Today Damascus, Oregon is a wide spot on Highway 212 about 12 miles southeast of Portland. This rural community is a mix of nurseries, small farms and the hint of urban sprawl. The two lower images show pasture and fields that are slated to be the future urban center of Damascus.

 

In 2002 12,000 acres surrounding the small rural Damascus was added inside the Portland Metro region's urban growth boundary. Suddenly this unincorporated part of Clackamas County was faced with the realities of imminent urbanization. What at first seemed unthinkable to many Damascus residents has been turned into an opportunity to create a something good. First the area residents voted to incorporate as a new city so that they would have control over their own planning destiny. Now the new city of Damascus is facing the challenge of how to create a new community from scratch that embodies many principles of good urban design and protects of the important natural resources within its boundaries.

This July 13, 2005 panel discussion includes two Damascus residents, John Hartsock and Dean Apostl and two Portland area consultants, Mary Kyle McCurdy with 1,000 Friends of Oregon, and Karen Perl Fox with PerlFox Associates.

Stay tuned to this web page, as we continue to follow the Damascus Plan and find out what happens to this old barn, perched in the heart of future downtown Damascus.