Comments on: Group spotlights developments’ long-term costs /news/2013/01/15/group-spotlights-developments-long-term-costs/ Building and Construction News in Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest Sun, 20 Jan 2013 11:31:58 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.6 By: Free market zealot /news/2013/01/15/group-spotlights-developments-long-term-costs/#comment-94054 Sun, 20 Jan 2013 11:31:58 +0000 /?p=92754#comment-94054 Portland is indeed surrounded by thousands of square miles of prized Willamette Valley farmland, and a glance at a map will tell you that there’s a long way to go before sprawl is a major concern. Of course, you’re a free market zealot if you oppose the growth boundary, even though it might have something to do with Portland’s “frequently dismal” economy, because​—​well, have you tasted the arugula? It’s world-class.

If you want to credit the growth boundary with preserving the state’s farmland, then you should also have to defend the havoc it’s wreaked inside the city. In 2010, consultant Wendell Cox did a quick survey of the urban growth boundary’s effect on property values in Portland. “The land adjacent to, but outside, the urban growth boundary (on which development is prohibited) was assessed at approximately $16,000 per acre,” he concluded. “The land adjacent to, but inside, the urban growth boundary (on which development is permitted) was assessed at approximately $180,000 per acre, approximately 11 times the price of land that is virtually across the street.” Tough luck for Portland’s homebuyers.

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