strategy.

The establishment of urban growth boundaries in Oregon was a key planning tool to control sprawl and preserve land.

Portland's commitment to land preservation and public transit development is highlighted.

The Pearl District's transformation from abandoned rail yards to a sustainable urban neighborhood is discussed.

The introduction of the modern streetcar in Portland and its impact on development and reducing car usage.

The role of private sector involvement in the success of Portland's transportation systems.

The challenge of balancing development with affordability and the commitment to affordable housing.

The South Waterfront revitalization project and the innovative use of an aerial tram to connect it with the city's largest employer.

The importance of providing choices for residents to live a sustainable urban lifestyle.

Portland's success in reducing emissions related to transportation and increasing transit ridership.

The message from Portland encouraging other cities to adopt similar sustainable practices.

The concept of the American Dream redefined in terms of sustainable living and accessible choices.

Transcripts

was it a conscious decision or a

momentary lapse of reason

how did progress take priority over

humankind how could the desire for a

modern way of life that threatens our

future be considered a way of life could

it be we are connected to all things in

the universe not the center of it

that suburbs in Los Angeles effect the

melting IceCaps of Antarctica

deforestation in the Congo affects the

Typhoon's of Japan

now we must face the insurmountable

challenges for what they really are

opportunities to reinvent and redesign

he squared the economies of being

environmentally conscious

Portland Oregon is a city ahead of its

time community minded and

environmentally progressive its half

million residents are connected by a

vast public transit system traversing

575 square miles across Portland's metro

area but there was a time not so long

ago when that wasn't the case

life here in Portland in the 50s and 60s

was pretty much like life in most of the

United States

you know the post-war boom had hit the

environmental quality here was was

horrible downtown was turning into

parking lots and empty streets I visited

Portland in the 60s and it was a dreary

dump to be straightforward about it you

know it was down and out economically it

was decaying it was you know all the

economic activity had moved to the

suburbs the middle class had moved to

the suburbs Portland was following the

path of most other mature cities we were

hollowing out the downtown we were

trying to compete with suburban shopping

malls by building more high-rise parking

structures more surface parking lots and

the idea was to sacrifice the inner city

so that people could get out of it and

into it more rapidly more than a million

persons each year have pulled up stakes

in the cities and turn commuters

traveling 20 30 40 or more miles each

day factory or business and back again

we went wrong in America in the way our

cities developed after World War two

there was this dominant philosophy of

that kind of was in praise of technology

and praise of industrialization and

praise of the automobile effectively

what happened in United States was the

mass production and the specialization

played itself out in a different form

she'd played itself out as suburban

sprawl when you look into suburban

landscape in America and what would with

our cities you see a landscape of

isolation and specialization

and so that fragmentation of the city

and that isolation of uses and of people

had huge consequences huge negative

consequences so you get a little home in

the suburbs the big dream coming to but

it backfires into a pipe dream exhaust

pipe dream

I mean it's safe to say what was

happening across the landscape in the

United States in the 60s and early 70s

with sprawl congestion sort of

surrendering communities to the

automobile was a wake-up call to us in

Oregon so bringing back the city center

reinventing it and making it work again

for a pretty broad range of people

became something that that a lot of

people thought about Portland I think

did it

better than most

this reinvention began with a rare

statewide decision in 1973 to curb the

urban sprawl encroaching on Oregon's

natural landscape the bipartisan effort

spurred cities like Portland to

reconsider its development strategy the

land-use planning law in Oregon was the

product of a visionary Governor Tom

McCall and a advocacy group 1,000

friends of Oregon that collected

activists and and civic minded people

and put them to this cause of defending

the rural landscape and almost as an

afterthought ensuring livable cities

that afterthought became more clear over

time and that those two really worked

together that good landscapes with with

real farming in them are well served by

good compact well-organized cities but

the original impetus was really

preserving farmland Oregon was the first

state to implement a comprehensive

statewide land-use planning process that

mandated that each and every one of our

cities identify an urban growth boundary

an urban growth boundary is a line on

the land that says inside this line we

will allow urbanization and in fact

