The planned urban town center was designed as a pedestrian-friendly, high-density community built in conjunction with TriMet’s Westside light rail.

[4] The development was a mixed-used neighborhood combining both retail and residential along the light rail line and in the middle of high-tech employers.

[4] During late spring through summer Orenco Station is host to a farmers' market, featuring produce, crafts, and music.

Bruce Podobnik, a sociologist at Lewis and Clark College, completed a study in 2002 that showed comparatively high levels of resident satisfaction and "social capital", or interaction between neighbors.

[6] Governing executive editor Alan Ehrenhalt called Orenco Station "perhaps the most interesting experiment in New Urbanist planning anywhere in the country.