David Oates

David Oates writes about nature, the arts, and urban life from Portland, Oregon. His nonfiction books include City Limits: Walking Portland's Boundary (OSU Press, 2006), Paradise Wild: Reimagining American Nature (OSU Press, 2003), and a new book exploring the experience of transcendence The Mountains of Paris: How Awe and Wonder Saved My Life (forthcoming from OSU Press). He won the 2015 Poetry Award from Swan Scythe Press, and his essays and poetry have appeared in many periodicals, including Georgia Review, Orion, Earth Island Journal, and Creative Nonfiction.

Author's Entries

  • Urban Growth Boundary

    Each urban area in Oregon is required to define an Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). Housing tracts, shopping malls, and other kinds of urban development are not allowed to sprawl past that boundary, while agricultural lands and open space outside a UGB are preserved. Oregon's land-use system and UGBs are an …

    Oregon Encyclopedia