Like so many of you, I love Portland. I still remember the first time I arrived as an adult and truly felt the city: its unique vibrancy, the funky chef-owned-chalk-board-sporting small restaurants, and the crazy cool retail stores that don't exist anywhere else. It was an experience like no other, but in the last 15 years I’ve watched as this once-magical city has started to fade.

What can we, as lovers of Portland, do to get some of our beloved city’s mojo back? For me, the answer starts with housing that’s truly affordable – not just a bit less expensive. As an affordable-housing developer who started his career in Portland, I’ve seen first-hand what happens when you invest in an underserved, under resourced area; not only are the financial returns substantial, but you really feel the power that private investment provides in terms of residual effects. For example, the first park I ever bought was in Southeast Portland. By turning around this “bad property,” the adjacent properties also improved in value and condition. It’s truly the perfect symbiosis of private investors being able to gain financial return coupled with safer and better living conditions – it can, and does, exist.

Conversely, we have all seen the rapid and detrimental effects of unmanaged and dangerous living conditions and how devastating it can be for not only the underserved people experiencing homelessness, but also the community that surrounds them. Private investment builds up a community rapidly, but the retreat of investment due to unsafe conditions destroys a community even faster.

Portland needs affordable housing units

Our city faces numerous challenges all at once, but adding housing that’s truly affordable is mission-critical to everything else. In Portland, this means an all-in cost to residents of under $900 per month. The homeless population is difficult to track and measure, but of the approximately 12,000 unsheltered individuals living in the city, approximately 30% are employed but just can’t afford housing. By adding 2,000-4,000 affordable housing units, we could make a tremendous dent in the unsheltered population.      

Politics aside, the private market typically moves much faster and is more cost-effective than public spending. Working together can help a larger group of people, however, because if private-market investors focus on unsheltered residents who are readily able to move into independent affordable housing, public spending can be streamlined into the group that truly needs supportive public care.
       

Portland city code makes affordable housing doable

Portland isn’t particularly well known for having an “easy to work with” building department, but the city has enacted several legislative measures that are not only unique in terms of providing rapid access to affordable housing, but also allow for a tremendously efficient pathway to setting up housing units at a fraction of the cost of ANY other housing type. Several years ago, for example, city legislation was enacted that allowed for recreational vehicles, as well as other mobile structures, to be placed on single family lots as well as other property, with minimal fees and permitting required. You can read the entire ordinance online, but here are the highlights:

  1. Recreational vehicles and similar mobile homes (i.e., attached to a trailer with wheels) can be temporarily placed on single family lots and available for rent.
  2. These units must have access to reasonable power and, if outfitted with plumbing, connected to adequate water and sewage facilities.
  3. In addition, religious institution properties can accommodate as many as 4 of these units for the same purpose.
  4. Because these are not considered buildings or structures, standard land use, building code, and system development fees, permits and inspections do not apply
  5. Water, sewer, and electrical connections to an RV unit should be permitted, but do not require a land use review process (i.e., these are “over the counter” permits).

This legislation was passed in early 2021 but doesn’t appear to have been used to its full capacity yet. It’s unfortunate, because if you’re familiar with the plan review process for a building residential unit, you know how long, expensive, and difficult it can be. A means to truly streamline this process is nothing short of a gift from the city.

Why is this not being used more? Unfortunately, this ordinance, though creative and inspired, lacks a real “target;” larger home and apartment builders aren’t really interested in small one-off projects that require potentially long-term maintenance and management, and most homeowners and churches lack the needed knowledge, capital, and infrastructure to make use of this ordinance in any meaningful way. To be certain, there are plenty of examples that have popped up in the city. But it’s not enough to make a meaningful impact on the need. To secure 4,000 units of affordable housing, we need to have a concerted investment and implementation strategy that capitalizes on this unique piece of legislation, but also leverages and excites the private sector with the promise of not only saving Portland, but doing so in a way that generates a positive return on investment, helps to build the wealth base of the lowest income working Portland residents, and re-engages some otherwise dilapidated and forgotten homes in the Rose City.

Does this sound too good to be true? It isn’t.

Can we start this today without some massive public-private partnership? Yes.

Do we need to raise $100,000,000 before we can even think about getting started? No.

Please see Part 2  of this series on how we can make this happen.