Proof is in the pudding

Becky Brun

It’s commonly known that during lean times people cut back on “luxuries,” such as lattes and sushi dinners, weekend getaways and massages, even educational classes and professional conferences—especially when their bosses aren’t picking up the tab.

So I was a bit surprised when I showed up at a green building conference—excuse me, the Living Future unconference—in Portland this spring to discover it was sold out. People are apparently hungry for tools and information to enhance their work—or, in some cases, their resumes.

While Portland residents represented a big portion of the audience, many attendees came from elsewhere, mentioning a desire to check out a city well-known for its smart urban planning practices, public transit and green buildings as part of the motivation for making the long journey. It’s some of those very things—and much more—that leads those living in the Portland metro area to drive four less miles per day than an American living in a similarly sized city.

While it might not seem significant, four miles a day equates to an extra $1 billion in disposable income, according to Portland economist Joe Cortright of Impresa Principles. The Internal Revenue Service estimates that most of the retail price of gas and cars is “cost of goods,” which leaves the local economy. Therefore, a huge chunk of that extra $1 billion in the pockets of Portland-area residents stays in Portland.

Even more, Cortright found that Portlanders spend this “Green Dividend” on things such as hybrid vehicles, locally produced food and wine—and apparently “green” events such as the Living Future conference and our own Economic Forums, which grew from a once-a-year event in Portland to a series of five breakfast panels along the West Coast in 2009. And while I don’t have the final numbers from the Living Future conference, my guess is that attendees, whether from Portland or afar, gave a healthy boost to the local economy during the three-day event. After all, fun is to be had before, during and after such events.

Other cities looking to stimulate their economies in ways that benefit the health of the people living in their communities as well as the health of the planet should take a close look at Cortright’s research, which was in February 2009 released by CEOs for Cities in a report called “City Dividends.” Going beyond Portland, the report looked at America’s 51 largest cities and found that cities could capture $166 billion of much-needed revenue if civic and business leaders invested in things such as reducing vehicle miles traveled (The Green Divident), education (The Talent Dividend) and reducing the number of people living in poverty (The Opportunity Dividend).