From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Metro, formerly known as Metropolitan Service District, is the regional governmental agency for the Oregon portion of the Portland metropolitan area. It is the only directly-elected metropolitan planning organization in the United States, and performs the following functions:

• It provides land use planning and is responsible for maintaining the Portland-area urban growth boundary, a legal boundary which separates urban from rural land, and is designed to reduce urban sprawl. It coordinates with the cities and counties in the area to ensure a 20-year-supply of developable land.

• It is the metropolitan planning organization for the area, responsible for the planning of the region's transportation system, though TriMet operates most of the region's buses and the MAX Light Rail system.

• It manages several park facilities, including Blue Lake and Oxbow Regional Parks, Howell Territorial Park, Glendoveer golf course, the Sauvie Island and Gleason Memorial Boat Ramps, Chinook Landing Marine Park, the Smith and Bybee Lakes Wildlife Area, Beggars-tick Wildlife Refuge, and fourteen "pioneer" cemeteries in Multnomah County, including Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery and Lone Fir Cemetery.

• It is responsible for maintaining a closed landfill called St. Johns Landfill, and owns and operates two garbage, hazardous waste and recycling transfer stations.

• It owns and operates the Oregon Convention Center, Oregon Zoo, Portland Center for Performing Arts, and Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center.

• It is responsible for planning for regional fish and wildlife habitat protection.

• It is responsible for the region's Geographic Information System (GIS) and maintains the Regional Land Information System (RLIS).

Metro in its current form was created through the combination of the Columbia Region Association of Governments (CRAG) and a predecessor Metropolitan Service District (MSD) in a statewide referendum in May 1978. It went into operation on January 1, 1979. In 1992 voters approved a home-rule charter that identified Metro's primary mission as planning and policy making to preserve and enhance the quality of life and the environment, and changed the agency's name to Metro. This charter was amended in November 2000 when Ballot Measure 26-10 was passed by voters. The measure eliminated the Executive Officer and reorganized Executive staff.

Metro is governed by a council president (David Bragdon) elected region-wide and six commissioners who are elected by district (Rod Park, District 1; Brian Newman, District 2; Carl Hosticka, District 3; Kathryn Harrington, District 4; Rex Burkholder, District 5; and Robert Liberty, District 6). Metro also has an auditor - currently Suzanne Flynn - who is elected region-wide. Each serves a four-year term. The council appoints a chief operating officer and an attorney.

Metro's master plan for the Portland region includes transit-oriented development: this approach, part of the new urbanism, promotes mixed-use and high-density development around light-rail stops and transit centers, and the investment of the metropolitan area's share of federal tax dollars into multiple modes of transportation. Metro's master plan also includes multiple town centers, smaller versions of the city center, scattered throughout the metropolitan area.

In 1995 Metro introduced the 2040 plan as a way to define long term growth planning. The 2040 Growth Concept is designed to accommodate 780,000 additional people and 350,000 jobs by 2040. This plan has created some criticism from environmentalists, but few consider it a threat to Portland's legacy of urban growth management.

An April 2004 study in the Journal of the American Planning Association tried to quantify the effects of Metro's plans on Portland's urban form. While the report cautioned against finding a direct link between any single one policy and any improvements in Portland's urban form, it showed strong correlation between Metro's 2040 plan and various west-side changes in Portland. Changes cited include increased density and mixed-use development as well as improved pedestrian/non-automobile accessibility.

In fact, Portland's metropolitan area continues to sprawl, mostly because Clark County, Washington, across the Columbia River, does not have a strict UGB or growth control measures.

Metro serves 25 cities in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties (as well as unincorporated parts of those counties):

Metro districts and the people representing them as of summer 2006:

• 1 Rod Park (Fairview, Gresham, Happy Valley, Maywood Park, Troutdale, Wood Village, Damascus and portions of East Portland)
• 2 Brian Newman (a portion of southwest Portland and most of urban Clackamas County including Gladstone, Johnson City, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Oak Grove, Oregon City, Rivergrove and West Linn)
• 3 Carl Hosticka (Deputy President) (portions of Washington and Clackamas counties and the cities of Beaverton, Durham, King City, Sherwood, Tigard, Tualatin and Wilsonville)
• 4 Kathryn Harrington (Northern Washington County, Cornelius, Hillsboro, Forest Grove, Northwest Beaverton, Aloha, Bonny Slope, Raleigh Hills, West Slope, Cedar Mill and Cedar Hills)
• 5 Rex Burkholder (Northwest Portland, North Portland, Northeast Portland, downtown Portland, a portion of Southwest Portland and a portion of Southeast Portland)
• 6 Robert Liberty (portions of Northeast, Southeast and Southwest Portland)

• Official website
• Metro entry in the Oregon Blue Book