You may have heard the term “New Urbanism.” Very roughly defined, it is the concept that development- even in the suburbs- can be clustered around mixed use applications such as homes, small shops, and restaurants- with lots of transit options either on site or a short walk away.

We Portlanders have long fancied ourselves New Urbanism pioneers. There’s Orenco Station off Cornell Road in Hillsboro; Bridgeport Village in Tigard, and the soon-to-be-IKEA-bearing Cascade Station near the airport.

Yet a real estate conference held yesterday at Portland State University seemed to sound the theme that when it comes to New Urbanism, we PDX’ers have a long way to go.

http://www.djc-or.com/viewStory.cfm?recID=29504 ^[1]“In the metropolitan region, most urban planners and developers look to Orenco Station in Hillsboro as the epitome of successful New Urbanism,” writes Kennedy Smith in today’s edition of the Portland Daily Journal of Commerce.

Smith then cites the view of Bridgeport Village developer (and conference attendee) Bruce Wood that developments such as 2,600-population Orenco have their challenges.

But that development, hailed as a success story, has its problems, Bruce Wood, developer of Bridgeport Village, told real estate professionals Wednesday at a forum held by Portland State University.

“The public perspective on Orenco is that it’s great, but it’s not financially sustainable,” Wood said. “The only way to create density out there is to build parking, and that’s a challenge. The private sector doesn’t want to build it on green spaces.”

The developers of Orenco Station, Wood said, also had the challenge of creating infrastructure where there was none.

Add to that remarks from Portland Development Commission executive director Bruce Warner. Speaking at the conference, he said private developers don’t understand the financing structure necessary to pay for successful New Urbanism developments.

The DJC’s Smith then cited Cascade Station as an endeavor that’s finally emerging from “falure” status after six years on hold. And yes, Ikea is coming on July 25, but:

“What was slated to be Portland’s shining example of New Urbanism turned into not much more than another retail hub on the outskirts of town,” he added.