A year ago, Portland declared an official housing emergency to ease homelessness and rising housing costs. A year later, the emergency continues.
"Portland's declared 'housing emergency' will continue through at least October 2017," reports Brad Schmidt.
According to Schmidt, earlier this week, "the City Council voted unanimously to extend the emergency first enacted last October. The declaration is supposed to ease zoning restrictions for temporary shelters and loosen design requirements for affordable-housing projects."
Schmidt also reported on the city's political debate about housing a year ago, which included the decision to declare a housing emergency and a $30 million spending proposal by Mayor Charlie Hales.
As for the progress the city has made in the meantime, Schmidt reports that 475 shelter beds have already opened or are expected to soon open, and "[o]fficials hope to open an additional 175 by June 2017."
FULL STORY: Portland's 'housing emergency' extended extra year
Portland Service Providers Say Mayor’s Methods for Ending Homelessness ‘Least Effective’
Experts say the mayor’s focus on overnight-only shelters fails to get people into long-term housing with the supportive services they need.
Portland Replaces Camping Ban With New Policy
Unhoused residents can sleep on public property when no shelter space is available, but still face penalties for violating new regulations or not moving into shelter if offered.
Portland Warming Shelters Close Despite Persistent Cold
Advocates say using an arbitrary temperature cutoff to open and close winter shelters ignores the reality of cold weather risks.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
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
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
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