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A little over five years ago, my husband and I decided to leave Portland, Oregon, our home for 15 years, to move to a smaller town. We were looking for a place where we could feel a sense of community, avoid the stress of rush-hour traffic and maybe find a bit more sun. After a few years, we realized just how much we missed Portland: the culture, the bookstores and galleries, the environmentally oriented politics and the city's commitment to sustainable urban growth and public transportation. As we contemplated moving back, we thought long and hard about why we had left.

We realized that our previous Portland experience was colored by our semi-suburban lifestyle, in which just about anything we wanted to do involved getting into the car and battling our way down congested freeways. We missed out on some of the city's best festivals and cultural attractions because we didn't want to fight traffic. Perhaps the issues that prompted our departure weren't with Portland, but, rather, with our experience of suburban living.

While the traditional suburbs surrounding most American cities promote the dream of owning a home, they often lack a feeling of community. Suburbs were designed with the automobile in mind: Large garages, winding streets and strip malls dominate the landscape. There is no town center where people can gather, and it's often difficult to walk anywhere. While these developments were built as places for families, the complete dependence on automobiles they require and lack of reliable public transportation they offer often make them difficult to navigate for people who cannot drive.

When we decided to move back to the Portland area, we focused our search on proximity to public transportation, particularly Portland's wonderful MAX light-rail system. We had watched the new Orenco Station development gradually expand around the MAX line heading west toward Hillsboro. Soon the community was being touted as a prime example of transit-oriented development (TOD) by organizations promoting design and urban planning. We decided to take a closer look and soon realized that we had found just what we were looking for — a small town just a short train ride from the center of Portland.

The concept of transit-oriented development is fairly simple: Create communities around public transportation hubs. TODs go beyond "bedroom" communities. They are designed as well-rounded villages that are highly livable and easily walkable, with town centers and core services required for day-to-day living, such as schools, stores, doctors, dentists and coffee shops (a core service in the Pacific Northwest). TODs also tend to feature parks, green spaces and community gathering places. In most TODs, the higher-density housing, such as apartments and condos, is closest to the transportation hub. Radiating out from there are row houses, town homes and neighborhoods of small homes, usually with alleys and garages in the back, encouraging a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere. A bit farther out are larger homes in more traditional suburban neighborhoods, where residents are more likely to drive to the transit center park-and-ride than maneuver down busy freeways into the city.

A number of factors have driven the development of TODs in recent years: high fuel prices, ever-increasing traffic congestion, the desire for more affordable living outside the suburban sprawl, the growing number of people who are downsizing and folks who are looking for a better quality of life in a place where it feels like they're part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

We've only been in Orenco Station for a short while, but already we love it. The tree-lined streets and front porches remind me a bit of the Midwest, where I grew up. It's not uncommon to see people walking to the local grocery store for fresh bread and organic produce. The restaurants and coffee shops cater to locals, and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before we'll be asked, "The usual?" A trip to Portland for a croissant at the Pearl Bakery and a gander through Powell's City of Books is a short, stress-free and pleasant train ride away. When I board MAX for the airport, I know what time I'm going to arrive, which is a huge stress-reliever. Plus, on the train, I can work or catch up on reading.

Orenco Station and other TODs provide a viable, more sustainable alternative to the traditional suburb, and home buyers are taking notice. The February 2006 issue of Sunset magazine named Orenco Station the "Best New ‘Burb" in their "Best Places to Live" cover story, highlighting the transit orientation of the community as a key factor. Thanks to a few visionary urban planners and developers who embrace the TOD concept, transit-oriented communities enable residents to enjoy the pleasant aspects of small-town living along with the advantages of being near an urban area — no automobile required.

Jennifer Allen Newton is a writer and communication consultant who is still unpacking moving boxes and enjoying life in Orenco Station with her husband, artist Jamie Newton, and scruffy dogs Baxter and Kirby. Jennifer writes a blog about life with dogs at www.scruffydogs.blogspot.com.

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