So “One Thousand Lawyers of Oregon” came up with a new scheme to cram people in density after they banned development on millions of acres of land right outside Portland.
Nobody wants to live out there, there are no jobs or transit.
Build transit?
Portland passes low-density zoning reform
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Re: Portland passes low-density zoning reform
#12As a former Portlandian I’m pretty stoked to imagine where this could take the city! A low altitude densification would beat what’s been done to the inner East side... Here’s a fun thought experiment... Imagine if most streets became parks/plazas (aside from a few left for utility reasons) and everyone rode (electric) bikes, or similar relatively light transport options. To me that’s be idyllic. Imagine not being rel…
> Imagine not being relegated to the sidewalk
Pedestrians don't mix any better with (electric) bikes that are trying to get places than they do with cars. Reasonably broad and well-maintained sidewalks are essential for everyone's comfort and safety.
Re: Portland passes low-density zoning reform
#13I live in the area. Proponents have couched this as a 'progressive' vs. 'nimby' effort, which like the rest of life is not true at all. Housing is complex, not good vs. evil, liberal vs. conservative, urgan vs sprawl. If you doubt this, watch how much this comment is downvoted.
One thing we know, based on over a century of data around the world: increasing density of housing has little effect on affordability, in the long run. More often than not, it has the opposite effect. More simply, we do it backwards: we claim--based on in-migration 'projections' that are nearly always overestimates--that there's a shortage and we must build our way out of it. Example: 20 years ago, Portland estimated a million new residents by 2025. Growth in that period: 105,000, in large part due to annexation.
This leaves out the realities of how things get built. Private developers do the work, for profit, most often for investment groups. If it doesn't 'pencil out', nobody will build it. And this is why 'affordable housing' demands, codes, agreements all get bargained down in the end. They have for decades in Portland, despite repeated promises of 'this time, we really mean it'. Developers hold the cards. I could list dozens of projects of thousands of units.
'But government can build/partner!', you say? No, that rarely works either, especially in Portland. 'But this is law and it must be adhered to!', you say? No, that's not true. When it comes to building, everything gets negotiated, and there's nothing that gets bargained harder on than public entities trying to set housing prices.
Re: Portland passes low-density zoning reform
#14I live in the area. Proponents have couched this as a 'progressive' vs. 'nimby' effort, which like the rest of life is not true at all. Housing is complex, not good vs. evil, liberal vs. conservative, urgan vs sprawl. If you doubt this, watch how much this comment is downvoted. One thing we know, based on over a century of data around the world: increasing density of housing has little effect on affordability, in the…
Do you have a reference?
Re: Portland passes low-density zoning reform
#15> "It shouldn’t take six years for any city to agree to give itself permission to build the sort of homes that every city once allowed."
This is IMO the big thing here. Cities used to allow this kind of construction. Our auto-friendly culture and the desire of landowners to keep poor people off their block has led to increasingly draconian restrictions on private property use. I understand regulations around keeping homes safe, drainage, and fire safety, but legislation and restrictions on things like whether I have a second building on my property and a separate driveway for each one are government overreach.
Re: Portland passes low-density zoning reform
#16I live in the area. Proponents have couched this as a 'progressive' vs. 'nimby' effort, which like the rest of life is not true at all. Housing is complex, not good vs. evil, liberal vs. conservative, urgan vs sprawl. If you doubt this, watch how much this comment is downvoted. One thing we know, based on over a century of data around the world: increasing density of housing has little effect on affordability, in the…
You’ve either studied completely different fields of economics and urban planning than what I’m aware of, or you didn’t study them at all...
Sources, please.
Re: Portland passes low-density zoning reform
#17> "It shouldn’t take six years for any city to agree to give itself permission to build the sort of homes that every city once allowed." This is IMO the big thing here. Cities used to allow this kind of construction. Our auto-friendly culture and the desire of landowners to keep poor people off their block has led to increasingly draconian restrictions on private property use. I understand regulations around keeping…
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Re: Portland passes low-density zoning reform
#18I like almost all of this. I have one minor concern, the maximum home size is dropping from 6750 to 2500 square feet. Which is probably fine for a nuclear family, but in my neighborhood, such homes are largely occupied by multigenerational families. In areas closer to colleges and universities, those homes end up being shared by large groups of students. Both of these populations will take a hit under this policy.
I missed that part. Though both multigenerational families and college students could be served well by multi-structure setups as well. Or in many cases, better served.
Re: Portland passes low-density zoning reform
#19I like almost all of this. I have one minor concern, the maximum home size is dropping from 6750 to 2500 square feet. Which is probably fine for a nuclear family, but in my neighborhood, such homes are largely occupied by multigenerational families. In areas closer to colleges and universities, those homes end up being shared by large groups of students. Both of these populations will take a hit under this policy.
The removal of the off-street parking mandate will also impact EV adoption. Parking is already difficult to find in many older Portland neighborhoods.
Edit: You need a place to plug-in your EV at night.
Re: Portland passes low-density zoning reform
#20So “One Thousand Lawyers of Oregon” came up with a new scheme to cram people in density after they banned development on millions of acres of land right outside Portland.
Nobody wants to live out there, there are no jobs or transit.
What?
I live 100 feet from the urban growth boundary. 20 minutes from downtown Portland. Nearest transit is a quarter mile away and the bus runs once an hour during daylight only. Nobody seems to mind that, houses in this area sell immediately. If you pushed the boundary out another mile it would take no time at all before it would be filled with new homes.