urbanization is permitted by right you

don't have to fight about it outside of

that line it's preserved for farm and

forest uses

throughout the 70s other decisions

underscored Portland's commitment to

land preservation the city halted a

freeway expansion project diverting

federal highway funds to develop a

regional light rail line allowing

commuters to leave their cars at home

Portland chose a future based on

accessibility rather than mobility and

we're seeing the results of that today

Portland trips are shorter than most

other places in the United States the

growth of the vehicle miles driven per

person here is stable or declining as

opposed to increasing in most of the

other metropolitan areas of similar

sizes and so 2530 years later now we're

seeing the benefits of having made that

choice it benefits my life so much to be

able to go anywhere I want to in the

city without having the drive without

having to find parking without having

the taper gas if I couldn't take public

transportation to a job and I had to

drive it's not worth it to me it's not

worth the aggravation I lose time out of

my day time that I can spend on myself

for me to get to work I usually walk

because it's close enough and I enjoy

the walk but I also take the bus you

know a couple times a week in bad

weather and you know for us there's a

bus stop a block away from our house

good morning

Louisville City for me means a place

where you can buy locally grown

ingredients you can get to your job you

can get to the market you can get to art

or entertainment and you can do that

without having to traipse a half hour

forty-five minutes out of your way in

traffic to do something simple in

downtown fort won and in fact in

Portland neighborhoods the pedestrian is

the first-class passenger that's the

rule you don't have to push a button to

cross an intersection they're wide

sidewalks the intersection timing is

such that there's enough time to get

across the street

we don't build huge wide streets that

are hostile to cross it's a hundred

little things that implement that

common-sense policy that in a city the

pedestrian comes first and everything is

organized around that

transit-oriented development planning

businesses in housing with public

transit in mind was the objective

when Portland planners decided to revive

the city's abandoned rail yards this is

the heart of the Pearl District the what

you see behind me here was an empty

brownfield dead rail yard

ten years ago nothing that you can see

was here ten years ago a whole new

neighborhood where there was essentially

a blank slate but it's not just a whole

new neighborhood it's a whole new

neighborhood where people live a much

more sustainable urban lifestyle than is

typical in the United States of America

most of the buildings around us have

less than one parking space per

residential unit they have no dedicated

parking for the retail stores in the bit

in the ground floors of the buildings

the trip behavior what transportation

planners call trip behavior of the

people that live in this neighborhood is

fundamentally different to people in the

suburbs so there are literally millions

of miles of avoided automobile use

because people live here and live this

way the Pearl district it was much of

its transformation to the modern

streetcar line that began gliding

through it in 2001 unlike the bumpy

clinging trolleys favored by tourists

visiting San Francisco Portland's modern

streetcar carries 10,000 riders a day

7,000 more than planners estimated

Charlie Hales wonder for the city

commissioners many people credit charlie

with being the one who really saw the

potential for the streetcar and was able

to make the streetcar happen

well the streetcar was envisioned as a

connector we need a way to circulate

around in the downtown for distances

that are just a little too far to walk

but it was also hoped that the certainty

of the investment that if you could see

rails in the street that people would

build and customers would buy housing

and other development projects there

that might be different than if they

were just served by cars and buses we

hope that that was the case what we were

searching for and we talked about the

streetcar war two things one was to

foster development and developers like

streetcars because they like permanent

track transportation as tired

transportation buses can be moved from

one route to another and suddenly you

can be with or without service the track

is a kind of statement of commitment its

secondary goal is to move people out of

cars because every city faces both the

traffic congestion problem a parking

problem we also came to realize that men

environmental goals and so it became a

kind of virtuous tool for the city to

both develop move people create a lively

urban landscape and avoid the carbon

footprint of the car

one of the most effective tools in

Portland has been the energy from the

private sector

all of our transportation systems have

had significant participation from

private sector leaders that makes him

successful there was some resistance in

the sense that people were skeptical

what would it was why would you want to

do this are you going to destroy the

parking or even destroying my business

in the construction phase to the

