Livable Portland Land Use and Transportation Initiatives
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Livable Portland Land Use and Transportation Initiatives November 2010 Capital Projects 710 NE Holladay Street Portland, OR 97232 503-962-2150 trimet.org Preface At TriMet, we are proud of our contribution to the livability of the Portland region. We have seen enormous growth here since 1969 when the agency was formed. In that time, due to numerous visionary leaders and passionate citizen involvement that increases with each passing year, this region has made great strides in enhancing our sustainability, livability and economic vitality. One of the key tools in making this work has been to integrate land use and transportation planning, policy and development. TriMet’s role is to provide service across our district in ways that encourage the kind of growth this region has said it wants to accommodate in 2040. The result of this marriage of smart transportation investments—particularly transit— and land use planning is more compact, efficient cities that are easier to serve with non-automobile transportation modes. A fundamental measure of our success is whether more people can conveniently meet their needs Neil McFarlane by walking, rolling, biking or transit without adding to traffic congestion, TriMet General Manager emissions and other local, regional and global impacts. Reliable and frequent bus, light rail and streetcar service, combined with attention to bicycle and pedestrian mobility, make it possible for more and more people to choose not to drive for many or all of their daily needs. The numbers tell the story of this region’s success. Between 1997 and 2007, TriMet ridership grew faster than the region’s population, the amount of service we provide, and the number of miles that people drove. This region has been bucking the national trend since 1996. During that time the average number of miles driven per person each day has grown nationwide, but it has shrunk here. This fosters more economic activity through dollars saved on vehicle purchases and maintenance, along with a reduction in negative impacts from congestion and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, yielding not just local and regional benefits, but national and global ones as well. TriMet Ridership 42% TriMet Service 12% % Change 1998-2008 Population 15% Daily Vehicle Miles of Travel 9% (DVMT) 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Growth Rates More than $8 billion of new development has occurred in light rail station areas. A study of MAX Blue Line light rail station areas found that development occurring after light rail investment has an average development density or Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 0.65 more than the average FAR for development outside of station areas. This means that for every 1,000 square feet of land area developed, station area taxlots realized an additional 650 square feet of building area. The rate of development within Blue Line station areas was 69 percent higher than elsewhere within a one-mile corridor extending along the light rail alignment. Low and moderate value lots within Blue Line station areas redeveloped at twice the redevelopment rate reported for low value lots outside of station areas. Even as transit has become an amenity with value to a growing market segment, we continue to be mindful of the critical assistance transit can provide low income households. Through its joint development program, TriMet has made land available for more than 350 affordable housing units. Furthermore, according to AAA the average cost of car ownership in the U.S. in 2009 was $8,487 per year based on 15,000 miles of driving and gas priced at $2.60 a gallon. Even after deducting the cost of a TriMet annual transit pass, eliminating that car could free up $627 a month for rent, a mortgage, education, quality childcare, retirement savings or other household choices. Applied across our region, savings on transportation costs are substantial. Residents of the Portland region on average travel four miles less each day than those in comparable cities in the United States. That means the region drives 2.9 billion fewer miles and saves $1.1 billion in travel costs (fuel, vehicle wear and tear, insurance, permits, etc.) annually. The value in annual travel time savings is estimated to be $1.6 billion. TriMet is, of course, just one member of a team. The 1.7 million residents of this region, tens of thousands of businesses, thousands of neighborhood, business, and community groups, one nationally unique elected regional government, and 26 city and county jurisdictions have contributed to these successes. We sometimes disagree about details but we all share the same general vision of a livable, prosperous region surrounded by viable farms, forests and recreational opportunities. This publication tracks the evolution of our light rail system, describes the land use planning efforts that support vibrant station areas and illustrates our approach with selected transit-oriented developments and self-guided tours. Through these pages you will see how