According to a recent commentary in the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman:

Austin continues to grow at breakneck speed, but growth is a double-edged sword. On one hand, growth brings prosperity. On the other, it undermines the very quality of life that attracted so many of us to Central Texas in the first place.

In response to its unprecedented growth, Austin has undertaken many measures to balance conservation and development from the Austin Tomorrow initiative in the 1970s to Smart Growth in the 1990s. A current initiative, Envision Central Texas, is the most comprehensive regional effort to promote a more sustainable path to the city’s growth. To achieve this course, we need elected officials committed to realizing the Envision Central Texas vision through concrete plans and projects. As John Fregonese, one of the principal architects of the vision, noted recently: “Visions without actions become delusions.”

John Fregonese will be the opening speaker at the Lane County Moving Forward Together™ conference on June 11, 2008.

The Slant column in the Eugene Weekly reports:

Is there a connection between higher fuel prices and sagging real estate prices around the country? Both are causing worries about the economy, and they are related, according to a new study by Portland economist Joe Cortright. In his research, Cortright found that distant suburbs requiring long commutes have suffered the largest declines in housing prices “while values in close-in neighborhoods have held up better, and in some cases continued to increase.” Cortright says Oregon has weathered the housing price slump better than other states due to our relatively stringent land-use laws. And here in Eugene we have so far managed to resist the constant drumbeat for unbridled growth.

Inflated fuel prices are economically damaging, but they do encourage us to buy smaller cars, ride bicycles or take public transportation and live closer to where we work, shop and go to school. That makes sense environmentally regardless of gas prices.

Joe Cortright will be speaking at the Lane County Moving Forward Together™ conference on June 11, 2008.

Online registration for the Lane County Moving Forward Together™ conference on June 11, 2008, is now available. To register, click here.

Reid Ewing, the lead author of Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change, spoke at the recent meeting of the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission in Salem.

Read the meeting materials (Part 1, Part 2), including an excerpt from Growing Cooler.

In brief, Mr. Ewing indicated that to meet Oregon’s goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, it won’t be enough to rely solely on improved technology and cleaner fuels. In addition, it makes sense to begin looking at ways to enable some people to make fewer or shorter trips some of the time—in particular, by encouraging more compact urban development.

Mr. Ewing, a nationally recognized expert on transportation, best development practices, and related topics, will be speaking at the Lane County Moving Forward Together™ conference on June 11.

A new analysis by Oregon economist Joe Cortright shows that high gas prices are not only implicated in the bursting of the housing bubble, but that the higher cost of commuting has already re-shaped the landscape of real estate value between cities and suburbs. Housing values are falling fastest in distant suburban and exurban neighborhoods where affordability depended directly on cheap gas.

Mr. Cortright will be speaking at the Lane County Moving Forward Together™ conference on June 11.

Read the press release below from CEOs for Cities, or read the full report.

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