Portland Debate over Higher Densities
3rd February 2022
The Antiplanner blows the whistle.
Portland’s housing prices aren’t as high as San Francisco’s, but they are still too high. As indicated Tuesday, median home prices are more than five times median family incomes, which makes housing unaffordable because under standard mortgage rules it’s not possible to get a loan for five times someone’s income.
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Unlike California’s urban-growth boundaries, which are frozen in time, Oregon’s are supposed to grow to meet future housing needs. But in 1993 the state and region decided to meet future housing needs by upzoning existing neighborhoods to higher densities instead of expanding the boundaries.