At www.oregonmetro.gov/greatplaces, you can view interactive maps and download reports about each of 10 areas being considered.

Metro announced this morning plans to add another open house to answer questions and take public comment regarding Metro Chief Operating Officer Michael Jordan's recommended community investment strategy. The event will be held at the St. Johns Community Center in North Portland on Tuesday Sep. 21 from 5 to 7 p.m.  

On Aug. 10, Metro Chief Operating Officer Michael Jordan released a Community Investment Strategy that calls for our region to invest in safe, livable communities, promote economic development and good jobs, protect our natural areas, reduce inefficiency, foster innovation and demand accountability. The recommendations call for cities, counties, service districts, Metro, the state or Oregon, and businesses throughout the region to find innovative and cooperative solutions to the challenges we face. You can do your part by adding your voice to this important conversation. Learn more online, attend an open house in September and share your views with the Metro Council.

Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder meets with the Bicycle Transportation Alliance.

Despite a few specific complaints, the members of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance board were generally receptive Tuesday to Metro staff's growth report, saying it emphasized goals of reducing greenhouse gases, protecting the environment and making transportation more usable.

Metro today released the results of a public opinion survey designed to develop valid and statistically reliable information regarding the attitudes of residents about the quality of life in the region and growth management principles. Six hundred voters in the Metro region were randomly selected and interviewed on the phone between July 31 and Aug. 3, 2009. The margin of error for the survey is +/- 4 percent.

During the next three decades, about 1 million more people will call the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region home, with 700,000 of them living within the urban growth boundary. To plan for this growth, Metro and its partners have focused on an effort called Making the Greatest Place. Its focus is to help us continue making good choices so we maintain our quality of life and plan how our region grows.

In the next few months, the Metro Council and other local governments will make decisions about how much farm and forest land to protect, where we should grow during the next 50 years and the best way to invest our limited money on creating jobs and making the most of our existing bridges, roads, trails and public transit.