{"id":643,"date":"2009-05-20T16:07:53","date_gmt":"2009-05-20T21:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/?p=643"},"modified":"2010-12-09T16:38:37","modified_gmt":"2010-12-09T21:38:37","slug":"road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/","title":{"rendered":"[INTERVIEW] Rep. Earl Blumenauer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Member of the United States House of Representatives (Oregon), 1996 \u2013 <\/em>
\nMember of the Portland City Council, 1986 – 1996<\/em><\/p>\n

on changing the american landscape<\/strong><\/p>\n

BLUEPRINT AMERICA: Paint me a picture of the future. Where is this country going and what does it imply in terms of population, in terms of growth? Can we continue just to build out on the horizon?<\/p>\n

REP. EARL BLUMENAUER: Well, the bubble that hasn\u2019t been given due attention after we\u2019ve done real estate bubbles and auto bubbles and financial bubbles, is the demographic bubble \u2013 we are having an explosion. And we\u2019re going to [have] 430, 440, 450 million people by mid century.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>Earl Blumenauer<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

And, we\u2019re going to have a much different population distribution. The typical household is changing. We\u2019re moving from the Leave It To Beaver<\/em> era where there were two, three, four kids in a household, two parents, suburban\u2026 We\u2019re finding now there will be more single person households than families with children. At a time when we\u2019re going to have way more than 400 million people in this country.<\/p>\n

So, we have more people. We have more diversity. And we have much different needs and aspirations for these different groups. The only way we can accommodate it is with communities that are richer, that have more choices for movement where people live, and we strengthen the fabric of these existing communities rather than just abandon them and spreading out into the countryside. People don\u2019t want to live that way. They can\u2019t afford to build the infrastructure that way. And it won\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

BA: Just in terms of being clear, let me just ask directly \u2013 does our country need to get away from a narrow dependence on cars, highways as a means of getting around? Does that have to change?<\/p>\n

EB: The American family needs more choices. They need more choices about how they move, where they live, the things that matter to them. One size fit all solutions are no longer applicable in today\u2019s complex world. Well, an auto-dominated society, we find out, poses unique problems for people that don\u2019t drive \u2013 problems with congestion, problems with space.<\/p>\n

We do need to be able to take a step back \u2013 it starts with basic structures of land use. We went on a building construction spree that detached single-family dwellings as far as the eye could see, which ended up actually compromising choices for American families \u2013 requiring too many people to burn a gallon of gas to buy a gallon of milk, trapping them in their cars, making them hostage to increasingly complex scheduling requirements for children.<\/p>\n

The whole range of things that rippled out from a decision to have suburban sprawl \u2013 that much maligned concept \u2013 but is very real. What we\u2019ve found in today\u2019s turmoil surrounding erratic energy prices and erratic housing prices that actually those communities that are more compact give people more choices \u2013 including many choices that are more cost-effective, actually hold their value and give more flexibility to the family.<\/p>\n

BA: Will America change?<\/p>\n

EB: It is changing. These policies are changing now. They\u2019re changing, in part, because communities are in a situation where they can no longer rely on an auto only transportation system. They\u2019re in a situation where we have far more suburban sprawl, detached single-family homes than the market can absorb.<\/p>\n

And that was before the financial meltdown. We find that our demographics are changing. There\u2019s a Baby Boomer turning 50 every eight seconds. Baby Boomers don\u2019t want to maintain huge acreages in the suburbs. They want communities where there\u2019s street life, where there are sidewalks, where they can have more manageable residences.<\/p>\n

