Synopses & Reviews
Oregon Plans provides a rich, detailed, and nuanced analysis of the origins and early evolution of Oregon’s nationally renowned land use planning program. Drawing primarily on archival sources, Sy Adler explores the dynamics of passing the key state laws that set the statewide program into motion, establishing the agency charged with implementing those laws, adopting the land use planning goals that are the heart of the Oregon system, and monitoring and enforcing the implementation of those goals through a unique citizen organization. Adler brings to life the key actors associated with Oregon’s land use planning activities and organizations, highlighting the significant roles played by environmental activists, industry groups including homebuilders and realtors, local governments, and state officials. He reveals the conflicts and compromises that these parties with competing interests negotiated.
Oregon Plans both informs those new to Oregon and reminds long-time residents about controversial historic issues and the consequential choices that were made to address them during the mid-1970s. The book will interest anyone involved in land use, conservation, and environmental issues—from citizens to officials to developers—in Oregon and beyond.
A volume in the Culture and Environment in the West series. Series editor: William L. Lang
Synopsis
Oregon Plans provides a rich, detailed, and nuanced analysis of the origins and early evolution of Oregon’s nationally renowned land use planning program. Drawing primarily on archival sources, Sy Adler describes the passage of key state laws that set the program into motion by establishing the agency charged with implementing those laws, adopting the land-use planning goals that are the heart of the Oregon system, and monitoring and enforcing the implementation of those goals through a unique citizen organization.
Oregon Plans documents the consequential choices and compromises that were made in the 1970s to control growth and preserve Oregon's quality of life. Environmental activists, farmers, industry groups, local governments, and state officials all played significant roles. Adler brings these actors—among them governors Tom McCall and Robert Straub, business leaders John Gray and Glenn Jackson, 1000 Friends of Oregon, and the Oregon Home Builders Association—to life.
"Adler's story is about unusual conditions, purposeful action, dynamic personalities, and the messiness of democratic and bureaucratic processes. His conclusions reveal much about how Oregonians defined liveability in the late twentieth century." —William L. Lang, from the Preface
A volume in the Culture and Environment in the West series. Series editor: William L. Lang
About the Author
SY ADLER is a professor of urban studies and planning at Portland State University. He is co-author of Planning a New West: The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, co-editor of Planning the Oregon Way: A Twenty-Year Evaluation, and author of numerous articles on on urban planning and transit.