property owners I just went to them and

said our engineers are promising on so

block a week so you can go to the beach

for a week and when you come back there

will be a streetcar line in front of

your building and your property will be

worth twice what it was when you left to

go to the beach and I'll tell you that

quiet a lot of concerns but it turned

out I was white why did the Marke

property values probably went up four

times and but that wasn't just a

streetcar it's what happens that the

streetcars apart

well I picked this location for the

store in part because there's a bus out

front

there's the trolley stops out front and

Light Rail is two blocks away so I'm

attracting people who use public

transportation we'll see many times

people will be taking the trolley and

they'll get off at this stuff because

they see my store it's tremendous for

our business

it is about vitality as a neighborhood

and that I think is the great success

story in Portland we've had three

billion dollars worth of development

along the streetcar line had twice the

density levels of the rest of the city

so ten years ago there was one business

in the Pearl District

Michael Powell's Powell's Books most

people have heard of this big bookstore

now there are 250 businesses in the

Pearl District everything under the Sun

and that happened both because of policy

the city required that new buildings

have ground-floor retail space and

didn't require that they have parking

important and then the population growth

downtown supports all these new

businesses

two strips

you moved here because of the streetcar

yeah yeah

yeah yeah yeah I've heard a lot of folks

that made the decision to live along the

line because it works strollers bikes

and people in China with five folks and

chairs we only have one door to get on

it off yeah yeah almost almost becoming

a victim of our own success the Pearl

District success led planners to

revitalize the brownfields along

Portland South Waterfront by linking it

to the city's largest employer two and a

half miles away a mattad the two were

separated by the i-5 Junction passengers

on the aerial tram are 500 feet above

rush-hour traffic

Oregon Health Sciences University had

the choice of expanding in a suburban

location or finding room somewhere here

in their Central City campus for

expansion the problem is at the top of

the hill

meanwhile the brownfield site the you

know that we're sitting in right now we

were looking to redevelop and it just

became sort of a natural fit the South

Waterfront is really an extension of the

idea we tried out in the Pearl district

we had a similar industrial area

sprawled out along the river but also

walled off from good access by the

presence of an interstate highway so

here's this isolated piece of land yet

on a waterfront and as it turned out

proximate to the biggest employer in the

city 3,000 feet away

uphill across that freeway the big

challenge was finding something that

would link the two campuses and that's

where the idea of the aerial tram came

to being something that could get people

to and from the hill in a matter of

minutes it's clean easy

that wouldn't inflame the neighborhood

in terms of with noise or emissions

in terms of the trimmer ahead of all the

financial projections that we laid out

in terms of operations and ridership and

the development that we were hoping to

incent down on South Waterfront this

building here and the residential

buildings off to our right you know are

prime examples of development oriented

transit where you know this development

wouldn't be here without the streetcar

or without this aerial trim this is you

know one of the premier sort of models

for all the work all the experimenting

that we've done over the past couple of

decades to bring land-use planning

transit transportation planning along

with mixed-use development

public/private partnerships to create

what is going to be one of the most

dense and at the same time lively and

affordable neighborhoods in the city of

Portland

so what's this like at the human level

yeah we see this transit system it works

great there are all these statistics

that show that Portland uses less energy

and burns less gasoline than other

places but do people love it here well

as it turns out they do and of course

the ultimate compliment is that people

keep moving here

we had about 4% population growth last

year and we seem to have built a better

mousetrap and the world is beating a

path to our door we moved from

Minneapolis about eight years ago and we

both have some urban planning background

in our education and Portland's probably

knocked out for that people ought to say

well did you move for work and you know

we moved for life that's what I would

say it's really a place where we can

live our values easily and we're one car

family and we can do it with kids in

Portland in a lot of other urban areas

it's just too difficult to do that

we've always pictured that we would live

in the city we've never even considered

living in the suburbs and I think it

comes down to we don't want to spend

that time in the car

lifestyle migrants people that can live

any number of places choose to come here

because we've designed the city for that

sustainable urban lifestyle it is this

