Via the Bend Bulletin: Keep sprawl in check to preserve Oregon's countryside

Let’s not forget this commonality. Let’s use these shared values to shape policy conversations and break the notion that we’re unable to work together toward a better Oregon.

This story first appeared in The Bend Bulletin. If you reside in the paper’s circulation area, consider subscribing. Now more than ever, we need to support Oregon’s newspapers.

Kevin Frazier edits The Oregon Way and (remotely) attends the UC Berkeley School of Law from Bend.

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The great unifier: Sprawl

"Carving The Territory" by Ian Sane is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Oregonians are united by their desire to stop sprawl. It’s a desire that crosses the Cascades and pervades the entirety of the political spectrum. By talking more about our common love for Oregon as a place, we can unite around policies that keep growth confined to urban areas and our outdoors pristine for generations to come.

People move to and stay in Oregon because of their attachments to its physical beauty. When DHM Research asked Oregonians what they value about the state, 78 % of respondents listed environmentally-positive phrases — referring to things like “natural landscapes,” “forests and mountains,” and “open spaces.”

It’s an unsurprising result given that every corner of Oregon has a unique outdoor experience to offer — from the Steens in the south to the Wallowas in the Northeast and across to Rogue in the Southwest, every region has a defining environmental attribute that reminds Oregonians why this is such a remarkable place to call home.

This deep love for Oregon as a place is something residents are willing to sacrifice for — consider that the same DHM-based research uncovered that 57 % of Oregonians would prioritize protecting the environment, even if it came at the cost of slowing economic growth (35 % selected the alternative).

This sacrifice may entail turning down lucrative development proposals in order to keep the distinction between urban and rural: nearly 60 % of Oregonians deemed it desirable for “new population growth (to) be directed toward existing cities and towns, not into natural areas and farmlands.” Just 15 % found that proposal undesirable.

This high regard for natural areas and farmlands carries over into policy: Oregonians, by a 2-1 ratio, oppose the idea that we should revamp land use laws to allow for more development.

Stopping sprawl requires ending excessive partisanship

These stats mask an underlying pessimism that must be addressed if we’re going to actually unite on our shared values. Only 42 % of Oregonians thought we’d be able to “find common ground and work together to make progress addressing the critical issues we face as a state.”

Well, channeling my mom, let’s turn those frowns upside down — the common ground is clear: Oregonians want to stop sprawl. Per DHM, “(a) majority of Oregonians in each region of the state want protection of productive farm and forest land from development;” a majority in every region also agree that “government is wasteful and inefficient with our taxes and cannot be trusted to make good decisions.”

So as concerns about affordable housing continue amid a declining economy, let’s start the conversation with our shared priority to keep natural areas and farmland free from development. And, let’s be honest about our doubts in government efficacy by making development decisions more transparent, participatory, and responsive to community norms and values in each region of the state.

A deep appreciation for Oregon as a place motivated unprecedented acts of sacrifice in a previous era.

Samuel Thurston, the first territorial delegate to Congress, described Oregon as a land of “rich valleys,” with waters “no where surpassed, no where equaled,” and where “with the same amount of labor, (a farmer) can raise product of more value than he can any where in the states,” ranging from wheat, oats, and rye to “fat and healthy babies.”

More than a century since Americans were lured to Oregon as an environmental Eden, Oregonians have retained that same reverence for Oregon’s outdoors and promise as a place to start a family.

Let’s not forget this commonality. Let’s use these shared values to shape policy conversations and break the notion that we’re unable to work together toward a better Oregon.