Oregon Land Use in WSJ
I don’t pretend to be an expert on land use planning but anytime Oregon is featured in the WSJ I like to check out the story. This morning there is a feature article about Oregon’s land-use laws and the impact it is having on pear farmers in Jackson County (Southern Oregon).
As a resident of Portland I see the pluses and minuses of land-use regulation. On the positive side I enjoy being able to drive 15 minutes out of town and be totally surrounded by open fields. I also like the fact that random housing developments aren’t sprawled across Oregon’s countryside. However, I also see the minuses. Portland has become a mecca for in-fill residential development which means the death of backyards. Furthermore, artificial restrictions on development places a premium on land inside urban growth boundry making housing more expensive than it otherwise would be.
But, I’d never thought about the impact of our land-use regulations on farmers.
Do you have thoughts about Oregon’s land-use laws? If so, leave them in the comment section below.
Posted: April 2nd, 2010 under Housing & Real Estate.
Tags: oregon land use laws, WSJ on Oregon land use laws