Meeting the Northwest Livability Challenge

The Pacific Northwest is expected to add several million people over the next 25-30 years, putting enormous pressure on urban infrastructure, the environment and a wide range of services, in addition to coping with natural resource, climate, aging population and energy challenges.  How do we and other states accommodate these new residents while also enhancing the quality of life for all; and what interdisciplinary roles should designers and planners play to influence the creation of more sustainable communities? 

• What factors are driving change at the state and national levels, and what key issues are facing urban areas in the near and longer terms?
• What are the most important aspects of livability in the face of change, given it varies by region of the country and size of the community?
• How is a livability strategy defined in terms of values to be preserved, and outcomes to be achieved; and how a strategy might be developed, and how (or to whom) should it be directed?
• What practical ways can the three design professions of architecture, landscape architecture and planning work together to make a difference at the state and national levels and what actions might we take?  How do we foster collaboration among the three professions? What other groups ought to be brought into the discussion, and in what role?

Similar sessions have been featured at the 2012 National American Society of Landscape Architects in Phoenix, 2012 Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA) in Olympia, 2011 APA National Conference in Boston, and the 2011 Pacific Northwest Regional APA Conference in Portland.  The second session followed a bi-state symposium on livability, insights from which helped inform the discussion at regional conference session.  On-going opportunities for this broad discussion are being pursued with APA, ASLA, AIA and other communities of interest at the local, regional levels.  These sessions are intended to be a “cumulative discussion”, with the conversation being broadened, focused and enriched each time, resulting in a wealth of information and perspectives from which more focused conversations, initiatives and actions might be generated.  

Moderator:
Paddy Tillett, RIBA, FRTPI, FAICP, FAIA, LEED AP is an architect, urban designer and city planner with over thirty years of international professional experience.  As Principal at Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects, he directs Planning and Urban Design.  Paddy is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and a Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute and member of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
 
Panelists:

Arnold Cogan, FAICP, founding principal of Cogan Owens Cogan, has more than 40 years experience in policy planning, public engagement, intergovernmental relations and public policy dispute resolution. He was Oregon’s first planning coordinator under Governor Tom McCall, first director of the state Department of Land Conservation and Development, and first planning director for the Port of Portland. Arnold is on the roster of the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution to mediate environmental, transportation and public policy disputes.

Carol Mayer-Reed, FASLA, is partner-in-charge of landscape architecture and urban design at Portland-based Mayer/Reed.  Carol’s 35 years of experience covers urban waterfronts, light rail transit, parks, campus, and sustainable mixed-use development projects.  Carol is a former board member of the Architecture Foundation of Oregon and University of Oregon’s AAA Board of Visitors.  She is a member of PDXplore and board of the ACE Mentor Program; and is currently appointed to the national AIA Sustainable Design Assessment Team.  

Gil Kelley, AICP, is an urban and strategic planner based in Portland. He advises cities in the U.S. and internationally on a variety of urban development issues. He is the former Planning Director for the Cities of Portland, Oregon and Berkeley, California. Gil also serves as Practitioner-in-Residence, Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University, and has served as a Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.