Stop looking at this house; you can’t afford it. From today’s Seattle Times: Home prices in the Northwest continued to climb at a double-digit pace in June compared to a year ago, easily twice the rate for the nation’s 20 largest metro areas.Seattle home prices rose 11 percent, second only to Portland, where prices rose […]
Housing
Posted inHousing
Wanna Know What Portland Homes Are Up for Demolition? Check Out the City’s New Mapping Tool
Housing demolitions have spurred increasing controversy in Portland over the last year or so, as the city grapples with a swelling population and a dearth of housing options. Mayor Charlie Hales tried to enact a $25,000 “demolition tax,” that failed in the face of community pressure (he settled for a “deconstruction” requirement that makes it […]
Posted inHousing
Mayor Charlie Hales Wants to Extend Portland’s Housing State of Emergency By Three Years
A proposed shelter at Terminal 1 relies on the city’s housing “state of emergency.” Mayor Charlie Hales is preparing to push his council colleagues to take a step stronger than anything envisioned when City Council enacted a housing “state of emergency” last year. As the initial period of that emergency is set to run dry […]
Posted inHousing
A Rodent-Infested Lake Oswego House Could Slow Demolitions in Portland
But in This Market, It Might Not Matter
But in this market, it might not matter.
Posted inHousing
Love Pokémon Go? Need a Place to Live? Got a Lot of Money? Read This!
There should be a Venn diagram in which Pokémon Go, housing, and being independently wealthy intersect, right? Well, while we’re waiting around for that, check out this Craigslist ad: While the description doesn’t go into exact detail about what makes it such a good Pokémon Go hotspot, let’s assume your digs will be brimming with […]
Posted inHousing
This Week’s Letters to the Editor: Housing Bonds, Wannabe Restaurateurs, and Farts
RE: “City: Proposed $258.4 Million Housing Bond Amounts to 1,300 Units” [Blogtown, June 28]. “The City of Portland now has another figure to attach to the $258.4 million housing bond city council will almost certainly put before voters this November: 1,300,” wrote Dirk VanderHart. “That’s the approximate number of affordable housing units those millions would […]
Posted inRental
“The Double Standard of the Side Hustle”
We don’t often consider “Uber drivers skirting the law—making, for instance, illegal airport runs—to be ‘hustling,’” writes The Washington Post‘s Emily Badger. But other types of similar activities have been “heavily criminalized.” Jeramey Lende/Shutterstock Consider the parallels between the much-celebrated “sharing economy” and black men selling loose cigarettes and CDs—and how differently we treat them. […]
Posted inHousing
City Commissioners Just Shot Down Proposed Minimum Parking Requirements for NW Portland Apartment Buildings
Alex DeSpain What a difference a housing crisis makes. A little more than three years ago, faced with neighbors beset by new apartments and tightening on-street parking availability, Portland City Council took what many felt was a step backward. The council enacted requirements for how many parking spots large apartment and condo buildings in most […]
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Hall Monitor: The New Housing Frontier
Portland’s About to Consider Some Big Changes to Its Housing Strategy. We’ll Need More.
Portland’s about to consider some big changes to its housing strategy. We’ll need more.
Posted inHousing
Portland Officials Are About to Put A Historic Housing Bond On the Ballot
Get used to this logo, Portland. It’ll be around til November. Portland City Council will almost certainly make history this afternoon. At 2 pm, the council’s taking up a long-anticipated $258.4 million housing bond, which voters will consider on the November ballot. Other cities have had dedicated tax money for housing for decades—Seattle’s passed one […]
Posted inHousing
City: Proposed $258.4 Million Housing Bond Amounts to 1,300 Units
Nicole Cmar The City of Portland now has another figure to attach to the $258.4 million housing bond City Council will almost certainly put before voters this November: 1,300. That’s the approximate number of affordable housing units those millions would hope to create or preserve over the eight years the Portland Housing Bureau expects money […]
Posted inHousing
Here’s the $258.4 Million Housing Bond You’ll Be Voting on in November
Hey, Portland: You know how this city is currently short about 24,000 affordable units? And how the rent here is shooting up as fast, or faster, than anywhere in the country—15 percent in the last year—meaning that number is only going to rise? Meet the latest effort to improve matters. City Council next week will […]