Shaping Portland

Reviews / Votes

"Insightful. Tillett brings his intimate knowledge of the city and it's city-shapers to illuminate the critical ideas and the social context that gave rise to a remarkable story in modern city-building. And he lets us know it's a work still in progress, signaling hope for the next generation of city-builders."

Gil Kelley, FAICP, General Manager of Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability, City of Vancouver, BC; former Director of Planning, City of Portland, Oregon

"Portland is a wonderful city and Paddy Tillett's thoughtful and exhaustive analysis describes the important contribution that intelligent place making and urban design has made. This book is surely a must read for any aspiring politician as while Portland currently benefits from enlightened governance there is no cause for complacency. Tillet's fictional epilogue charts a catastrophic, but credible, future that matches any Hollywood block-buster script, should his warnings be ignored."

Howard Sheppard Director, City Design and Planning, LDDC

"An insightful and laser-sharp assessment of the successes and shortfalls of Portland's innovative and place-based planning and urban design within an international professional context. The result is a must-read book with hope and direction for development that sustains a healthy metropolitan life-style while confronting the realities of climate change, flooding, landslides, and a major seismic event."

Don Miles, FAIA, Founding board member of Project for Public Spaces, Retired principal of ZGF Architects LLP

"Paddy Tillett is a student of urbanism and design, able to articulate well how each has been exhibited in his adopted home town of Portland, and the role each has played in the evolution of one of America's most livable cities. He has a good grasp of how the implications of our urban design decisions, whether intentional or not, greatly affect our use and enjoyment of a place, and its spaces. In Shaping Portland, Tillett communicates this in a manner accessible to both the professional design practitioner seeking to learn from the experience of a successful natural and built environment, as well as the lay person seeking to quench their thirst for knowledge of how this most successful exhibition of a healthy and livable city came to be. There are many lessons contained within this book that provide insight into Portland's future as a resilient city, and to inform others who may wish to apply them to help improve the health of communities elsewhere."

David M. Siegel, FAICP, Former President, American Planning Association

"What I really like about the book is how it looks at Portland from a variety of vantage points: as a collection of buildings, streets and parks, but also natural factors like topography and climate, as well as the values that underscore all that we do in shaping the city, the past errors we've made, and the great challenge we face in the years ahead preparing for a potentially cataclysmic seismic event."

Brian Libby, Portland Architecture