Sy Adler, Ph.D
Professor of Urban Studies and Planning
College of Urban and Public Affairs
Portland State University

B.A. (urban studies) 1971 University of Pittsburgh; M.C.P. 1973 Harvard University; Ph.D. (city and regional planning) 1980 University of California at Berkeley.

 

Sy teaches the following core courses: History and Theory of Planning in the graduate planning program; Sociology and Politics of Urban Life in the Urban Studies master and doctoral programs; and Theory and Philosophy of Community Development in the undergraduate community development major. He also teaches Planning Workshop, Introduction to Urban Planning, and Healthy Communities. His research interests are closely integrated with his teaching areas and include comparative studies of planning institutions, theories and practices, and historical and contemporary relationships between urban planning and public health. His main project now is a political history of the Oregon statewide land use planning program. He believes that the Portland metropolitan area and the Northwest offer a wealth of opportunities to study innovative approaches to understanding and addressing a wide range of crucial planning and development issues, and conveys his excitement to students. He is a former co-editor of the Journal of the American Planning Association.

 

Publications:

Books

1997 Carl Abbott, Sy Adler, and Margery Abbott,  Planning a New West: The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Corvallis, OR: Oregon State  University Press.

1994 Carl Abbott, Deborah Howe, and Sy Adler, eds., Planning the Oregon Way, Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press.

Chapters

2004 and Jennifer Dill, “The Evolution of Transportation Planning in the Portland Metropolitan Area.” In Connie Ozawa, ed., The Portland Edge. Covelo, CA: Island Press.

1994 "The Oregon Approach to Integrating Transportation and Land Use Planning." In Carl Abbott, Deborah Howe, and Sy Adler, eds., Planning the Oregon Way, Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press. 

 

 

1993 "The Evolution of Federal Transit Policy.” In Martin Melosi, ed., Urban Public Policy: Historical Modes and Methods, University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.

1990 and Sheldon Edner, "Governing and Managing Multi-Modal Regional Transit Agencies in a Multicentric Era." In George M. Guess, ed., Public Policy and Transit System Management, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

 

Articles

2008 and Noelle Dobson, Karen Perl Fox, and Lynn Weigand, “Advocates and Active Living on the Rural-Urban Fringe: A Case Study of Planning in the Portland, Oregon, Metropolitan Area.”  Forthcoming in Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law, Volume 33, Number 3, June, 2008.

2007 Noelle Dobson, Sy Adler, Karen Perl Fox and Lynn Weigand, “Advocating for Active Living on the Rural-Urban Fringe,” Planning Magazine, Volume 73, Number 2:  A-5.

2004 Deborah Howe, Carl Abbott, and Sy Adler, “What's on the Horizon for Oregon Planners?” Journal of the American Planning Association, Volume 70, Number 4: 391-397.

2004 Mark Bello and Sy Adler, “Banning the ‘Snout House’: The Politics of Design in Portland, Oregon.” Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, Volume 21, Number 3: 193-208.

2003 Carl Abbott, Sy Adler, Deborah Howe, “A Quiet Counterrevolution in Land Use Regulation: The Origins and Impacts of Oregon’s Ballot Measure 7.” Housing Policy Debate, Volume 14, Number 3: 383-425.

2002 J. C. Jo and Sy Adler, “North Korean Planning: Urban Changes and Regional Balance.” Cities, Volume 19, Number 3: 205-215.

2002 Jin Cheol Jo and Sy Adler, “Planning in the socialist developing country: the case of North Korea.” Habitat International 26: 251-267.

2001 Martha Bianco and Sy Adler, “The Politics of Implementation: The Corporatist Paradigm Applied to the Implementation of Oregon’s Statewide Transportation Planning Rule.” Journal of Planning Education and Research, Volume 21, Number 1.

1996 Matthew Slavin and Sy Adler, “Legislative Constraints on Gubernatorial State Industrial Policy: Evidence from Oregon’s Regional Strategies Program.” Economic Development Quarterly, Volume 10, Number 3.

1993 "The Evolution of Federal Transit Policy." Journal  of Policy History, Volume 5, Number 1.

(Reprinted in Martin Melosi, ed., Urban Public Policy: Historical Modes and Methods,  Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993.)

1992 and Sheldon Edner, "Challenges Confronting Metropolitan Portland's Transportation Decision System." Transportation Research Record, Number 1364.

1992 and Johanna Brenner, "Gender and Space: Lesbians and Gay Men in the City." International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Volume 16, Number 1.

1991 "The Transformation of the Pacific Electric Railway: Bradford Snell, Roger Rabbit, and the Politics of Transportation in Los Angeles." Urban Affairs Quarterly, Volume 27, Number 1.

1990 "Environmental Movement Politics, Mandates to Plan, and Professional Planners: The Dialectics of Discretion in Planning Practice." Journal of  Architectural and Planning Research, Volume 7, Number 4.

1990 Sharon Baggett and Sy Adler, "Regulating the Residential Care Industry: Historical Precedents and Current Dilemmas." Journal of Aging and Social Policy, Volume 2, Number 1.

1990 and Gerald Blake, "The Effects of a Formal Citizen  Participation Program on Involvement in the Planning Process: A Case Study of Portland, Oregon." State and Local Government Review, Volume 22, Number 1.

1989 Carl Abbott and Sy Adler, "History in Planning Analysis." Journal of the American Planning Association, Volume 55, Number 4.

