Our columnist in residence, Randy Gragg, directs the John Yeon Center for Architecture and the Landscape. This week he suggested we talk with Gil Kelley about Portland and San Francisco's parallel tracks. Gil is director of citywide planning for the City of San Francisco. He also served for 9 years as Portland Planning director under Mayor Vera Katz, guiding the Pearl District’s ascent, setting the stage for OHSU’s expansion into South Waterfront, and codifying the planning goal that Portland's neighborhoods should serve basic needs within a 20 minute walk. Here are a few highlights from the conversation:

On the magnitude of the planning challenges facing the Bay Area and Portland:
"We tracked [the years]1980-2014, a 35-year period. Portland, over that span, grew at a population rate of 2%, whereas for SF it was only 0.8%. So Portland has gained population at twice the rate of its sister cities."

On what Portland might expect in coming years, based on San Francisco's experience:
"Some of that [population] "churn," is people moving to places in the region that are affordable. But for the most part it's tech workers and higher income individuals moving into San Francisco and moderate and middle income people, especially with families, moving out with this new flush of economic activity. I would ask Portlanders to consider: How do you maintain that economic diversity in a city that will increasingly experience this affordability gap?"

On what measures Portland should consider to deal with growth:
"I would suggest Portland look at things it hasn't looked at before: inclusionary zoning, linkage fees with new economic development is another thing we do in San Francisco — new office developments pay some amount into a housing fund to build moderate and low income housing. The city here passed a bond measure recently $300 million bond to underwrite a number of 100% affordable housing projects. That sounds like a lot but won't go far."

On whether Portland has a leg up, in some respects:
"Portland's planning history have really put [the city] in a position that it knows where it wants to go and has policy consensus around some of the basic land use and transport questions. And there is a capacity for Portland to accommodate growth. The closer questions are how does it deal with some of these potential inequities as this growth occurs.

On whether the Portland Development Commission is on the right track to shape growth:
"The important question is "who are they?" Are they the cities' economic development agency? Des that really belong in the mayor's office? What can PDC do? how does that match with really being the city's real estate development entity? They need to be very engaged not just in attracting business but in helping build the infrastructure for these new companies that will be looking for a home in Portland."

On what Portlanders should be looking for in their next mayor:
"The new mayor really needs to be a champion for good planning again. We have risen to the occasion at a number of critical moments in our history, including late '60s to mid-'70s, and another period in the '80s when we doubled down on transportation investments. But we can't just live on the fumes of those past efforts. There is no substitute for a mayor as champion of good planning."

Listen to the full interview for more on how Portland's form of government influences planning culture, and Kelley's thoughts on central city hot-spots, and strengthening neighborhoods east of 82nd without giving way to gentrification.