Complex decision:  Sustainable Waterfront Example

One constraint faced by Portland was to achieve these goals while managing to their urban growth boundary (red line on map).  The urban growth boundary is one of the tools used to protect farms and forests from urban sprawl and to promote the efficient use of land, public facilities and services inside the boundary. Land inside the urban growth boundary supports urban services such as roads, water and sewer systems, parks, schools and fire and police protection that create thriving places to live, work and play. Inside the boundary, urban growth is permissible, but outside the boundary, land and natural resources are protected.  

Other benefits of the boundary include:

• motivation to develop and redevelop land and buildings in the urban core
• assurance for businesses and local governments about where to place infrastructure needed for future development
• use of limited resources to make existing roads, transit service and other services more efficient

The urban growth boundary was not intended to be static. Since the late 1970s, the boundary has been moved about three dozen times.  The Metropolitan Regional Government (Metro) is responsible for managing the Portland metropolitan region's urban growth boundary and is required by state law to have a 20-year supply of land for future residential development inside the boundary. Every five years, Metro is required to review the land supply and, if necessary, expand the boundary to meet that requirement.

In 2007, the Oregon legislature enacted a law that allowed the three Portland area counties (Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington) and the metropolitan regional government (Metro) to work together to identify land suitable for future urban development (urban reserves) as well as land suitable for long-term protection of farms, forests and/or natural areas (rural reserves).  This regional process for identifying Urban and Rural Reserves was designed to meet these needs for the Portland Metropolitan Area for the next 40-50 years.