2014 National Convening Skills Presenations Portland Plan | Page 14

THE PORTLAND PLAN

Tomorrow’s city will be shaped by growth and diversity.

Over the last thirty years, Portland’s population gained more than 200,000 residents, growing from 366,000
to 584,000. Most of this growth occurred in the 1980s and 1990s, when Portland annexed large portions of
east Portland and some additional areas in west Portland. During the 1980s and 1990s, the growth rate was
approximately 20 percent each decade. Between 2000 and 2010, the city’s growth rate was less dramatic,
approximately 10 percent. Metro forecasts that Portland will gain approximately 132,000 new households by
2035 through population growth.

Annexations — The shaded areas of the maps show the City of Portland boundary.

1980

A more diverse Portland
For most of its recent history, Portland was an
overwhelmingly white city, but as population
increased, so has Portland’s racial and ethnic diversity.
Portland’s non-white population was 15 percent of
the total population in 1980 and 27 percent in 2010.
The national average is 33 percent.

8

1980–1990

1990–2000

Historically, communities of color are undercounted
in the U.S. census. The report Communities of Color
in Multnomah County: An Unsettling Profile, from the
Coalition of Communities of Color and Portland State
University, documents this undercount. For example,
the 2010 U.S. Census reported that there are just over
4,000 Native Americans, including Native Alaskans
in Portland. On the other hand, research by the
Coalition of Communities of Color and Portland State
University states that the Native American population
in Multnomah County is greater than 37,000.

April 2012 | www.pdxplan.com