Affordable housing

Affordable housing has always been an integral part of Oregon’s land use planning program. Oregon’s Statewide Planning Goal 10 (Housing) eliminates zoning barriers to building affordable housing. Every city in Oregon must zone land for a variety of different housing types and sizes, to meet the needs of all Oregonians, regardless of income, family size, age or other characteristic. The planning laws forbid exclusionary housing policies – zoning that prohibits apartment buildings or other multifamily housing, manufactured housing, or government assisted housing.

Since its inception, 1000 Friends of Oregon has strived to ensure that housing affordability is integrated into the planning program as well as into our own work. We have relied on advocacy, litigation, and public education and outreach to achieve this.

In 1994, then Executive Director Robert Liberty spearheaded the creation of the Coalition for a Livable Future, http://www.clfuture.org/, an alliance of community groups in the Portland area dedicated to addressing the links among a variety of issues, from housing to water quality, food security to urban design, economic inequality to transportation choices. 1000 Friends is also part of the statewide Housing Alliance, http://www.oregonhousingalliance.org/. The Housing Alliance brings together advocates, local governments, housing authorities, community development corporations, environmentalists, service providers, business interests, and others dedicated to increasing the resources available to meet Oregon’s housing needs to support a common statewide legislative and policy agenda.

Some criticize land use planning for having an adverse impact on affordable housing. Not only is that inaccurate, as many studies have shown, but in fact the opposite may well be true. Well-designed, compact neighborhoods that provide both housing choice and transportation choice – walking, bicycling, bus, train, and car – are part of an affordable community. Having schools, shopping, employment, and entertainment nearby or a bus ride away saves energy and creates a sense of place.