[sustran] New Urbanism, Portland and THE ECONOMIST

Eric Bruun ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu
Tue Jan 20 00:15:25 JST 1998


The Census data up to 1990 that Cox cites below is very obsolete. The
infill craze, and there really is some infill going on, is over the last
few years. However, it is still limited and is causing a lot of hardship
for people of modest means as real estate values approach those of 
San Francisco. Cox is right that the average density is lower
than Los Angeles, as LA does have some dense areas.  However, I think the
data will show that Portland is increasing in density, and not decreasing
like almost every other city. Eric Bruun


On Fri, 16 Jan 1998, Wendell Cox wrote:

> Article in current issue of THE ECONOMIST suggests that Portland's 2 decade
> old urban growth boundary had forced infilling development. US Census Bureau
> data for the 1980-1990 period indicates no such trend (latest data
> available). Among 10 US urbanized areas with  more than 1 million
> population, Portland ranked last in percentage density increase. Ranked 7th
> in overall density --- barely half that of Los Angeles.
> 
> Details at...
> 
> http://www.publicpurpose.com/dm-uargn.htm
> 
> Best regards,
> Wendell Cox
> WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY
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