APRIL 27th – Join SE Uplift, OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon and Welcome Home Coalition to about House Bill 2564 and what you can do advocate for local housing development policies aimed at keeping Portland affordable for people of all income levels.
Please join us in celebrating our 2015 Neighborhood Small Grant Recipients on Tuesday, March 31st!
A new multistory mixed use building is constructed in your neighborhood. The building has a physical imprint, but what other impacts does it have on an area? Additional people and businesses can lead to increased vibrancy and boost nearby businesses. Increased activity can generate more car trips, as well as more people biking and walking. New residences and businesses mean new toilets and showers, with new demands on water pipes… Read More »System Development Charges: A Primer
A few weeks ago, I talked with a friend who was considering purchasing a new home. She was excited to show me the pictures, pondering whether or not she could afford it, and trying to decide if it was the right fit for her. We talked a bit about the neighborhood where the house was located, which was a big selling point for her. And then the inner planning nerd… Read More »Zoning: Visualizing what could be
With 2014 in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look ahead to what’s in store for 2015. Here are 6 key land use and transportation topics that I’ll be paying close attention to this new year. (1) The Apartment Building Boom: The past couple of years have seen a surge in the construction of multifamily buildings. This has been driven by a number of factors including historically low rental vacancy rates.… Read More »Land Use and Transportation: Issues Abound in 2015
In a few weeks, my grandmother will turn 95 years old. In a couple of days, my son will celebrate his first birthday. I often think about the changes the world has undergone in my grandmother’s lifetime. I can’t even imagine what my son’s world will look like 95 years from now. Among the many changes my grandmother has lived through is the advent of zoning. The New York City… Read More »Finding the Right Mix: The Mixed Use Zones Project
Train Horns and Quiet Zones Cities can be noisy. All you need to do to observe this is to go far away from a city. Spend a few quiet minutes in wilderness and you’ll certainly notice sounds, but you’ll also notice the absence of city sounds: garbage trucks, revelers at bars and restaurants, construction, barking dogs, airplanes and cars. Sometimes these are background noises to our lives. In other cases,… Read More »Train Horns and Quiet Zones
PRESERVING PORTLAND’S HISTORY The City of Portland turned 163 years old this year. It is young compared to cities on the east coast and a mere babe compared to cities in other parts of the world. Even with its relative youthfulness, Portland is a city with history. You can see it in our public spaces such as our Olmstead-designed parks and our pioneer cemeteries, the parts of our street grid… Read More »PRESERVING PORTLAND’S HISTORY
In the spirit of neighboring and storytelling: SE Uplift invites you to join us at Knock, Knock! It’s Your Neighbor on September 24th, for a night of honest, uproarious and unifying tales.
Portland’s Housing Affordability Challenge Mayor Charlie Hales recently made headlines with a proposal that the city allow small houses to be built on government owned land in an effort to increase affordable housing options. Hales’ outside-the-box idea reflects a couple of realities. The first is that housing affordability continues to erode in Portland. The second is that the city’s current set of tools to promote and develop affordable housing is… Read More »Portland’s Housing Affordability Challenge