great place to live in all of a sudden

people are aware of it and you know we

moved here from someplace else and your

people are moving in like crazy and so

the price of housing is going up and

there's some real issues about

affordability and what the city's gonna

look like in a couple more decades you

know my wife says I don't recognize the

city anymore you know it's it's just

changed that much well she loves the

restaurants and the cultural aspects of

what that means but she regrets the

character that was there that's out

there anywhere but that's I don't that's

progress it's change many people have

raised this concern about gentrification

if we're getting all this new investment

what do we do to make sure that the

least of us basically can benefit from

the vitality coming to these

neighborhoods we have over 3,000 units

of affordable housing permanently

affordable housing in the pearl and

river districts and we have a commitment

now through the Portland Development

Commission that 30% of the funds spent

in urban renewal areas will be committed

to affordable housing we're late to this

frankly it's a lot more difficult to do

affordable housing when you are a

destination of choice than basically

when you have a lot of cheap real estate

around but the city's made a commitment

the communities have made a commitment

and you know I think we're doing almost

as much as we could we can do more I

want the three hundred thousand people

in a couple of decades that are you know

forecasted to be born and move here to

live within a quarter-mile of transit

and if we can do that between the trips

not taken and the trips that will be

taken on transit we're going to be

fulfilling you know my hope and my

vision that we provide every Portland or

a cheap transit option for every trip

where cars are really used on an

infrequent basis not because of any sort

of political correctness or browbeating

but because people choose to take

transit or choose to walk or bike

because for them that is the best mode

Portland is one of the few cities in the

world that has actually reduced

emissions related to transportation

since 1990 you know down about 14% one

of the few cities in the world that has

actually seen a per capita vehicle miles

traveled reduced since 1990 about 17%

transit ridership since 1990 in the city

of Portland is a 90 percent bicycling is

up 257 percent and so you know early on

a lot of chances were taken that you

make these kind of investments and these

have been serious amounts of money

invested in transit you know would or

would we not see the kind of benefits

and I think Portland is proof you know

that you make the right kinds of public

transportation investments and combine

those with good land-use decisions and

you're going to see you know

environmental and quality of life and

economic development benefits we have to

get used to a couple of things as

Americans and one is that the fuel that

has run our transportation system and

much of our economy is going to run out

that's why they call it fossil fuel

that's a concept that's very

uncomfortable and obvious once you think

about it and now we're starting to think

about it

Portland started thinking about it a

little earlier than other cities but

again the message from Portland is we

just started this a little earlier it

seems to be working why don't you try it

- like transit and walkability and good

design you know a lot of people speak

about sustainability as kind of a you

know kind of a kind of a burlap future

you know instead of worrying silk we're

all gonna be wearing burlap that it's

about somehow giving up on the American

dream or giving up on a standard of

living that we may aspire to I don't

think we should give up on the notion

of having an American dream and far from

it on the other hand I think we ought to

really ask ourselves some tough

questions about what we mean by that if

having the American dream is really

about acquisition you know I think we're

we're just in trouble but if the

American Dream is about enabling people

to make the most of themselves have some

aspirations and to be able to act on

them effectively I think we can still

offer that and I don't think that's

about deprivation actually quite the

contrary I think that's about

reprogramming where we're putting our

resources to make that American dream

more accessible to more of us

I hear it all the time the people are

different in Portland the only thing

different about Portland is that we've

actually put enough of this stuff in

place that people do have a choice and

that's a very American idea and it turns

out that if you give them those choices

in this places as diverse as Portland

and Dallas and Houston and Minneapolis a

lot of people would like that choice

they'd like to own one car not two and

spend more money on maybe remodeling

their kitchen than buying another car

and they'd like to be able for their

kids to walk to school they'd like to be

able to bike to work on nice days not

everybody has to live this way this is

not some radical agenda forcing

Americans out of their single-family

homes this is about choice that's an

American value and it actually resonates

in all kinds of American places for more

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