Alright, I’m the first to admit that data and data points can really numb your senses. This being said, I’m a data junky. If you’re a data junky too, I highly recommend that you check out the sparkly-new, uber-dynamic, Housing + Transportation Affordability Index, developed by CNT and its collaborative partners, the Center for Transit Oriented Development (CTOD). The Index is a super-interactive map loaded with intriguing (and sometimes not terribly surprising) insight into the cost of location.

The Index maps provide data for the years 2000 and 2008, enabling comparisons for the eight-year period between annual household gasoline expenses, monthly household transportation expenses (including vehicle purchase price, insurance and maintenance) and monthly household transportation expenditures as a percent of income. Across the 52 metro areas studied (including Portland), residents spent a combined $107.4 billion more on gasoline in 2008 than in 2000, an average increase regionally of 155%.

As expected, the differences between walkable and transit-friendly urban areas and more auto-centric suburbs is downright wicked. Definitely look at the advanced features that delve down into income and housing costs, as well as fuel use. This tool enables some very simple and clear deduction. The Index provides the ‘meat’ to an assumption that many of us hold: gas prices are hurting those who have fewer transportation choices far more than those who have access to a diverse transportation infrastructure that enables choice (e.g., bike, bus, MAX), and neighborhoods that enable a walkable lifestyle.

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• July 13, 2008 -- The Living Skyscraper (11)
• June 23, 2008 -- PDX City Data (3)

Or, Everything you ever wanted to know about Portland, but were afraid to find out.

I just stumbled across the website city-data.com, which has a collection of statistics on a number of American cities. My suspicion is that this is primarily of use to real estate agents, but I could be wrong.

In any event, I found the page for Portland very interesting. Although most of the data is 1-4 years old, it’s nevertheless useful for examining trends, and in comparison with other populations.

For instance, check out this plot of yearly precipitation:

Yeah, we get a lot of rain. But summer? Dry as a bone.

And we all know Portland is overwhelmingly white, but compare us to the rest of Oregon:

It makes for some interesting reading on a Monday morning.

Check it out.

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• July 11, 2008 -- Affordability Index (5)