Taking on Gresham Girth (or: Tigard Tubbiness, Beaverton Obesity, Hillsboro Heft)

A research paper by two Oregon State University professors is creating a classic chicken-egg question. Wait—on second thought maybe I shouldn’t use any food metaphors.

It has already been documented that people who live in compact urban areas that favor pedestrians, cyclists and mass transit as much as cars weigh on average about six pounds less. But Stephanie Bernell and Andrew Plantinga, the OSU researchers, argue that trying to transform suburbs so that the automobile is no longer the only viable means of travel is a lost cause because that’s what overweight people want.

If overweight people eschew the opportunity to, say, walk to the grocery store two blocks away instead of driving there, they have every right to do so. Moreover, we should accept them for who they are and not treat obesity as some kind of shameful loss of personal control. That said, the idea that sound urban planning principles are somehow not worth following because some people will not take up the incidental exercise opportunities inherent to these communities, is totally ridiculous.

Greater obesity is but one of countless examples that sprawling suburban communities are not sustainable in their current form. Now, if there are people in Beaverton or Gresham or other ‘burbs reading this who feel offended, I am sorry. It’s not that we in Portland expect all of you to sell your car and move to a highrise condo tower. There merely ought to be options other than having to drive everywhere.

Comments

[Mark]

Bethany is a great example of how this is NOT true. Sure, there are probably plenty of hefty people living there, but the area has been planned with parkways, lots of sidewalks, jogging paths, and a commercial center with a grocery, Starbucks, a few restaurants--in other words, places to GO. And the sidewalks and streets are full of cyclists, joggers, people walking their dogs, etc. I believe this is one of the reasons that Bethany is one of the more desirable places to live in the 'burbs. It's worth making the effort to design them the right way in the first place.

[Ray Whitford]

Gresham has everything within walking distance (we are currently asking Traders Joe to look at locating in Gresham, someone for two years has been trying on his own, now he has businesses helping him). The densities in Hillsboro, Gresham, etc. are going to increase for the same reason the density is increasing in PDX. Some of us want to walk to our activities. Some town centers have more than others. For my money, Gresham has everything within walking distance (movie house, tons of resturants/bars/coffee shops, library, shops, parks, trails, weekend farmers market, post office, banks, etc.. Alot of people drive into Gresham though.

There is plans for a possible transit line (bus lane or streetcar) from Gresham TC to MHCC then on to Troutdale and finally to the planned development at the former Reynolds Aluminum site and the local airport. A North/South Transportation Study (5 resulting concepts) includes a high capacity transit option for the area South of Gresham to serve the new Damascus expansion and moving North on Hogan Road and zig zags through East County.

Last night at the Springwater Concept Plan vote at the Gresham City Hall (Plan approved at 10:45 PM!!!), the Gresham/Barlow Superintendent said that the school district at "built out" is expected to have 30,000 students! Right now, it sits at 9,000 (9th largest in Oregon).

We had two Multnomah County councilors at the meeting (Linn and Roberts). Trying to publicly mend fences.

We in East County are again thinking about seccessing and creating a separate county (Go Gorge County!). Maybe Damascus can join us in creating our own power center. I doubt Clackamas County would be to happy with that idea though.

Ray Whitford