The Better Communities Podcast

By now, you've probably seen the data and pie charts showing the standard economic indicators in Oregon are all moving in the wrong direction – be it jobs, revenue, population, and business retention.   Despite these warning signs, Oregon's political class seems intent on litigating the same policy fights that have bogged us down for decades. And this is especially true when looking at the responsible land use planning decisions we must make to turn things around.   In a way, Oregon feels trapped in a false choice pitting farmland conservation against economic growth. It's a false narrative that feels tired and meaningless after years of infighting about Oregon's widely lauded planning and development rules established in 1973.   Right now, the choice facing Oregonians is not about farmer versus developer. It's about whether we are willing to let the legacy of 1973 set the rules for how we solve problems in 2026.   In this episode, we take a deeper look at Oregon's ongoing land use fights. We follow the ongoing debate over Oregon's Senate Bill 1586 — also called the Oregon JOBS Act.   Listen as we explore the questions at the center of what will govern the future of Oregon's unique sense of place with the policy and business leaders on the frontlines of Oregon's economic crossroads, including Oregon State Senator Janeen Sollman (SD-15), land use advisor Keith Leavitt of Confluence Strategies, Damon Runberg, Senior Economist at Business Oregon, and Elizabeth Mazzara Myers, Executive Director of the Westside Economic Alliance.   If you work inside the evolving politics of land use in Oregon, this episode sheds light on how economic growth and land conservation can co-exist – and what's at stake if we fail to meet this unique moment for our economy.   

While the final decision remains in the hands of Major League Baseball, there is notable political momentum building signaling Portland is serious about securing a baseball team.   If baseball returns to Portland, it will be to the credit of a small group of political and business leaders who stuck to their vision – and a belief this will fundamentally transform downtown, the waterfront district, and our regional sports economy. Building a new stadium is enormously complicated for any major metro region. It's certainly more complicated in a hyper-inclusive political ecosystem like Portland. The process of siting, designing, approving, and building stadiums is arduous. It involves input and buy-in from a chaotic network of public and private decisionmakers. In this episode, we unpack how Portland has navigated these roadblocks. And how the city is sending a clear signal to stakeholders that we are ready to play ball to make it happen.   Listen as we talk with the political and business leaders working to promote Portland as a sports destination, site and build a new stadium, and sell a bold new vision of the South Waterfront district to voters and community groups. Featured throughout are conversations with Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, Andrew Hoan, President and CEO, Portland Metro Chamber, Jim Etzel, CEO, Sport Oregon, Monique Claiborne, President and CEO, Greater Portland, Inc., and Demi Lawrence, Sports Business Reporter, Portland Business Journal.  

The Pacific Northwest is in the middle of a renewable energy boom. State legislatures, policy leaders, and voters have aggressively set carbon reduction targets over the last decade – paving the way for a new wave of federal dollars to drive the development and construction of wind, solar, and battery storage facilities across the region.  New developments have always generated an element of local resistance. But none have proven to be as divisive as renewable energy. And despite the anti-woke, post-truth messaging from one unusually loud climate denier (see here), these divisions don't necessarily follow predictable ideological fault lines.   Increasingly, fossil fuel interests and die-hard environmentalists have found a convenient allyship in this war against renewable development. Together, they are injecting a new kind of collective opposition that has created a strange new coalition that is part land-use watch dog, part liberal NIMBYist, and part climate change skeptic.   The challenge to developers, energy leaders, and policymakers isn't just local opposition to change. It's that many of these communities are now drowning in a sea of misinformation about questionable claims about renewable energy's impact on everything from water quality to public safety to their reliability.   In the latest episode of the Better Communities Podcast, our team explores the misinformation war on renewable energy in the Pacific Northwest.   Listen in as we talk about the social, economic, and environmental consequences of this misinformation war with Ruchi Sadhir from the Oregon Department of Energy, Jillian Farmer of New Project Media, Nicole Hughes from Renewable Northwest, Jake Melder from Clenera, Commissioner Derrick DeGroot of Klamath County, and labor and construction trade advocate Willy Myers.

America's downtowns are at a crossroads. Many urban economic centers are struggling to get back to pre-pandemic norms. In addition to an increasingly hybrid workforce, many downtowns are confronting a lack of affordable housing, rising crime, and recent policy reforms that have made it difficult to combat a deepening drug crisis on their streets. Seattle is not alone in this struggle. But it has a history of overcoming the odds of previous boom-and-bust economic cycles. But how are we measuring success with downtown Seattle's recovery? What does the future of downtown look like? And what solutions are business and policy leaders focused on as Seattle wrestles with the role of downtown in our daily lives? Listen in as the Seattle team at Hubbell explores the evolution of downtown Seattle's economic, social and cultural recovery.  In this episode, we talk with some of Seattle's most influential business and policy leaders about the road ahead, including Jon Scholes, President & CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, Pat Callahan, CEO of Urban Renaissance Group, Richard Florida, urban studies expert and author of The New Urban Crisis, City Councilor Sara Nelson, and Markham McIntyre, Director of Economic Development at the City of Seattle. Join us as we dive into the challenges reshaping the economic trajectory of Seattle – and the potential for yet another comeback.

