PRESERVING PORTLAND’S HISTORY The City of Portland turned 163 years old this year. It is young compared to cities on the east coast and a mere babe compared to cities in other parts of the world. Even with its relative youthfulness, Portland is a city with history. You can see it in our public spaces such as our Olmstead-designed parks and our pioneer cemeteries, the parts of our street grid… Read More »PRESERVING PORTLAND’S HISTORY

Portland’s Housing Affordability Challenge Mayor Charlie Hales recently made headlines with a proposal that the city allow small houses to be built on government owned land in an effort to increase affordable housing options. Hales’ outside-the-box idea reflects a couple of realities. The first is that housing affordability continues to erode in Portland. The second is that the city’s current set of tools to promote and develop affordable housing is… Read More »Portland’s Housing Affordability Challenge

SE Portland in 2035 The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability recently released a proposed draft of the Comprehensive Plan map. The Comprehensive Plan is the city’s effort to set the framework for the physical development of the city over the next 20 years. If this framework is achieved, what can we expect SE Portland to look like in 2035? Here is how I interpret the changes proposed in the map.… Read More »SE Portland in 2035

Issues related to the demolition of single family homes remain a concern for many in our coalition and in neighborhoods throughout Portland. In June, Southeast Uplift and three other neighborhood coalitions organized a forum to discuss infill, demolitions, and housing affordability. About 200 people from neighborhoods across Portland attended.  You can watch a video of the forum here. In his presentation at the forum, Shawn Wood, a Construction Waste Specialist… Read More »The Whos and Whats of Home Demolitions

The current character of Portland’s neighborhoods is very much tied to our abundant trees. However, Portland hasn’t always been so tree friendly. In fact our nickname Stumptown originates from the 19th century when growth was so rapid that there were “more stumps than trees.” Since that time, Portland has grown a large urban tree canopy which provides us numerous benefits including cleaner water, healthier air, reduced erosion, and wildlife habitat.… Read More »Trees and Infill

As the weather turns the corner toward summer and neighbors dust off their bikes, skateboards, roller skates, or pogo sticks, it’s a good time to think about how we pay for the roads and sidewalks we use every day. Transportation funding is currently getting a lot of attention at the federal, state, and local level, mostly because there isn’t enough of it. Due to rising costs of construction, lack of… Read More »Money Makes The Wheels Go Round

As our Southeast neighborhoods change and redevelop, it makes sense to consider the impacts on the City’s infrastructure. When single-family homes or smaller commercial buildings are replaced by increased commercial and residential density, how does the City account for increased demand on the water, transportation, sewer, stormwater, and open space services?  The City addresses those impacts by charging developers System Development Charges (SDCs), one-time fees based on the size and… Read More »The Nuts and Bolts of System Development Charges