Housing affordability has become a focal concern for many Oregonians. Across communities, finding a place to live that fits within a family's budget has become much more challenging in recent years. Cities throughout Oregon have reported historically low vacancy rates, a common measure for the health of the housing market. Higher vacancy rates indicate more housing options – and often lower rents as a result. While those looking to buy a home are seeing the highest list prices on record in Oregon. 

The 2015 Oregon legislative session proved to be quite active on land use issues. 1000 Friends staff tracked over 300 bills and testified on dozens of them. Your financial support enabled us to be in Salem, working closely with allied groups and legislators to defend and improve the land use program. This support also meant we could keep in touch with all of you, letting you know when your voice was critically needed in Salem. Together, we were able to pass a few improvements and defeat many threats to the land use program.

Land Use Goal 10 requires that all cities provide residential land zoned to meet the housing needs of all Oregonians. During the 2015 legislative session, 1000 Friends worked with a coalition of organizations, individuals, local governments, and businesses that care about affordable housing in an attempt to pass House Bill 2564, which would have enabled local governments to use inclusionary zoning to provide housing opportunities for all, in every neighborhood. Local governments from Hood River to Lincoln County and Corvallis to Milwaukie supported HB 2564.

If you are taking off in July or August, three books hitting the shelves this summer may give you a deeper appreciation for the work of land use planning in Oregon.
 

Today was another busy day in Salem – we're excited to share three legislative updates with you: 

When it comes to building a compact, affordable city, the sticking point often tends to center on aesthetics. Sure, “density” is somewhat of a dirty word, but the dirtiest phrase is often “high-rise apartment building.” Many a neighborhood group has organized around banning this development option in their communities.

At 1 pm on April 29, 2015, Governor Kate Brown signed SB 333 into law in the Governor's ceremonial office. From this day forward, March 22 will be Tom McCall Day in Oregon. Tom McCall Jr. attended the signing.

I didn't know Hector Macpherson Jr., so some might say I'm an odd choice to write a tribute to him.

Everyone who loves Oregon, however, owes tribute to Hector Macpherson Jr., who, as noted in obituaries and honors across the state, passed away on March 21, 2015. In fact, many farmers wrote to us to share what Hector meant to them (and we share one of those memories in the images below). This is especially pointed considering what our co-founder Henry Richmond said of the farming community:

By all accounts, the Oregon Housing Alliance’s Housing Opportunity Day was a success. On March 11, 2015, more than 250 advocates participated in the day-long event that began at the First United Methodist Church of Salem and ended at the Capitol. Throughout the day, participants met with more than 50 legislators and covered the Capitol’s steps with 20,000 socks that participants collected to draw attention to a startling statistic: 20,000 children and youth experienced homelessness in 2014. And they aren’t the only ones.

As the Oregon Senate considers the bill to repeal the ban on inclusionary zoning—a housing tool that helps local jurisdictions provide affordable housing options in their communities—it’s important to celebrate the 34-25 vote in the House of Representatives and the groups that helped the bill pass. One of these groups was the Hood River Valley Residents’ Committee. HRVRC, a 1000 Friends of Oregon affiliate group, was particularly effective in organizing and getting the city council to pass a resolution in support of HB 2564.