WORKING CLASS AND UNHOUSED SOLUTIONS FIRST
Working Class and Unhoused Accommodations Will Be a Priority
Portland's housing costs have not gone down despite efforts to increase supply for over 10 years. Simply adding more generic, corporate, low-quality buildings hasn’t solved affordability issues. With 20,000 residents leaving in the past four years, you would think it would’ve gotten more affordable but it hasn’t.
Trickle-Down affordability isn’t working..
We need to rethink our approach. The reality is that real estate has become a globally traded commodity, like a stock. To get local affordability we must think local for solutions.
To Truly Support the Working Class, We Must Innovate Housing Solutions that:
Preserve existing affordable units. Stop Displacement of working class renters to build corporate apartments. Chicago and New York have Housing preservation policies. We should too. Inclusive zoning (percentage of discounted units to those making 60% or 80% of median income) can’t provide the affordability and stability we need. $1,000 for a studio is not affordable.
Create policy that makes working class home ownership inevitable, not just possible.
Rework the Residential Infill Project to create affordable working class ownership options.
Use underutilized city streets as a land trust to build ownership homes for lower income families.
Streamline the process and work to create grants and incentives to build ADUs (adding housing units to existing houses) while also limiting and reducing fees and property tax liabilty.
Developing policy that incentivizes diverse, innovative housing types such as…single-room occupancy long term hotels, shared housing, group housing, eco and tiny house villages.
Use existing federal grants to convert downtown commercial to innovative live/work opportunities. Advocate for the creation of state grants and incentives to be used for this.