Dozens of Portland trailer parks closed in the real estate bubble of the early 2000s, but in 2016, a group of tenants, the Housing Bureau, and an anti-displacement coalition worked to save one of the city's last places for very low-income renters.
"The Portland Housing Bureau has provided a $1.3 million loan to help preserve a Northeast Portland mobile home park, the Oak Leaf, that was threatened by redevelopment," reports Amelia Templeton. "It’s the first time the Housing Bureau has stepped in to help preserve a mobile home park."
The action to save the Oak Leaf is the most recent in a series of actions by the Housing Bureau to save housing affordable to those with very low incomes. Oak Leaf, for instance, rents for under $500 a month and "has spaces for 35 mobile homes and houses a number of seniors, veterans and people with disabilities," according to Templeton.
Previous coverage by Templeton from June describes the grassroots campaign by Oak Leaf residents to purchase the property in response to a plan by the landlord to sell the property to a developer. The original plan fell apart, but according to his month's article, "the coalition Living Cully worked with Oak Leaf residents to launch a campaign to make a competing offer on the land and save the park."
FULL STORY: Portland Steps In To Save Oak Leaf Mobile Home Park From Redevelopment
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly
The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.
LA's Top Parks, Ranked
TimeOut just released its list of the top 26 parks in the L.A. area, which is home to some of the best green spaces around.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.