Sure there's healthy rivalry in Cascadia among Vancouver, Seattle and Portland. But between Portland and Vancouver, Washington?
Willamette Week explores the idea that smug Portland benefits in many ways from the Vancouver on the other side of the Columbia River.
Strict growth rules have helped make Portland into what's widely considered a development model. Maybe Clark County, Wash., which has nearly doubled in population since 1990, now functions as a safety valve for Portland?
What if the region's success at controlling growth while still maintaining one of the nation's more robust economies is because of...Vancouver? Or more specifically, because Vancouver has fewer land-use laws and limits on growth? Has Vancouver become a convenient place to handle Portland's overflow, for those who wanted to live, work and play in the area, but who also wanted a bigger yard, lower taxes and a house on a cul-de-sac? All this so Portland could build its light rail, trams and condo towers.
The point is just as valid around the Puget Sound area and in the Lower Mainland. Dense development makes transit and the infrastructure to preserve open space feasible. Where is the safety valve for the region?