The commutes have gotten so bad in many communities that people have just had enough. They don\u2019t want to waste the time, they can\u2019t afford the money. So, we\u2019re seeing trends across the country where already the adjustments are being made. And it\u2019s a question of whether the Federal government will make the adjustments that catch up to where the American public is today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Member of the United States House of Representatives (Oregon), 1996 \u2013 Member of the Portland City Council, 1986 – 1996 on changing the american landscape BLUEPRINT AMERICA: Paint me a picture of the future. Where is this country going and what does it imply in terms of population, in terms of growth? Can we continue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3749,1251,7085],"tags":[5023],"class_list":["post-643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blueprint-america-by-program-reports","category-by-program","category-web-only-features","tag-earl-blumenauer"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Next American System ~ [INTERVIEW] Rep. Earl Blumenauer | Blueprint America | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Next American System ~ [INTERVIEW] Rep. Earl Blumenauer | Blueprint America | PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Member of the United States House of Representatives (Oregon), 1996 \u2013 Member of the Portland City Council, 1986 – 1996 on changing the american landscape BLUEPRINT AMERICA: Paint me a picture of the future. Where is this country going and what does it imply in terms of population, in terms of growth? Can we continue […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blueprint America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-05-20T21:07:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-12-09T21:38:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/files\/2009\/05\/006-earl-blumenauer400x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tom mcnamara\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tom mcnamara\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"tom mcnamara\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/#\/schema\/person\/5cb395b99b3e08ceff9a2adde41cfa8f\"},\"headline\":\"[INTERVIEW] Rep. Earl Blumenauer\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-05-20T21:07:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-09T21:38:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/\"},\"wordCount\":692,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/files\/2009\/05\/006-earl-blumenauer400x225.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Earl Blumenauer\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Blueprint America\",\"By Program\",\"Web Only Features\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/\",\"name\":\"The Next American System ~ [INTERVIEW] Rep. Earl Blumenauer | Blueprint America | PBS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/files\/2009\/05\/006-earl-blumenauer400x225.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-05-20T21:07:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-09T21:38:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/#\/schema\/person\/5cb395b99b3e08ceff9a2adde41cfa8f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/files\/2009\/05\/006-earl-blumenauer400x225.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/files\/2009\/05\/006-earl-blumenauer400x225.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"[INTERVIEW] Rep. Earl Blumenauer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/\",\"name\":\"Blueprint America\",\"description\":\"A spotlight on America\u2019s decaying and neglected infrastructure.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/search-results\/?q={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/#\/schema\/person\/5cb395b99b3e08ceff9a2adde41cfa8f\",\"name\":\"tom mcnamara\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/author\/tom-mcnamara\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Next American System ~ [INTERVIEW] Rep. Earl Blumenauer | Blueprint America | PBS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Next American System ~ [INTERVIEW] Rep. Earl Blumenauer | Blueprint America | PBS","og_description":"Member of the United States House of Representatives (Oregon), 1996 \u2013 Member of the Portland City Council, 1986 – 1996 on changing the american landscape BLUEPRINT AMERICA: Paint me a picture of the future. Where is this country going and what does it imply in terms of population, in terms of growth? Can we continue […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/","og_site_name":"Blueprint America","article_published_time":"2009-05-20T21:07:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-12-09T21:38:37+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/files\/2009\/05\/006-earl-blumenauer400x225.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"tom mcnamara","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tom mcnamara","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/"},"author":{"name":"tom mcnamara","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/#\/schema\/person\/5cb395b99b3e08ceff9a2adde41cfa8f"},"headline":"[INTERVIEW] Rep. Earl Blumenauer","datePublished":"2009-05-20T21:07:53+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-09T21:38:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/"},"wordCount":692,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/files\/2009\/05\/006-earl-blumenauer400x225.jpg","keywords":["Earl Blumenauer"],"articleSection":["Blueprint America","By Program","Web Only Features"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/","name":"The Next American System ~ [INTERVIEW] Rep. Earl Blumenauer | Blueprint America | PBS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/files\/2009\/05\/006-earl-blumenauer400x225.jpg","datePublished":"2009-05-20T21:07:53+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-09T21:38:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/#\/schema\/person\/5cb395b99b3e08ceff9a2adde41cfa8f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/files\/2009\/05\/006-earl-blumenauer400x225.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/files\/2009\/05\/006-earl-blumenauer400x225.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/road-to-the-future-interview-rep-earl-blumenauer\/643\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"[INTERVIEW] Rep. Earl Blumenauer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/","name":"Blueprint America","description":"A spotlight on America\u2019s decaying and neglected infrastructure.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/search-results\/?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/#\/schema\/person\/5cb395b99b3e08ceff9a2adde41cfa8f","name":"tom mcnamara","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/author\/tom-mcnamara\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}