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Metro is moving forward with a proposed transportation funding measure (known as T2020) for referral to voters in the 2020 general election. The measure, which is currently in the preliminary planning stages, would provide funds to targeted transportation “corridors” throughout the region. In order to better inform the Metro Council’s decision making on how to appropriately program these corridors, please take Metro’s What's it Like Getting Around the Greater Portland Region Survey. Importantly, the survey does not provide a default opportunity to flag traffic congestion as a primary concern (it only identifies technology, clean buses, bicycle and pedestrian connectivity, and safety). As such, if you are concerned about traffic congestion, please consider discussing it in Question 10 (issues missing from the survey). To learn more about the HBA’s work serving on the T2020 Advisory Committee and how we are advocating for better interconnections between housing and jobs, please contact Dave Nielsen at daven@hbapdx.org. Metro is also soliciting feedback on its current practices for determining capacity in its buildable land inventory. Metro currently prepares land use and demographic forecasts for the region for a variety of purposes. Past forecasts have relied on a homegrown land use socio-economic model (MetroScope) that is now over 20 years old. However, over the last two decades, newer statistical techniques and improved economic and real estate theories have been put into practice by other land use models. Metro plans to update and upgrade its land use toolkit in order to better utilize these techniques and theories. In order to ensure that Metro develops a system that more equitably addresses housing capacity, please share your thoughts in the Land Use Modeling and Forecasting Needs Assessment Survey. The survey, which is open until May 19th, will solicit feedback from interested stakeholders on what their forecasting needs are and what features are most important to them for informing regional land use decision-making. Please be sure to include your contact information so that Metro can invite you to a meeting to discuss the survey findings. When filling out the survey, please consider highlighting the following items when promoted to identify “other” issues. First, Metro should use strong backcasting to determine whether its future projections are reasonable. Absent review of historical data, Metro could continue to assume an unrealistic amount of density within existing communities. While lots may accommodate a given density, local opposition, political constraints, and market forces can lead to lower unit counts. Applied region wide, this principle leads to Metro overestimating capacity on a lot-by-lot basis. By assuming numbers based on historic building practices, Metro can better project housing growth throughout the region. Second, Metro must adhere to transparency as a core principle. Due to a lack of openness and clarity, it is extremely difficult to unpack growth projection numbers at a local level prior to 2017. This lack of transparency leads to mistrust and dissatisfaction with Metro’s projections. Integrating these two issues into your response will help Metro identify them as major issues. To learn more about the HBA’s efforts to support smart growth strategies at the regional level, please contact Ezra Hammer at ezrah@hbapdx.org. Next Article Previous Article