Transportation Livability Hub

Sustainable Communities Partnership - Oregon Community Dialogue

The Regional and Division Administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency, Housing and Urban Development and Department of Transportation are working with the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC) to convene a one-day, statewide, community dialogue to discuss their joint Partnership for Sustainable Communities today (June 30, 2010) at Willamette University.

Attendees represent a balanced representation of subject (transportation, housing, environment), geography (statewide, regional, local), and sector (public, private, academic, NGO).

The purpose of the event is to “increase awareness and understanding of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities; to receive input from state, regional, and local participants about opportunities and needs to inform our efforts; and, to catalyze an enhanced level of participation throughout Oregon.” The meeting will include presentations by the Administrators and workshop discussions facilitated by the National Policy Consensus Center.

New Visions for Suburbia

Suburban multifamily housing makes up the fastest-growing housing market in the country. Townhouses, condos and apartment complexes bring density to suburbia. They are also often located close to commercial areas. For these reasons, they offer the potential for active transportation and mixed-use development. Yet this potential rarely becomes a reality. Professor Nico Larco’s OTREC project explores why inaccessible, disconnected forms of suburban multifamily development dominate. The project draws on interviews with architects, planners, developers, and property managers of developments in four states. It proposes ways in which current practices might shift in order to create more livable, less congested, and multi-modal suburban communities. To read the report in it's entirety go to: http://otrec.us/project/152

HUD Unveils Office of Sustainable Housing & Communities at PSU

OTREC was honored to be a part of Secretary Shaun Donovan's unveiling of the new Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities. The office will be led by Shelley Poticha.  To coincide with the unveiling, Secretary Donovan led a forum on Sustainability alongside Governor Ted Kulongoski, with prepared remarks from Senator Jeff Merkley & Representative Earl Blumenauer. He stated that, "Everyone wants to be like Portland" and that the new direction is a part of understanding that the US is "not a path that is sustainable." Part of the new direction includes rediscovering central cities, access to light rail, and commuter rail. At the event were Assistant Professor Nico Larco who spearheads research relating to sustainable suburbs, John MacArthur who is leading efforts around electric vehicle readiness in Oregon, and Hau Hagedorn OTREC Research Program Manager.

Livability, a Transportation "Threefer"

OTREC was used as a UTC Spotlight on livable communities. Livable communities are places that achieve economic prosperity, environmental quality, and social equity -the "three Es" of sustainability. In terms of transportation, they are places where transportation modes other than driving are viable for activities such as walking or biking to school. The built environment of a livable community yields lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduced dependence on foreign oil, and improvements in public health (which are associated with lower health care costs). Interest in livability has been accelerated recently by an increased focus on the relationship between urban form and transportation. The childhood obesity epidemic has fueled interest in events such as "bike and walk to school day" across the country.

Several OTREC researchers who are currently involved in livability research include: Dr. Yizhao Yang's who's research examines whether and how getting to school influences where parents decide to live; Nico Larco's and his investigation into Sustainable Suburbs; and Dr. Marc Schlossberg and his extensive development of participatory mapping tools for accessing walkable communities.