One of the surprising results of our concentration on land use, public transit and bicycling is that Portlanders have more money in their pockets to spend with local businesses--- a recent economic study showed that Portlanders save about $2.6 billion on transportation costs―money that for the most part would go out of our local economy―that they can spend on homes, entertainment, etc…. and this local spending helps to support our local neighborhood business districts.
And this is another thing that is good for tourism―because a vibrant downtown and those unique neighborhood districts are really attractive to visitors.
And these are interesting counterpoints to the conventional wisdom that you have to give up some economic growth in order to protect the environment―we are showing the opposite.