Where Has All the Land Gone?

Author: Carol Hall
Organization: Metro

600 NE Grand Ave.
Portland, OR 97232
USA

Phone: 503-797-1589
Fax: 503-797-1909
hallc@metro.dst.or.us

Presented by Alan Holsted

This paper describes the process used at Metro to identify vacant and partially vacant land using aerial photography and vector data in ArcInfo. Smart urban growth fundamentally requires continuous monitoring of land available for future development. Land inventories in turn require accurate information about how much land is vacant, where it is located, and whether it has development potential. Metro is the regional government in the Portland, Oregon, urbanized area that provides services to 24 cities, three counties, and 1.3 million residents. A Metro mandate is to plan for managed growth while maintaining highly livable communities and preserving our unique environment.