'Unprecedented' Portland Community Benefits Agreement Prioritizes Racial Equity

The Broadway Corridor CBA is designed to create high quality jobs, housing, and opportunities for historically excluded communities.

2 minute read

July 22, 2021, 12:00 PM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


A 32-acre redevelopment project in Portland will be subject to "an unprecedented community benefits agreement (CBA)" that "prioritizes racial equity, delivering good jobs, and benefiting working class residents," writes Meg Walker. "Despite the city’s efforts over the past 30 years to address racial disparities through planning, rezoning, and fair housing policies, many residents continue to feel left out of the development process and priced out of new neighborhoods." A group of more than 20 local organizations, which came together to found the Healthy Communities Coalition (HCC) in 2015, has been working to "ensure new development projects delivered jobs, quality housing, and other opportunities for the people they represented."

"For over 20 years, CBAs have provided low-income communities with the means to obtain living wages, local hiring commitments, and other community economic benefits from developers of large-scale projects. In addition to the broad representation of underserved communities from Portland and a commitment to racial equity, what makes the Broadway Corridor CBA different from most is that it is not a 'public works' project built solely with major public subsidies, but instead a public-private partnership funded primarily through private investment."

The agreement calls for "the creation of 8,800 new jobs prioritizing people of color and women (30% people of color and 15% women), the provision of workforce development funds in the construction and operation phases, and stipulations that affordable housing will comprise approximately 30% of the total units," as well as a commitment to providing grants and low-cost loan to small businesses and carbon reduction and other sustainability goals. 

"While the CBA for this immense public-private project will likely face many challenges in the future (and many residents believe it could have gone further in its scope), this once-in-a-generation opportunity is still raising the bar for equitable and sustainable development."

Monday, July 12, 2021 in The Brookings Institiution

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight