David Bragdon, the new head of the mayor’s sustainability office. Photo: Metro

Portland-area Metro Council president David Bragdon will be the next head of New York City’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. The founding director of the office, Rohit Aggarwala, announced his departure in April after a three-year tenure in which he led the development of the city’s sustainability framework, PlaNYC 2030. Bragdon, an elected official with experience leading one of the country’s most progressively planned regions, will take over the role as the city prepares for the 2011 update of PlaNYC. 

Bragdon has led Metro, the only directly elected regional planning organization in the country, since 2002. As president, he’s managed a broad portfolio with many parallels to PlaNYC: regional planning, including the administration of Portland’s urban growth boundary; recycling; the preservation of natural areas and water quality; and parks. According to Jonathan Maus at Bike Portland, Bragdon paid special attention to parks and trails and strongly supporting walking and cycling.

Bragdon’s appointment comes at a critical moment for the sustainability office. PlaNYC is due for a mandated update next year. Whether by ratifying or expanding on previous commitments or by including missing pieces, such as off-street parking reform, the update provides an opportunity to set New York City’s sustainability goals even higher than before. 

We’ll have more on this appointment in a later post.