Metro Future Vision team asks Portland to boost regional outreach as 50‑year plan proceeds

Metro officials visited the Portland City Council to outline an 18‑month process to craft a 50‑year Future Vision for the greater Portland region and asked councilors to help boost engagement.

Juan Carlos Gonzalez, chair of Metro’s Future Vision Commission, said the project will scan prior regional planning work and reach broad cross‑sector audiences to craft values that should guide future regional plans. “Change is coming whether we plan for it or not,” Gonzalez said, urging a co‑created regional framework.

Jess Sadeb, Metro’s principal regional planner and project manager, described engagement tactics that include a youth committee meeting 12 times over the next year, arts‑based outreach and public events at community nodes across the region. Sadeb said Metro contracted Institute for the Future to identify major drivers of change and that a public preview of those drivers is planned for Metro Council in June.

Councilors asked about the specificity of the final vision, how Metro plans to measure progress, equity and youth outreach in East Portland, and whether the study would address economic and housing challenges. Metro staff said the vision will be high‑level in many places (values and aspirations for a 50‑year horizon) but will be paired with communication assets and a later round of engagement that will surface priorities for implementation.

Metro asked councilors to promote an online values survey running through mid‑May, offered postcards and materials for local events, and flagged a youth summit planned for the summer. Gonzalez said the effort is funded from Metro general funds and emphasized the desire for wide participation from across the region.