by Heather Livingston
Contributing Editor

Summary: Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996. A staunch advocate of the architecture profession and built environment, the congressman is committed to promoting livable communities at the federal level. He is a member of the Ways and Means Committee, the Budget Committee, and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Climate Change. Dubbed the “Johnny Appleseed of Livability,” he has authored and co-sponsored legislation to preserve and protect public lands, shift U.S. energy policy towards renewable energy and energy efficiency, curb global warming, and restore America’s lakes and rivers. In the past 12 years, he has visited more than 100 U.S. communities to help local governments, citizens, and civic organizations build effective partnerships to manage growth, improve the environment, and provide transportation choices. Blumenauer also was involved with AIA150, announcing the results of America’s Favorite Architecture and introducing a resolution to celebrate the architecture profession during National Architecture Week.

Why did you get involved in politics? I was a college student during the Vietnam war, something that was a pretty searing experience for most Americans. I found it exceedingly frustrating that young people were paying the price for a policy they had no voice in helping to select, so I got involved in Oregon and nationally with an effort to lower the voting age. I’ve been involved with the public policy issues ever since.

How did you acquire a passion for the built environment? My first political involvement was in Portland at a very exciting time. There were fundamental questions about the direction the community was going to take. The area that I ended up representing in the legislature a couple years out of college was going to be ripped in two by an eight-lane freeway that would have no demonstrable impact on congestion. We were struggling for the heart and soul of downtown Portland, which was hollowed out and on a downward glide path, and Oregon was coming to grips with fundamental issues of land use and transportation. I had just completed my undergraduate degree, taken my first job, and was taking graduate studies, and these all converged.

It became clear to me that, at the local level we could make a difference in land use and transportation, what we did with our public buildings, where they were located, and how they were designed. Frankly, I was extraordinarily fortunate to be involved with a number of design professionals early in my career to help understand how these building blocks fit together. As luck would have it, I was able to serve in local government implementing zoning plans and building light rail for 10 years. This was [like] my graduate education in design. I was Portland’s Commissioner of Public Works, a member of the City Council, but also responsible for planning and transportation. It was an amazing experience because Portland is on the cutting edge of architecture, planning, and the integration of public policy into how we actually build the communities. It was a marvelous experience working with people in the private sector and amazing public employees. I became fascinated with it and have continued my obsession to this day.

Portland has been at the vanguard of the livability movement for a long time. Is that due to emphasis that you placed while in office, or is it more a reflection of your constituency? I would like to think that the work I’ve done over the last third of a century helped advance these issues. Certainly, I advanced the policies and defended them in tough instances and was able to implement programs dealing with light rail, planning, design, and transportation, but it is very much reflective of the community values and being part of a much broader team. We have had a number of elected officials in both parties who were committed early to land use planning.

We had an amazing array of citizens who led the charge to turn a waterfront freeway into a 37-acre waterfront park. We have been blessed with national leaders in architecture, design, planning, and many facets of transportation. Portland from its earliest days, in part through accident, has been human-scale. We have very small blocks that comprise the street grid, 200x200 is the typical block, which has a great deal of open space and more corners to be developed. We were able to turn the corner in the 1970s on these new policies before we lost our heritage.

A lot of what we’re doing in Portland is going back to the future. The most recent example is the re-introduction of the modern street car. Portland has served as a model for dozens of cities around the country with our new streetcar system. But it’s really just reaching back in time, using a tried and true technology at the right scale and being able to integrate it into the modern built environment. It’s an example of how we do things.

What is the architecture profession doing well to enhance communities? I try to be in a different community every month. Two weekends ago, we were in Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico. I’m struck by how everywhere, the architecture community is increasingly effective in being part of the community planning process. The 2030 Challenge that deals with energy conservation has been seized upon and is being used both in new architectural commissions and in local policies dealing with energy conservation. The architecture community is at the right place at the right time with the right solutions, and they’re being more vocal about it.

I’ve been in Congress 12 years and I’ve seen an increasing presence through the grassroots efforts: the conferences that they bring to Capitol Hill and the work they’re doing on the state level. I’m seeing architects understanding that they have a stake in the big public policy issues of the day, like transportation, energy, even the farm bill. So, their reach is being extended and their impact multiplied.

What should individual architects be doing better to positively impact sustainability and livability? I think there’s no better advocate than an architect for tying these pieces together. They understand the role that design principles play, but they also interact with code requirements and comprehensive plan elements. They’re the master weavers and the communicators who talk to the clients, local authorities, and oftentimes people in the community who have concerns about the impact a project will have. The architectural community needs to be willing to engage more broadly in what they do nationally with the AIA and other organizations, including being more aggressive locally and raising the profile of these issues, spotlighting the good stuff, and being constructively critical about outmoded policies and practices. The architect is right in the middle of the most important public policy considerations in any community. The more they understand, appreciate, and act that role, the better off we’ll all be.

What sustainable measures do you do personally? I drive a hybrid car. I ride a bike to work everyday in Washington, D.C. When I’m not home, my hot water heater is not on. In our own remodeling and appliance selection, we’ve made choices that will make sense over the long haul, and we purchase green power in our home accounts. In part, I actually have no choice in this matter. My wife is an ardent environmentalist, who in her legal practice used to cite wind projects and in fact was on the wind energy legislative board. My son has changed his business activities to be involved with sustainability. This summer, my son, daughter, and wife were all involved with bike commuting themselves. We try to integrate these things into where we shop, what we buy, and how we move, as well as being a part of our careers…I’m lucky because I can integrate what I do for a living with some of my core beliefs, so in some cases it’s seamless. Last night on the floor of the House, I was talking about initiatives that we’ve taken to change the way the House of Representatives itself operates. It’s fun watching those things come together.

Who inspires you? I find the most inspirational are the young people whom I work with: my kids, the students, the interns that work in our office. Every month I’m on one or two campuses and watching what is happening there…It’s been a great model for me to watch what is happening with young people across the country and try to run to keep up with them.

What do you do in your downtime? I completed my 36th marathon last month. I enjoy running with friends and bike-touring through the communities. I like urban exploring as I visit other cities and having a chance to meet people, see what works, and look at the richness in their urban environment. It’s not just a source of intellectual pleasure, but it’s fun and exciting to observe. I’m fortunate to live in a community where lots and lots of friends share these values and these passions. There’s nothing like biking to one of the magnificent wineries just a few miles outside of Portland with friends to sample the ware, enjoy the countryside. Those are things that I like to do.

The nature of the job is such that most of the time, though, I am programmed in Portland, in Washington, D.C., or someplace around the country. I find that it actually is recreational. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, the weekend before last, I combined a couple of speeches and meetings with community leaders with runs through Old San Juan to enjoy the beauties of that historic city and combine the fresh air, exercise, and companionship. You weave that together and the meals, the meetings, the runs all combine into a really rich social experience and it actually doesn’t even seem like work.

When we go to different communities, we always try to engage people in the design professions—the architects and landscape architects and planners. They add a dimension to appreciating the history of the community, how it’s developing, what it’s doing, what it’s challenges are, and they are so quick to point out the particular charms and the quirks of wherever it is that it might be. Usually there’s an appreciation for good food and wine and it really makes these experiences into opportunities to sample the best that a community has to offer. It’s something that I appreciate and learn a lot from, and it is extraordinarily enjoyable.