1988 "Infrastructure Politics: The Dynamics of Crossing  San Francisco Bay." The Public Historian, Volume 10, Number 4.

1988 "A Comparative Analysis of Rail Transit Politics, Policy and Planning in Canada and the United States." The Logistics and Transportation Review, Volume 24, Number 3.

1988 and Sheldon Edner, "Technological Change in Urban Transport Organizations." Public Productivity Review, Volume 12, Number 2.

1988 “Why BART but no ‘LART’? The Political Economy of Rail Rapid Transit Planning in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Metropolitan Areas, 1945-1957.” Planning Perspectives, Volume 2, Number 2.

1987 “The New Information Technology and the Structure of Planning Practice.” Journal of Planning Education and Research, Volume 6, Number 2.

1986 “The Dynamics of Transit Innovation in Los Angeles.” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, Volume 4: 321-355.

 

Book Reviews

2007 Review of Zachary Schrag, The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Journal of American History. Volume 93, Number 4.

2006 Review of Gregory Crowley, The Politics of Place: Contentious Urban Redevelopment in Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005. Journal of Planning Education and Research, Volume 26, Number 1.

1998 Review of Greg Hise, Magnetic Los Angeles: Planning the Twentieth-Century Metropolis, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. Pacific Historical Review, Volume 67, Number 4.

1997 Review of Bruce McClendon and Anthony Catanese, eds., Planners on Planning: Leading Planners Offer Real-Life Lessons on What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why, Jossey-Bass, 1996. Journal of the American Planning Association, Volume 63, Number 2.

1994 Review of Clifton Hood, 722 Miles: How the Subways Shaped New York City, Simon and Schuster, 1993. Journal of Planning Education and Research, Volume 14, Number 1. 

1988 Review of Scott Bottles, Los Angeles and the Automobile: The Making of the Modern City, University of California Press, 1987. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, Volume 6, Number 2.

 

Completed Works

Ellen Shoshkes and Sy Adler, “Planning for Healthy People/Healthy Places: Lessons from mid-20th Century Global Discourse.” Forthcoming in Planning Perspectives in 2009.

Carl Abbott, Sy Adler, and Margery Abbott, “The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.” A chapter in a forthcoming volume about regional planning initiatives in the United States that surveys the implementation of the 1986 Scenic Area Act.

 

Research Monographs

2003 and Julie Odell, Assessment of the Community GIS Initiative. Prepared for Ford Foundation.

2002 and Connie Ozawa, Pleasant Valley Concept Plan: Project Evaluation. Prepared for Metro.

1997 and Carl Abbott, Conflict and Cooperation on the Metropolitan Frontier: The Politics of Regional Growth Management in the Pacific Northwest. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

1988 Sheldon Edner, Sy Adler and Peter Morris, Challenges Confronting Metropolitan Portland's Transportation Decision-Making Regime. TRANS/NOW.

1986 Understanding the Dynamics of Innovation in Urban Transit. United States Department of Transportation, Urban Mass Transportation Administration.

1980 The Political Economy of Transit in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1945-1963. United States Department of Transportation. Urban Mass Transportation Administration.  

 

 

Conference Papers and Presentations

2008 “Planners, Environmentalists and Lawyers, and the Politics of Land Use Legislation in Oregon.” Presented at International Planning History Society Conference.

2008 “The Politics of Adopting Oregon’s Statewide Land Use Planning Goals.” Presented at Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference.

2007 “Lawyers, Planners, Lawyer/Planners: The Dynamics of Land Use Planning in Oregon.” Presented at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference.

2007 “Watchdog Emerging: The Pre-History of 1000 Friends of Oregon.” Presented at Urban Affairs Association Conference.

2006 Ellen Shoshkes and Sy Adler, “Planning for Healthy People/Healthy Places: Lessons from mid-20th Century Global Discourse. Presented at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference.

2003 “The Evolution of Transportation Planning in the Portland Metropolitan Area.” Presented at the AESOP-ACSP Joint Conference.

2001 Roundtable Presentation: “Oregon’s Ballot Measure 7.” Presented at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference.

1997 "Planners and Angry Citizens: The Portland Planning Bureau and the Dynamics of Increasing Density." Presented at the Association of Collegiate School of Planning Conference.

1996 Roundtable Presentation: “Toronto as a Capital of Good Planning: Canadian and U.S. Perspectives.” Presented at the Association of Collegiate School of Planning Conference.

1995 "Implementing Oregon's Statewide Transportation Planning Rule: The Dynamics of Conflict and Cooperation Within the Community of Planners." Presented at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference.

1994 "Pushing the Envelope of Planning Practice: Citizen Activists, Professional Planners, and the Politics of Transportation Modeling in the Portland Metropolitan Area." Presented at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference.

1993 "Planners as Educators: The Portland Planning Bureau's Livable City Project." Presented at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference.

1992 "The Oregon Approach to Integrating Transportation and Land Use Planning." Presented at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference.

1992 "The Oregon Approach to Integrating Transportation and Land Use Planning." Presented at the Urban Affairs Association Annual Meeting.

1990 "The Evolution of Transportation Planning Practice." Presented at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference.

1988 "Institutional and Professional Issues in Planning Theory and Practice." Presented at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference.

1988 Invited Participant, International Conference on Research on Planning Practice, Cornell University.

 

 

Sy's contact information:
Office: Urban Center, room 370N
Phone: (503) 725.5172
E-mail: adlers@pdx.edu
Website: http://web.pdx.edu/~d3sa/