Issues

Get the back story on current issues. Learn how Oregon’s planning system protects the places we love.

Blueprint for Oregon's Future

Key Strategies to Help Us Meet Our Goals

Oregonians broadly agree about how we should go about meeting our common goals in face of these challenges. Our land use planning and transportation systems have taken some initial steps, but to truly succeed we must:

Make our towns and neighborhoods safer and healthier. Few factors affect the health and safety of our children and ourselves as much as neighborhood design. Crime rates are at their lowest when neighbors know each other, and this happens best when neighborhood design encourages people to interact. In well-planned neighborhoods, transportation is safe and accessible for people of all ages, with parks, schools, work, and shopping near our homes. People have choices in how to get around. Safety is enhanced with houses oriented toward sidewalks, bicycle lanes, neighborhood stores and parks, and schools within walking and biking distance. These neighborhoods encourage the active daily lifestyle that can stave off obesity, diabetes, and other conditions that are increasingly prevalent in today’s society.

Invest in farming and forestry. We must ensure family farming and forestry remain economically rewarding, as they are key elements in Oregon’s economy. This will require increased protection of Oregon’s best farm and forest land from incompatible uses that can be located elsewhere. It will also mean investing in farming and forestry as industries and finding economic opportunities such as mixing wind power generation with farming and expanding value-added processing opportunities.

Protect Oregon’s special places. Oregon’s tourism industry brings in $7.9 billion each year. Our rolling farmland, verdant forests, sweeping coastline, and beautiful mountains provide limitless opportunities for residents and visitors alike to explore our state. Oregon should identify and protect Oregon’s special places as complete landscapes, including working farms and forests, water resources, scenic and natural areas, fish and wildlife habitat, and publicly owned recreation lands. We should also protect Oregon’s coast, mountains, rivers and lakes, the high desert and canyon country, and natural areas within cities.

Plan for transportation given today’s climate threats and tomorrow’s needs. We have to stop planning transportation as if it were 1950. As our population ages, budgets shrink, and climate warms, we need to make transportation investments that reduce our need to drive, rather than build projects designed decades ago that increase our need to drive. Our investments need to be better coordinated with our larger goals and land use strategies, and meet the needs of all Oregonians, not just those who can drive.

Provide more parks, trails, and natural areas. As Oregon’s population grows, we need to ensure our communities provide places for people to play and enjoy activities such as wildlife viewing, hiking, hunting, fishing, and biking. Oregon should expand its system of state parks and recreation areas, and communities must ensure there are comprehensive networks of parks, trails and natural areas for families to enjoy for physical and mental health. These also provide economic benefits by reducing flooding, cleaning the air, and increasing property values.

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