from the October 03, 2006 edition
How America grows: A tale of two cities Gilbert, Ariz., and Portland, Ore., have approached expansion in two very different ways.
By Brad Knickerbocker and Daniel B. Wood | Staff writers of The Christian Science Monitor PORTLAND, ORE., AND GILBERT, ARIZ. – As US population grows inexorably toward 300 million, there are two visions for the future of American towns and cities. Although very different, each seeks to create a sense of community, a sense of place where none existed before.
One focuses on downtown areas - often run-down, sometimes left as polluted industrial "brownfields." This new kind of urban renewal is seen in places like the trendy Pearl district in Portland, Ore.
The other vision - the most dominant one - is found among the tile-roofed homes mushrooming outward from the nation's fastest-growing city, Gilbert, Ariz., a Phoenix suburb. As recently as 1970, there were fewer than 2,000 people in this former agricultural town once called the "Hay Capital of the World." Today, the population is some 180,000; it's projected to peak above 300,000.
Full at:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1003/p01s02-ussc.html