Southwest Corridor Equitable Development Strategy

ECONorthwest worked with Oregon Metro to develop equitable development tactics and an overarching strategy to mitigate resident and business displacement and promote economic opportunity along the Southwest Corridor-a target area between the cities of Portland and Tigard for a new high capacity transit line. A light-rail extension along the corridor, approved by voters in 2016, promises efficient and sustainable travel in an area experiencing increasing congestion and lengthening travel times during both peak and off-peak hours. As part of the initial planning for the corridor alignment, Metro commissioned ECONorthwest and a team of contractors to work with city and community partners to develop a comprehensive set of actions to mitigate the potential negative effects of the transit investment, and proactively leverage the investment to foster a diverse range of new housing units and encourage the creation of new businesses and family-wage jobs. The team worked with Metro and the project committees to identify and prioritize viable and impactful equitable development actions. ECONorthwest also worked side by side with MapCraft to develop a map-based web tool to track change and progress along the corridor.