Despite better-than-expected results from multiple local housing bonds, housing costs and homelessness remain top of mind for many Oregonians.
A Portland housing bond has yielded more new affordable housing than expected. According to an article by Jared Brey in Governing, the $650 million bond has created almost 5,000 housing units. A report from the Oregon Metro Council expects the bond to create 5,600 units by the time the bond money is all spent.
For developers, the availability of public bond funds has made it possible to do more projects, to add more units or larger units to a planned building, or to offer deeper subsidies for some units.
Despite this success, housing affordability in the region remains a problem, and the cost of building new tax credit housing is twice what it was five years ago. “And in recent years, the costs of housing development have risen substantially due to inflation, labor costs, uncertainty around tariff policy and lower sale value for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.” Meanwhile, an Oregon case was at the heart of a Supreme Court decision that paved the way for more punitive anti-homelessness measures across the nation.
FULL STORY: How Oregon’s Housing Bonds Outperformed Expectations
In Nantucket, where over half of homes are for seasonal use, workers struggle to find affordable housing
The island is short roughly 892 to 1,081 rental units.
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Oakland opens first affordable housing for teachers
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The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
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New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
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FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association