Editor's Take: October 06, 2008
Credit: amycqx, Flickr.
Planning for Cascadia's Future
While Cascadia is expected to continue growing in the coming
decades, one Portland planner says
it's time to prepare for the influx. Her cause for alarm: climate
refugees -- people who will be fleeing hurricanes, floods and other disaster-prone
areas of the country. What the Northwest is really focused on now though are
issues surrounding public transit, alternative energy and a
tight economy.
Editor's Top Picks
Your editor today is Christina Claassen | View All Today's News
Look Out, Oregon, for a Global Warming Land Rush
Oregonian
10/06/2008
The prediction caused a collective grimace among the mayors, city councilors, engineers and planners in the audience. By 2060, a Metro economist said, the seven-county Portland area could grow to 3.85 million people -- nearly double the number here now, and that doesn't even consider the possibility of an influx of climate refugees.
Go to article.
Eugene Cyclists Climb To New Commuter High
Eugene Register Guard
10/04/2008
In a survey of 442 US cities with a population of 57,000 or more, 8.5 percent of Eugene residents ride a bicycle to work -- second only to Boulder, with 8.9 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's recently released 2007 American Community Survey.
Go to article.
Solar Power in the Rain City
KUOW
10/03/2008
As Congress debates an economic plan this week, some tax measures have been thrown into the mix. One proposal would extend tax breaks for solar energy development. The solar industry says the incentives are vital for more growth in places like, believe it or not, Seattle.
Go to article.
Extremely Green Building Tried in the Northwest
KPLU
10/06/2008
How would you like to pay little to nothing on your electric bill for the rest of your life? That could be a payoff of living in a home that generates its own energy on-site. Builders are constructing what you might call extremely green homes in a handful of Northwest cities.
Go to article.
Spokane Residents Support Light Rail
Spokane Spokesman-Review
10/06/2008
A scientific survey conducted for the Northwest Climate Change Center in Spokane shows that 73 percent of Spokane residents favor construction of an electric light rail system in the urban area.
In addition, 75 percent of those responding said they would be willing to pay a small tax increase to finance such a system.
Go to article.
Homeless Cry for Political Help in Vancouver, BC
Vancouver Sun
10/06/2008
Both of Vancouver's mayoral candidates say the issue tops their priorities and the province says it's aggressively tackling the problem. Homeless communities feel otherwise.
Go to article.
Portland-Area Clinics Feel Economically Unhealthy
Oregonian
10/04/2008
Low-cost clinics track a community's economic health as well as its physical ills.
Low-cost clinics are so swamped they are turning patients away.
Go to article.
Illegal Residents But Responsible Homeowners
Los Angeles Times
10/06/2008
Undocumented immigrants who own homes have a lower rate of delinquencies than U.S. citizens, according to various real estate sources.
Go to article.
There's a Gold Mine In Carbon Offsets
Washington Post
10/06/2008
Sales of carbon offsets -- whose buyers pay hard cash to make amends for their sins against the climate -- are up. Still. In some cases, the prices have actually been climbing.
Go to article.
Views: Plan a Family, Save the World
Seattle Times
10/06/2008
Imagine the next president of the United States moving decisively to slow down the world's population growth as it arcs from today's 6.7 billion toward a predicted and perilous 9.2 billion by 2050.
Go to article.
