Research Catalog

Title

Greater Portland : urban life and landscape in the Pacific Northwest / Carl Abbott.

Author

Abbott, Carl.

Publication

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2001.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xi, 242 p. : ill., maps; 24 cm.

Summary

• "It has been called one of the nation's most livable regions, ranked among the best managed cities in America, and hailed a top spot to do business, enjoy the arts, pursue outdoor recreation, and make one's home. Indeed, years of cooperative urban planning between developers and those interested in ecology and habitability have transformed Portland from a provincial western city into an exemplary American metropolis. Its thriving downtown, its strong neighborhoods, and its pioneering efforts at local management have brought a steady procession of journalists, scholars, and civic leaders to investigate the "Portland style" that values dialogue and consensus, treats politics as a civic duty, and assumes that it is possible to work toward public good.
• Probing behind the press clippings, acclaimed urban historian Carl Abbott examines the character of contemporary Portland - its people, politics, and public life - and the region's history and geography in order to discover how Portland has achieved its reputation as one of the most progressive and livable cities in the United States and to determine whether typical pressures of urban growth are pushing Portland back toward the national norm."
• "In Greater Portland, Abbott argues that the city cannot be understood without reference to its place. Its rivers, hills, and broader regional setting have shaped the economy and the cityscape. Portlanders are Oregonians, Northwesterners, Cascadians; they value their city as much for where it is as for what it is, and this powerful sense of place nurtures a distinctive civic culture. Tracing the ways in which Portlanders have talked and thought about their city, Abbott reveals the tensions between their diverse visions of the future and plans for development."--Jacket.

Series Statement

Metropolitan portraits

Uniform Title

• Project Muse UPCC books
• Metropolitan portraits.

Subject

• City planning > Oregon > Portland Region
• City and town life > Oregon > Portland Region
• Urban landscape architecture > Oregon > Portland Region
• Human geography > Oregon > Portland Region
• Landscape architecture > Oregon > Portland Region
• Portland Region (Or.) > Social conditions
• Portland Region (Or.) > Civilization

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-228) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

ISBN

• 0812236122 (acid-free paper)
• 0812217799 (pbk.)

LCCN

^^2001018113

OCLC

• 45791393
• SCSB-12229853

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library