the renewed city.

portland is dubbed the mecca of urban planning in north america. i got the chance on a recent trip down united states way to see it for myself.

i’ll start with this: the mecca moniker certainly suits it well. the city has the smallest blocks on the continent (even putting new york and vancouver to shame). pockets of mixed use extend beyond the downtown where shops and everyday services like pubs, post offices, grocers, banks and laundromats are scattered throughout housing tracts in the city’s neighbourhoods and corridors. medium density development characterizes the entire town. even the swanky homes on nob hill are, to swipe a verse from thom yorke, packt together like sardines in crushed tin box.

and those are just the big ticket items. the city even gets the little things right. street art and pedestrianized intersection are very common. public drinking fountains are found at almost every intersection (perfect for those 100 degree plus days!). there are big, bright and readable maps setup throughout the city for pedestrians and bike route signs that give you an estimated time before you reach major intersections or destinations. even the (very neat) MAX light rail transit system gets in on the action. all of the system’s platforms are at-grade allowing for better access for all kinds of people. the system extends throughout the city and is not just limited to a one or two corridors. did i mention it’s free to ride in the downtown as well?

throw in a firm urban boundary keeping new growth contained and a geographically small city and the result is a very walkable, well-planned and most importantly, accessible, community. i was in heaven.

and so my girlfriend julie and i took advantage and walked. we walked everywhere. hawthorne, downtown, nob hill, 21st/23rd avenue, and the pearl district. but, here’s the kicker. aside from the tourists, it seemed nobody else was. the weather couldn’t be blamed. it was the most gorgeous weekend of the year with temperatures in the 90s and not a cloud in the sky. what gives? why doesn’t it work?

some recent writing by bill mckibben lends some ideas to why this is the case. in an essay entitled “if you built it, will they change”, he questions whether our built environment has the capacity to bring about real change in our behaviour, travel or otherwise. he writes: “has it [a more pedestrian-friendly urban form] managed to bring out the part of [human] nature … that likes the public world, the world of parks and plazas and ballrooms and theaters, that likes to rub shoulders with the rest of the city? change like this is essential if we are to deal with the environmental and social questions we face.”

culture is a funny thing, very malleable. our current culture of paranoia, self-centered mindsets is the product of the media, terrorism, consumerism, the economy, plastic surgery. but, the built environment certainly helps too. suburbs mean more driving and less social interaction. as planners, our work and communities provide the medium for cultural change to happen. it’s certainly not a panacea. portland is a good case in point. but everything helps, right?