Fellow Story
McClintock quoted on Portland's disappearing affordable bungalow
Last November, Portland Metro voted for the first time not to expand its boundary. It wasn’t much of a surprise; people want to live near downtown, not on the fringes, and the Metro area has plenty of developable land. But you could also say it was a vote to preserve the essence of Portland by protecting what it was not willing to risk: the pristine Willamette Valley land that surrounded it.
“The urban growth boundary is there to protect farmland, but in some ways it’s very much attracting people to Portland,” says Nathan McClintock, an assistant professor of urban studies at Portland State University. “People aren’t moving to Oregon to go without countryside. They’re moving to Portlandia, essentially.”
