Metro, the Port of Portland, Portland Business Alliance, Business Oregon and the Oregon Chapter of NAIOP are undertaking a comprehensive review of the region’s inventory of large industrial sites and assessing their readiness to support new private-sector jobs.

Boards agree to make some changes to so-called Duyck/Hughes proposal. After later procedural votes, plan heads to state for review.

The Metro Council will soon consider improvements to the Portland region’s growth rules that will require more effective and efficient use of existing public investments and that improve the management and accountability of public services. Metro’s goal is to ensure the region makes the most of its existing cities as part of the agency’s long-term strategy to provide good jobs, protect valuable farm and forest land and preserve outdoor recreation opportunities. Four public hearings will be held throughout the region over the next three weeks.

The site of Ava Roasteria, a free-trade coffee house in Beaverton, was once home to an auto body shop that contaminated the site with the petroleum-based products it used. Due to the perseverance of Amy Saberiyan, the owner and developer of the property, the contaminated site was cleaned and the old underground gas tanks removed. As the first brownfield redevelopment in all Beaverton, Ava Roasteria has grown to become a community asset and a model for how urban areas can recycle contaminated lands and make the most of existing commercial properties in key locations.

The council addressed the urban growth boundary as a board for the first time at a Tuesday worksession, and at least four councilors said they were comfortable with saying the region will need about 15,000 new residential units to meet state capacity requirements.

On Aug. 26, Metro chief Michael Jordan presented his ideas about a Community Investment Strategy to a crowd of more than 150 business leaders, public officials and other interested citizens that attended a forum sponsored by the Westside Economic Alliance and the Clackamas County Business Alliance. Read the questions presented at the forum and the responses given.

Metro Chief Operating Officer Michael Jordan presented his recommendations on a Community Investment Strategy to the Washington County Farm Bureau at its Aug. 17 meeting. Much of Jordan's discussion focused on ways to improve the capacity of the existing urban growth boundary to accommodate future growth by targeting public investments, such as urban renewal, transportation funding and tax incentives, in a manner that encourages the private sector to develop projects that accommodate new residents and attract new jobs.

On August 10^th, 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; and reduce inefficiency, foster innovation and demand accountability. The strategy is designed to make the most of existing communities, support good jobs, and protect natural areas. As a Metro councilor, I am keenly interested in your viewpoints on how and where we should invest as well as how, where and if we should expand the urban growth boundary to accommodate future residential and employment growth. As a region, we all have the ability and responsibility to shape the communities we want and the economy we need. I look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions.