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Cascadia Scorecard 2007: Seven Key Trends Shaping the Northwest

June 1, 2007

The Cascadia Scorecard, Sightline's annual progress report on the Northwest, monitors seven key trends that are transforming the region's future more profoundly than the fleeting events that so often make headline news. The 2007 edition finds that that the region lags behind world leaders on trends such as energy efficiency and economic security, but smart solutions will accelerate our progress.

Property Wrongs: Lessons from Oregon for States Considering Property Ballot Measures in 2006

October 12, 2006

"Property Wrongs," a report by Seattle-based Sightline Institute, documents a growing backlash against "property rights" initiatives by chronicling six stories of Oregon communities deeply affected by Oregon's Measure 37. The report also examines the implications for Washington and other states considering similar initiatives this fall, including Idaho, Montana, Arizona, and California, which are all modeled after Measure 37.

Cascadia Scorecard 2006: Focus on Sprawl and Health

June 1, 2006

The Cascadia Scorecard is a regional gauge of progress that tracks seven key trends shaping the Northwest. This year's Scorecard spotlights an emerging body of research indicating that car-centered sprawl contributes to the region's leading health risks, including a high car-crash fatality rate and a high obesity rate. And residents of neighborhoods that encourage foot traffic are healthier--and safer as well.

Cascadia Scorecard 2005

June 1, 2005

The 2005 Scorecard gives a concise update on how Cascadia ranks in seven key trends, with a focus on one of the most critical issues facing the region: energy. It details the weaknesses of the region's energy system and argues that Cascadia can achieve true security, and a stronger economy, by investing in a clean-energy revolution that is already gathering force.

The Portland Exception: Sprawl, Smart Growth, and Rural Land Lost in 15 Cities

October 1, 2004

A new analysis of growth compared Portland's record at curbing sprawl and protecting rural land with 14 other US cities, including Seattle and Boise. The study, which is part of Sightline's Cascadia Scorecard project, found that Oregon's land-use policies excel in protecting rural land and curbing low-density sprawl. Person for person in the last decade, new development in metropolitan Portland consumed less than half as much land as the average city in the study.

Flame Retardants in the Bodies of Pacific Northwesterners: A Study of Toxic Body Burdens

September 29, 2004

In September 2004, Sightline released results from our project to monitor pollution in the bodies of northwesterners. In August 2005, we released an update on the study. We tested 40 Northwest mothers for PBDEs -- chemical flame retardants widely used in consumer products such as furniture and computers -- and found in the breastmilk of every woman in the study, at levels much higher than in other countries. The study confirms research that levels of PBDEs have been rapidly building up in people and the environment, and suggest that all northwesterners are contaminated with PBDEs. The good news is that Washington, Oregon, and other parts of the Northwest have begun to take action against PBDEs.

Cascadia Scorecard 2004

June 1, 2004

Each minute in 2003 northwesterners cut one acre of the region's forest. Every four minutes the Northwest's population increased by one. Every 20 minutes, the population of poor northwesterners grew by one. These are small changes, but-as Cascadia Scorecard shows-over decades, such trends transform the region more dramatically than the fleeting headlines that so often makes front-page news. The Cascadia Scorecard is Sightline's index of seven trends that have profoundly shaped the Northwest's past and are critical to its future: health, economy, population, energy, sprawl, forests, and pollution. It serves as a progress report on how the region is doing in the areas that matter most-and where we most need to improve.

Fueling Up: Gasoline Consumption in the Pacific Northwest

October 1, 2002

In "Fueling Up," Sightline Institute analyzes the Northwest's gasoline use over the past decade, finding that different regions have radically different patterns of gas use. What's the critical factor? The report cites sprawl -- and efforts against it--as the main driver of differences, and provides ideas for innovative reforms to help us ease off the gas.

Sprawl and Smart Growth in Greater Vancouver: A Comparison of Vancouver, British Columbia, with Seattle, Washington

September 1, 2002

Sightline Institute's report -- "Sprawl and Smart Growth in Greater Vancouver" -- assesses Vancouver, British Columbia's success at curbing sprawl and developing efficiently from 1986 to 2001. Using census data and Landsat satellite imagery, Sightline researchers ranked municipalities' and districts' records in smart growth and pavement spread, and compared greater Vancouver with another fast-growing metropolis in the Pacific Northwest -- the Seattle-Tacoma region. Sightline released the report with Smart Growth BC, on September 12, 2002, in Vancouver.

Sprawl and Smart Growth in Greater Seattle-Tacoma

July 1, 2002

Sightline Institute's report -- "Sprawl and Smart Growth in Greater Seattle-Tacoma" -- analyzes how the Puget Sound region did at curbing sprawl and developing efficiently in the 1990s. The report provides detailed rankings of counties' and municipalities' records in smart growth, and compares the Puget Sound region with the Northwest's other two major metropolises, Portland and Vancouver, BC.

Sprawl and Smart Growth in Metropolitan Portland: Comparing Portland, Oregon, with Vancouver, Washington, during the 1990s

May 1, 2002

This analysis finds that in the 1990s, while greater Portland's three Oregon counties "grew smarter," neighboring Clark County sprawled -- and lost more rural land and open space per new resident, as a result. "Few areas in North America provide such a stark illustration of different approaches to planning," says Sightline research director Clark Williams-Derry.

Green Collar Jobs: Working in the New Northwest

June 1, 1999

The typical job in the Pacific Northwest is gentler to nature than at any time in decades, thanks to the region's swift uncoupling from timber, mining, and other resource industries. But while jobs are greener, this new economy has a dark side: the gap between rich and poor has widened, and rising consumption is eroding the region's environmental gains. From Ketchikan, AK to Bend, OR to Boonville, CA, the question resonates: If we do what's right for the environment, what is everyone going to do for a living? Green-Collar Jobs takes a close look at timber towns in the Northwest--ground zero in the perceived battle between jobs and the environment.