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Supporting a strong local economy, creating good jobs, and making it faster and easier for people and businesses in the region to get where they need to go takes strong leadership and cooperation. But getting any of that done takes good relationships. The strategy has worked well for Metro Council President Tom Hughes in his former roles, and it's one he's using now as he visits chambers of commerce throughout the region to build relationships with local businesses and community leaders. Hughes has spent time with owners and managers of businesses large and small, discovering the challenges they face and how Metro might be able to help. Hughes' tours were organized by the chambers' presidents, and include conversations about transportation and land use as well as economic development.

Advocates for the east side of the Portland metropolitan region agreed that economic vitality, livability, safety and environmental quality should be enhanced by the East Metro Connections Plan - a community investment strategy that will identify specific transportation, community and economic development projects in Fairview, Gresham, Troutdale, Wood Village and Multnomah County.

Fisher has guided open space network efforts in the Twin Cities and St. Louis. He's been in the Portland region all week talking about strategies for linking trail and parks networks in both Oregon and southwest Washington. One key message - "The parks are not the system. The region is the system."

The Metro Council wants the public to comment on three options for redrawing the boundaries of Council districts. Every ten years, following the completion of the U.S. Census, the Metro Council is required to evaluate whether each of its six districts are of relatively equal population and adjust the district boundaries as necessary to provide for equal representation.

Some natural areas make a splash with hiking trails or high-profile locations. Others – including a growing swath of land in western Multnomah County –  quietly go about the business of protecting water quality and wildlife habitat, fulfilling two objectives of Metro’s voter-approved Natural Areas Program. Metro recently purchased 37 acres along North Abbey Creek, creating a natural area of nearly 120 acres combined with three previously protected, side-by-side properties.

Metro Regional Travel Options and Bigfish Folding Bikes will host a presentation on the role of folding bikes in transportation from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 3, in rooms 370A and B at Metro Regional Center, 600 NE Grand Ave. in Portland. Bigfish Folding Bikes works with cities across the country to incorporate folding bikes into transit use, giving commuters an easy solution for traveling the first and last mile trips to and from the transit stations.

Explore the wildlife of the Pacific Northwest with Metro this week. Bring your binoculars to Banks to search for elusive marsh birds like the American bittern and Virginia Rail. Come to Metro's Regional Center in Portland to find out why there are so many bullfrogs in Oregon, or discover the difference between amphibians and reptiles. Metro has many more activities waiting for you this week. The best part is, most of the events are low-cost or free, and registration can be completed online.

The Knoll at Tigard, a 48-unit apartment complex for seniors of modest means, opened April 21 in an area with a high concentration of low-income seniors and a need for affordable housing. Funded in part by Metro's Transit-Oriented Development Program, the four-story, energy efficient building is helping Tigard revitalize and re-green its city center. Learn more about the first housing development built in Tigard's Downtown Urban Renewal District and how it's moving Tigard toward becoming a full spectrum housing city.

The first of three discussion groups will take place this Wednesday, April 27, to talk about potential improvements at the Glendoveer Golf Course and Fitness Trail. The discussion groups will further explore themes and issues heard in surveys conducted both onsite and online about the facility and deepen Metro’s understanding of community values surrounding the Glendoveer facilities. The discussion groups will take place at the City of Portland’s Water House, 1616 NE 140th Ave., Portland, on the following dates and times: