David Bragdon

KINK radio's "Speaking Freely" show recently featured an in-depth interview with Metro Council President David Bragdon. President Bragdon shared his thoughts on what he believes led to the bitter campaign over Measures 66 and 67, the local business environment moving forward and his philosophy on what governments can do to help local economies. He also talked about the key transportation projects, the benefits of land use planning and the urban growth boundary, renovations coming up at the Oregon Zoo and the future of Metro's newest natural area, Chehalem Ridge. Go to the audio cast

At an extended Metro Policy Advisory Committee meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 27, local elected officials and regional representatives discussed policy questions relating to urban and rural reserves and also made recommendations to the Metro Council on a number of specific areas around the region. Before digging into details of specific areas, MPAC members were cautioned by Metro Council President David Bragdon to remember why they supported this process in the first place and what the region stands to lose if the process fails.

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Four local elected officials, two from Oregon and two from Washington, today warned the governors of Oregon and Washington that the current Columbia River Crossing project "as currently proposed still imposes unacceptable impacts on our communities."

According to Metro Council President Bragdon, "The proposal currently on the table is stalled in controversy, with an unacceptably high financial and environmental price tag. We believe this re-direction - lead by a stronger local role -- can get us back on the path to an affordable effective project that serves the public well."

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Metro's Natural Areas program started 2010 with big news - literally - by purchasing 1,143 acres of forestland in the Chehalem Mountains of the Tualatin Valley. It's the largest acquisition in the history of the Portland region's two voter-approved natural area bond measures.

The new Chehalem Ridge Natural Area, south of Forest Grove, is one of the metropolitan area's biggest remaining swaths of undeveloped forest. At about the size of Oxbow Regional Park, the property is positioned to protect water quality and wildlife habitat in the Tualatin River Basin and serve as a scenic and recreational resource for the region.

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David Bragdon's speech at the Urban Land Institute "Emerging Trends in Real Estate" breakfast in December 2009

Each year the U.L.I. forecast describes the past year and current situation in the real estate industry, then forecasts the next few years. It usually describes and forecasts normal cycles, up and down. But no matter how many years you've been reading this report - even if you were reading it over the past several recessions - none of us have ever read a version like this year's. This year's report is different not only because the past year or so was such a steep slide and not only because the outlook for the next several quarters is so grim - though those observations are accurate as well - this year's report is unique because as a reader I get the sense that I am not reading about a lull between cycles but am reading about a transition between two eras - and that when the market comes back it will be fundamentally altered from the market of the past couple decades.

Anybody's crystal ball is fuzzy for the next several years - if there is anyone who still claims to have one after the past year. Fortunately or unfortunately I have the job of looking out, on the public sector side, into a crystal ball far beyond the next several years. The Metro Council is responsible for making decisions about land use and infrastructure for the next forty years.

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