This paper highlights an innovative, community-based project that examined barriers to accessing healthy food in the Rockwood neighborhood of Gresham, Oregon. The project’s use of a Community Food Security Assessment (CFSA) combined with evidence from the Coalition for a Livable Future’s Regional Equity Atlas 2.0 is a powerful model of how to couple community voice with data to identify barriers and solutions to improve access to healthy food.
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The Suburbanization of Poverty in the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Region, by Brendon Haggerty
This paper discusses the recent demographic shift of people in poverty moving away from central cities and into American suburbs. The paper highlights the implications of this trend for the Portland-Vancouver region and outlines potential policies and programs to alleviate suburban poverty and its impacts.
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Aging and Equity in the Greater Portland Metropolitan Region, by Alan DeLaTorre and Margaret Neal of Portland State University’s Institute on Aging
This paper discusses the opportunities and needs created by the increase in older adults in the region. The 65 and older population is expected to more than double over the next two decades, to over half a million people. Planning for the inevitable and unprecedented aging of our population provides an opportunity to improve our environments while becoming a leader in the push to create sustainable, equitable, and age-friendly communities.
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Disparities in Access and Opportunity for Persons with Disabilities in Portland, by Michael Szporluk of the Portland Commission on Disability
This paper discusses key equity concerns for persons with disabilities, a population that makes up approximately 15-20% of our region’s residents, including more than a third of seniors. The paper highlights disparities affecting persons with disabilities by examining six issue areas: housing, infrastructure, transit, education, employment, and health outcomes. It also discusses intersecting issues of race and gender.
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Middle Class Decline in the Portland Metro Region, by Christian Kaylor of the Oregon Employment Department
This paper discusses regional employment patterns and argues that most of the region’s job growth since the recession has been in high and low wage jobs, with a decline in jobs with middle income wages. The paper raises the alarm that this trend will reduce the middle class in the region, and discusses potential policy responses.
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