Portland, Oregon: Where Kombucha-Scented Money Dreams Come True

Not only that they stopped urban sprawl and have a world class public transit system.

For there pains they are considered " too white"

It *is* too white. And they haven't stopped urban sprawl. Check it:

http://www.sprawlcity.org/portland.html

Money quote:

"If metro Portland's population continues to grow and if the Portland public' s desire for breathing room and reasonably priced housing trumps its desire to contain or slow sprawl, the Portland Experiment of 1980 to 2000 may not be the exemplar of what Americans may be persuaded to adopt. Rather, it may be an example of Smart Growth controls that even the most ecologically minded and motivated Americans won't accept over the long run.

The lesson would not be that the Smart Growth efforts of Portland were wrong-headed but that the best-thought plans cannot create a protective wall for nature that will withstand the continuous onslaught of population growth."

"The law does seem to have had a positive effect in reducing sprawl in the state, but certainly not in stopping it cold. Greater Portland not only stayed aesthetically pleasing but met the Smart Growth goal of increasing density greatly. In the decade prior to the imposition of the Urban Growth Boundary, new population was added at the density of 2,448 per square mile. In the decade after the imposition of the Boundary, it was added at the density of 3,744 per square mile. That was a 53% increase in density, a major achievement"

Double money quote.

"If Portland public' s desire for breathing room and reasonably priced housing trumps its desire to contain or slow sprawl,"

People are moving there precisely to escape sprawl. If they simply wanted a BIG house, Phoenix, Miami, Las Vegas, Denver etc.. would be happy to supply.

While Portland is whiter than a lot of major American cities, I wouldn't say it's too white. Maybe it's because I've lived in a lot of small towns across the country, but I'd definitely say that it's the rest of America that is too white.

I can't imagine the obloquy I'd bring down on my head if said "Oh that city's too black/latino/asian"

I can't imagine you're unaware of the historical reasons a city of only white people makes me really uncomfortable.

@mindpowered: Yeah, I guess, but fuck how white people feel.

@deepomega: You're absolutely right. But Portland is far from "only white". While it is overwhelmingly white by the numbers, there are sizeable Asian, Latin, Middle Eastern and black populations in the city (although those last three certainly exist more in the poorer neighborhoods). I just think people that don't live here have the idea that it's like a Gap commercial out here. And it's not nearly that far-gone.

@Deep Omega would you classify Glasgow or Liverpool as too white? With bad historical connections(Both were centers of the slave trade)?

Portland is an attempt to do something different, shake off decades of bad urban planning. All are welcome, but if you want to let your own innate bias keep you from experiencing it far be it from me to force you there. But saying you want to dance on it's ashes comes across, deeply similar to this.

Portland is the whitest city per capita in the country. "Black precincts" are majority white.

If you live in NE or SE Portland, you will never ever run across anything or anyone that will offend you or challenge your existing beliefs. Some people are into that.

CAJUN tater tots, even.

uh, think again. brooklyn has been aping *OUR* shit. we've been at this for decade. brooklyn's gentrification and ironic trucker caps with hoodies and big black rim glasses is soooooo '99. we were doing this when brooklyn was still run by spike lee and mike tyson.