Urban Growth Boundary

The City of Sisters is looking to expand its Urban Growth Boundary (UGB), in an effort to create more space for its growing population. More than 3,700 people live in Sisters, and that’s projected to nearly double in the next two decades, according to the Population Research Center at Portland State University.

Under powers granted by lawmakers last year, the governor can unilaterally sidestep land use laws for a major project.

Anyeley Hallovà chairs the commission that oversees Oregon's growth management system. She's passionate about developing compact neighborhoods that provide equitable and affordable housing — and that help combat climate change. But not everyone is happy about moving in this direction.

Property rights activists nearly derailed Oregon's growth management system in the early 2000s. And no one was more prominent — or colorful — than Dorothy English.

Five key points from Episode 5 of Growing Oregon. The episode described how property rights activists nearly derailed the growth management system.

Here are four key points stemming from the fight over a controversial freeway project on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area.

In the 1970s, Oregonians looked to California and didn't want the same fate for their state A new crop of young legislators in Salem saw an opportunity to advance an ambitious agenda. It took nearly a decade to put in place a system that has some of the strongest protections in the U.S. for farms, forests and other open spaces.

Fifty years ago, Oregonians feared their farmlands and other open spaces would be overrun with urban sprawl. This eventually led to the state's unique land-use system. This is part one in a six-part series describing how this happened and explaining why it affects so many things you might not have thought about.

A researcher says African-Americans are leaving Portland at high rates, and that 11.5 percent of the black community has left in the last four years. But a local expert disagrees.

For the first time since the 1970s, Metro has voted not to expand the region's Urban Growth Boundary, saying there is enough room for the projected 400,000 new residents set to arrive in the next 20 years.