partnerships among regional agencies, local governments, private sector investors and citizen activists have shaped this place. We try to learn from our own experiences, and we want to share with you what we can to help your region pursue its own vision. We hope the examples in this book will help. Livable Portland: Land Use and Transportation Initiatives Table of Contents Chapter One—The Oregon Story 1 Chapter Two—Regional Governance and Policy 9 Regional and Transit System Maps 18 Chapter Three—Portland City Center 21 Transit-Oriented Development 28 Portland Mall Tour 33 Pearl District TOD Tour 37 South Waterfront TOD Tour 41 Downtown Portland Bike Tour 45 Chapter Four—Eastside 49 Transit-Oriented Development 55 Eastside TOD Tour 62 Chapter Five—Westside 69 Transit-Oriented Development 74 Westside TOD Tour 81 Chapter Six—North and Northeast Portland 85 Transit-Oriented Development 91 Interstate TOD/Alberta Main Street Tour 95 Williams/Mississippi Bike Tour 99 Chapter Seven—Southeast Portland and North Clackamas County 103 Transit-Oriented Development 107 Hawthorne/Belmont Main Streets Tour 112 Annotated TOD Bibliography 116 Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach is located on the North Oregon Coast. The 1967 Oregon Beach Bill granted free public access to the entire coast. Photo: flickr.com/photos/arcticpuppy/ Chapter One The Oregon Story Coastal condo-mania, sagebrush subdivisions and the ravenous rampage of “ suburbia, here in the Willamette Valley, threaten to mock Oregon’s status as the environmental model of this nation…The interest of Oregon for today and in the future must be protected from the grasping wastrels of the land.” — Governor Tom McCall, January 8, 1973 Governor McCall’s colorful oratory in support The program’s mission states that it will of land use planning was hardly a rallying cry “Support all of our partners in creating and to create great cities. In fact, the politics of the implementing comprehensive plans that reflect nation’s first statewide land use regimen, adopted and balance the statewide planning goals, the Livable Portland • The Story Oregon Portland • Livable by the Oregon legislature in 1973, originated vision of citizens, and the interests of local, from decidedly anti-urban politics. A mostly rural state, federal and tribal governments.” Tools Oregon declared: keep your city off our farm and meant to support this mission include state forest land. Few at the time would have guessed legislation, the 19 statewide planning goals and that more than 30 years later we can credit local comprehensive plans. Republican Governor McCall and the powerful Massive changes in Oregon and land use duo of the agricultural and timber industries with planning have occurred since SB 100 was establishing the framework for Portland’s “grow enacted. Local plans and ordinances are in place, up, not out” urban form. and zoning largely protects farm and forest land. DLCD now strives to see that urban development Oregon Land Use Planning is done efficiently to minimize the expansion of urban land, to limit infrastructure costs and to Program assure that affordable housing is provided. The passage of the Oregon Land Use Planning Program—Senate Bill 100—in 1973 launched Urban growth boundaries Oregon on a new, difficult and exciting program Urban growth boundaries (UGBs) are a central of statewide land use planning. The bill created tenet of the Oregon Land Use Planning Program a partnership in planning between the state and adopted in 1973. By creating the boundaries, its 241 cities and 36 counties. It set standards for legislators sought to ensure the preservation and local plans, created an agency to administer them viability of farmland by limiting city growth and and provided grants to help local governments preventing “leap-frogging” suburbs. The Portland meet those standards. metropolitan area boundary encompasses 24 cities and the urban portions of three counties. The Oversight Portland UGB is administered by Metro, the area’s Oregon’s Land Use Planning Program elected regional government. provides protection of farm and forest lands, The objectives of UGBs are to: conservation of natural resources, orderly and efficient development, coordination among • plan for and promote a compact and efficient local governments, and citizen involvement. urban form The Oregon Department of Land Conservation • improve the efficiency of public facilities and and Development (DLCD) administers the services program. The department is directed by a seven- • preserve prime farm and forest lands outside member citizen commission, appointed by the the boundary governor and called the Land Conservation and UGBs limit urban sprawl and reduce the cost Development Commission (LCDC). of providing urban services. They also assure agricultural uses outside the boundary and enable farmers to make long-term investments. 2 2 Nearly 7,000 so-called “regulatory taking” claims Oregon’s Statewide were filed as a result in Measure 37, setting off a The Story Oregon Portland • Livable Planning Goals frenzy of land use hearings in communities around the state and causing considerable confusion 1.