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Last time, I discussed the importance of addressing climate change locally through land use and transportation planning and making effective decisions that will lead to long-term reductions in greenhouse gases. How we develop, and redevelop, our cities will also have a major impact on how much it will cost to support that future development.

It has long been known that a major benefit of compact urban development is the lower cost to provide infrastructure and services for it than for extensive suburban areas. from the World Resources Institute, 鈥淐ities Can Save $17 Trillion by Preventing Suburban Sprawl,鈥� takes the latest research on this subject from around the world and forecasts some pretty astounding savings at the local level by pursuing more compact growth. As the article mentions, the ongoing cost of sprawl to the U.S. economy is staggering 鈥� estimated at about 7 percent of GDP. At the local level, accelerating our efforts to build compactly could translate into huge savings in accommodating the increasing numbers of people who want to make Portland home.

Of course, there are significant barriers, even in Portland, to increasing density. Parts of the real estate industry will always push for suburban development, and some homebuyers will always prefer lower-density amenities. But the economics of sprawl, when all costs are considered 鈥� not just the immediate costs of the development itself, but also the public per-person costs of extensive new infrastructure development and long-term maintenance, and the provision of public services like police fire, schools and parks 鈥� are overwhelming. When these costs are factored in on top of the environmental costs of climate change, there is a very strong public imperative to pursue even more compact development in the Portland-metro area than we have to date.