It often feels like the Portland-Vancouver metro region has become bogged down in a culture of political stagnation. We have big ideas. We seek to solve big problems like climate change and social justice. But we have lost our ability to work across our divisions to make big things happen. The I-5 bridge between Oregon and Washington was built more than a century ago. Today, it stands as a symbol of our inability to bridge our own political disagreements to get something done that is vital to the regional economy. After failing to garner support in 2013, there is a new team of community and political leaders working to try again. And it's possible this time it will actually happen. In this episode, we talk with: DEMI LAWRENCE, reporter, Portland Business Journal LYNN PETERSON, president, Metro GREG JOHNSON, program administrator, Interstate Bridge Replacement Program Vancouver Mayor ANNE MCENERY-OGLE JOHNELL BELL, principal equity officer, Interstate Bridge Replacement Program   Listen to learn what failed in previous attempts, how they are rethinking the steps needed to get back to fixing big problems, and how they hope to deliver the kind of progress our regional economy needs to keep working for everyone.

Change is hard. In 1973, Oregon Governor Tom McCall created a pioneering land use policy focused on preserving farmland, reducing pollution and preventing urban sprawl. At the time, it was a visionary move that took bold political leadership. But what seemed visionary 50 years ago has played a pivotal role in creating Oregon's modern day housing crisis. Today, our rural towns are struggling to address population growth as people seek a new hybrid work, lifestyle in these idyllic communities. Increasingly, rural areas of Oregon once thought to be affordable are now out of reach for most home buyers as housing supply has lagged behind demand for decades. And just building more housing isn't as easy as it sounds. In this episode, we explore the challenges at the heart of Oregon's housing crisis, what "affordable housing" really means, and why a new era of bold political leadership is required to solve this problem. Listen as JESSICA SEIDEL, Senior Director of Marketing and Customer experience at Pahlisch Homes, JOHN ROBERTS Deputy City Manager with the City of Redmond, KATY BROOKS, CEO and President of the Bend Chamber of Commerce, REBECCA LEWIS Associate Professor School of Planning, Public Policy and Management University of Oregon, and JAMES ADKINS, Manager of Public Policy at Hubbell talk about McCall's legacy, the housing crisis, and the prospect of modernizing Oregon's land use policies.

Advocacy and political activism have become part of the social media ecosystem. Pew Research data shows roughly 76% of Americans say that social media makes people think they are making a difference when they really aren't.  Yet more of us are turning to social media as a primary way to engage with social and political movements. The rise in "hashtag activism" may feel empowering. It also may be preventing us from more effectively pushing for needed policy changes across the racial justice, women's rights, LGTBQ+, and climate change movements. In this episode, we take you beyond the hashtag to explore the impacts of social media activism – and examine the limitations of so-called "slacktivism" online. Listen in as we talk with Jeremy Holden of the ALS Association,  Monica Anderson from the  Pew Research Center, Ben Finzel with RenewPR, Co-Founder of the Black Resilience Fund Cameron Whitten, and Morgan Rider from the Climate Trust.

2020 was a tough year. And a global pandemic, a shuttered economy, and the social justice movement made it a uniquely tough election year for opinion pollsters. Election night seemed like a repeat of 2016. The polls simply got it wrong. Again. The predictions of a "blue wave" never materialized. Pollsters had to admit there was something wrong with the models their industry has relied on for decades. So why do the polls keep getting it wrong? The $19 billion opinion research business is now searching for answers. In this episode, we explore how the polling industry is rethinking how behavioral and demographic shifts are disrupting long-standing opinion research methods. Listen as John Horvick of DHM Research, Dave Metz of FM3 Research, and Stefan Hankin of Trendency Research share their perspectives on the forces changing the polling business – and how research firms are adapting to a real-time information world.

We are often told society today is more divided than ever. But what is driving this division?   A number of factors are fueling this narrative of "us versus them" in our communities. Ideology, race, gender, class, and geography have come to define who we listen to – and who we distrust.   Add in an increasingly complex media ecosystem designed to connect us but which has, in fact, divided us further.   Much of this stems from our willingness to make assumptions about others – and to misunderstand other people's core values, beliefs, and intentions.   But are we really that divided?   In this episode, we explore issues of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination through a unique lens. Listen as we take a journey into a group commonly misunderstood: hunters.   Join us as host Bryan Dorn goes on his first hunting trip and meets up with Jimmy Flatt of Hunters of Color to talk about why hunting is seen as a "white man's sport"; with Marcia Brownlee of Artemis Sportswomen about her mission to bend gender stereotypes in the community; with Carla Brauer about her journey from being a vegan animal rights activist to a proponent of ethical hunting practices; with Evan Charpentier on his experience as both a hunter and soccer Dad in Lake Oswego; and Ian Isaacson of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers about why the hunting community needs to do more to tell its story better.

What role does social media play in our understanding of truth? How can journalists utilize the digital age to build civic engagement? And what role does the consumer play in sustaining a trustworthy information ecosystem? In this episode, we examine our growing distrust in news media and take a closer look at what the future may hold for journalists and consumers to regain trust in this important democratic institution. Listen as we talk with University of Oregon professors Lisa Heyamoto and Todd Milbourn about the 32 Percent Project – a study aimed at uncovering why less than one third of Americans say they trust the media. We also sit down with Caitlyn May, a reporter for the Albany Democrat Herald. She explains why journalists play a role in cultivating and reinforcing an honest information ecosystem and how they can use social media more effectively to bolster greater community engagement. And, we talk to Veryan Kahn, President of the Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium, about how disinformation is spread online and the impact social media has on our news consumption and production.