Commentary

What City Observatory did this week More climate fraud in Portland Metro’s proposed regional transportation plan.  We branded Metro’s proposed Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) a climate fraud because in falsely claimed the region was reducing greenhouse gases, and falsely claimed its transportation investments were on track to meet adopted state climate goals. Metro’ staff has […]

What City Observatory did this week Britain’s Caste system of transportation.  In a cynical ploy to revive the Conservative Party’s flagging electoral hopes, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has engaged in some blatant pro-motorist posturing. Saying that drivers “feel under attack” Sunak has declared that Britain is “a nation of drivers.”  Sunak’s claim highlights what we’ve

Must Read Portland:  Four Floors and Corner Stores–Upzoning for urban development and housing affordability.  A coalition of community, enviornmental and social justice groups is advocating for a YIMBY strategy for more housing in Portland’s close-in Eastside neighborhoods.  Like many US cities, Portland faces tight housing markets, affordability challenges.  This strategy aims at improving affordability by

What City Observatory did this week What if we regulated new car ownership the same way we do new housing?  Getting a building permit for a new house is difficult, expensive, and in some places, simply impossible.  In contrast, everywhere in the US, you can get a vehicle registration automatically, just for paying a prescribed

What City Observatory did this week What apartment consolidation in New York tells us about housing markets and gentrification.  A new study shows that over the past several decades, New York City lost more than 100,000 homes due to the combination of smaller, more affordable apartments into larger, more luxurious homes When rich people can’t

New York lost more than 100,000 homes due to the combination of smaller, more affordable apartments into larger, more luxurious homes When rich people can’t buy new luxury housing, they buy up, and combine small apartments to create larger homes. This is a negative sum game:  the number of housing units gained by high income

What City Observatory did this week Rose Quarter:  Death throes of a bungled boondoggle.  For years, we’ve been following the tortured Oregon Department of Transportation Plans to widen a 1.5 mile stretch of I-5 near downtown Portland.  The past few months show this project is in serious trouble.  Here’s a summary of our reporting of

What City Observatory did this week Metro’s Climate-Denial Regional Transportation Plan.  Portland’s regional governtment, Metro, has published a draft Regional Transportation Plan, outlining priorities for transportation investments for the next two decades, and ostensibly, aiming to deal with transportation greenhouse gas emissions, the largest source of climate pollution in the region.  But unfortunately, the RTP,

Portland Metro’s Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) does nothing to prioritize projects and expenditures that reduce greenhouse gases Metro falsely asserts that because its overall plan will be on a path to reduce GHGs (it wont), it can simply ignore the greenhouse gas emissions of spending billions to widen freeways The RTP’s climate policies don’t apply