Real Talk

Real Talk: What Can Be Done About Portland’s Housing Crisis?

From ballot measures to zoning changes to billionaire-backed shelter projects, there’s been a lot in the news lately about our city’s housing crisis. And it is a crisis. About 1,700 Portlanders sleep in cars, tents, or on the street every night. Thousands more rely on emergency shelters or transitional housing, and another 32,000 Portlanders are […]

/ January 29, 2019

Is Universal Housing Possible in Portland? Probably Not Without Uncle Sam

Universal housing vouchers would help all low-income renters who need the help the ability to afford housing in the private market.

/ January 29, 2019

Meet the People Making a Difference on Portland’s Homeless Crisis

If you feel compelled to help solve Portland’s homeless crisis, these are the people and organizations you can connect with to help make a difference.

/ January 29, 2019

Here’s One Way Portland has Almost Solved Homelessness

Multnomah County became the first West Coast community to reduce veteran homelessness to “functional zero.”

/ January 29, 2019

4 Policies That Are Slowing Gentrification In Portland (And 3 More That Could)

Portland’s housing crisis isn’t just about affordable housing and homelessness. So we dug into gentrification, which has happened faster in Portland lately than almost any other city in the country.

/ January 29, 2019

Why Portland is Getting Less Affordable

A Portlander asked us, “How has the ratio of affordable housing in the area kept pace (or not kept pace) with the population increase?” So we answered.

/ January 29, 2019

Portland Is Not a ‘Hub’ for Homelessness, With One Exception

Yes, people are moving to Portland. But only 11 percent of the people experiencing homelessness in our city moved here less than a year ago.

/ January 29, 2019

Portland Is Housing More People Than Ever. Here’s Why It’s Not Enough

Quantifying homelessness depends a lot on your definition of what it means to be homeless. Here’s what we know about those numbers in Portland so far.

/ January 29, 2019

Should Portland Grow In or Out? And Other Housing Qs

📸: Hector Chacon “How does Portland’s zoning and the metro area’s ‘infill philosophy’ contribute to homelessness and gentrification? Considering the available public transportation, might ‘outfill’ ease the crisis?” —Duncan McEwan We shared a little background on this question and the broader infill debate in today’s newsletter. Here’s what else we learned. The urban growth boundary The urban […]

/ January 16, 2019

Your Questions About Homelessness, Answered

📸: Multnomah County “How much does it cost the city to clean up the homeless camps? I see workers cleaning up the huge amount of stuff again and again.” Teri Prifach sent us that question shortly after the New York Times reported on the “dirtiest block in San Francisco,” detailing the daily cleanups that caused […]

/ January 9, 2019