After a public-testimony showdown, Portland’s planning commission backed re-legalizing small duplexes, triplexes and affordability incentives on almost any lot. Now it’s on to city council. — by Michael Andersen| Sept. 17, 2018 This article was previously published by the Sightline Institute. The most provocative housing policy event of this week in the Pacific Northwest started happening four months ago.

Because land is half the price of a Portland home, Rhonda Spencer says “cutting lot size down will reduce the purchase price” — Interviewed by Henry Kraemer & Madeline Kovacs | August 27, 2018 We met Rhonda Spencer recently at a happy hour on N Killingsworth, where she came to learn about the rule changes being proposed for Portland’s residential neighborhoods. …

This is such an important and not necessarily intuitive idea that we made an illustration to help show how it works. — by Michael Andersen | May 23, 2018 We’ve all heard that more housing helps address a housing crisis, but it’s not always obvious how or why. Things get especially confusing once you know that new homes are usually more expensive than older homes of the same size in the same…

Requiring new homes to be bigger is a terrible way to prevent displacement, affordable housing advocates say. — by Michael Andersen | May 15, 2018 Advocates for affordable housing in East Portland and elsewhere say they’re worried the city is about to make a big mistake. This week, Portland’s Planning and Sustainability Commission is debating reforms to Portland’s zoning code to re-legalize duplexes and corner triplexes in central…

The upzone proposal needs to find one more vote at city council on Wednesday. — by Michael Andersen | April 21, 2018 An affordable-housing developer has a proposal to preserve an historic Alberta Street church as an arts and culture venue while adding about 50 new homes, all of them affordable to lower-income Portlanders. The project would also create 15,000 square feet of new “permanently…

A new economic analysis shows the current proposal would only create 86 net new homes per year. — by Michael Andersen | April 20, 2018 Through two years of deliberation, Portland’s anti-McMansion residential infill project has been built on a simple compromise for lower-density residential areas: cap the size of new buildings, but also increase the total number of homes by re-legalizing duplexes and corner triplexes.

Portland’s council just showed why inclusionary housing can lead to more homes if done right. — by Michael Andersen | March 28, 2018 Portland’s new affordable-housing mandate includes a lot of details worth debating, and Portlanders certainly are. But last week, the city council gave Portlanders a powerful illustration of why inclusionary housing matters: when you require 10 to 20 percent of homes in any new…

Congratulations! Instead of living here, 275 higher-income households will soon be competing for housing with you instead. — by Michael Andersen | March 8, 2018 On Wednesday, Portland’s city councilors tripped over one another to spell out their disagreements with a lineup of Northwest Portland homeowners who objected to the height of a proposed new apartment tower. Then the council unanimously voted to give the anti-housing activists exactly…

An annotated gallery of middle-class displacement. — by Michael Andersen | Jan. 16, 2018 Since January 2015, when the City of Portland started talking seriously about changing the rules for new homes in residential areas, the median price of a residential lot in the city has risen from $301,000 to $404,000. The final three slides below show…