News

Education, healthcare and the economy are the critical issues facing the Vancouver-Portland area, opinion leaders and the general public overwhelming agrees. This and other findings are published in the biennial 2007 Metropolitan Briefing Book, compiled and published by the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies (IMS) at Portland State University.

IMS publishes the Briefing Book to provide area leaders and citizens in the six-county (Clackamas, Clark, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill) area with information about issues and trends common to the region. This year the Briefing Book examines the varying factors that shape diverse communities within the region, and serves as a useful fact book for leaders and citizens.

The 2007 edition includes the results of the “Critical Issues 2007” survey, demographic dynamics and policy issues facing the Portland-Vancouver area and microclimates in the Portland-Vancouver regional economy. Other topics addressed are educational resources and achievements around the region, ecological landscapes, transportation issues, public finance and questions for the future.

“The Briefing Book is our way of presenting important facts about key issues so we can encourage a regional dialogue” said Sheila Martin, director of the IMS and editor of the 2007 Metropolitan Briefing Book.

The Briefing Book will be unveiled tomorrow, January 3, 2007 from 8 to10 a.m. in the Smith Memorial Student Union, room 238 (1825 S.W. Broadway). Media should contact Sheila Martin at the Institute, 503-725-5170, to attend the unveiling, for copies of the book or for more information.

The Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies, housed in PSU’s College of Urban and Public Affairs, was created in 1991 to provide metropolitan communities with better access to the resources of higher education. The Institute today is governed by a 23-member community-based board and has developed a program of research and service directed at increasing and enhancing university-community relationships, and bringing new attention to critical issues of metropolitan significance. Visit www.pdx.edu/ims/ for more information on the Institute and its ongoing research projects.

From “Critical Issues” List
Education remained at the top of the list as the most critical issue in the region by both opinion leaders and the general public surveyed in 2006. (Education was also the top critical issue in the 2005 Briefing Book). Both opinion leaders and the general public also agreed that healthcare and the economy were the other top two critical issues facing the region.

From “Public Finances: Differences, Similarities, and No Quick Fixes”
The book addresses how Oregon, Washington and six metropolitan counties raise and spend money. Items addressed include:
* Being suspicious of claims that changing the tax structure will revolutionize the economy, and recognize that self-interest rather than careful study often motivates such claims;
* Recognizing that “making businesses pay their fair share” and “making the wealthy pay their fair share” are not the same thing;
* Health care costs are a major concern for all levels of government.

From “Population Outlook”
Population growth for the Portland-Vancouver metro region grew to 2.1 million, an eight percent increase from 2000. Current trends suggest moderate growth will occur over the next 10 years with the population reaching 2.3 million by 2010. The age composition of the population is likely to change, though as a result of low fertility and increasing life expectancy. The study also illustrates that while the flow of immigrants into Oregon may not be large, other evidence suggests that many immigrants, especially from Mexico, originally settled elsewhere before moving to Oregon. Despite current higher unemployment rates, there is little evidence to suggest that “the metropolitan area has lost its favored status among West Coast cities for continued moderate population growth.”

From “Microclimates”
While per capita income for the region grew, so did poverty. According to the American Community Survey, over 9 percent of families and 12.8 percent of individuals earned incomes below the 2005 poverty level. According to the book, each community’s future depends in large part on the success of its neighbors in creating jobs, educating citizens, and offering prosperity that is broadly shared across the region’s people and communities.