From the Ground Up
All Articles
LUBA Decision Blocks Proposed Right 2 Dream Too Move to the Central Eastside
The City of Portland has been struggling for several years to find a permanent location for the Right 2 Dream Too ("R2DToo") tent camp, currently located at the corner of NW 4th and Burnside. An August 30, 2016, decision by the Oregon Land Use Board...
Continue Reading >
A Housing Price Slowdown in Portland? Not So Fast
National numbers released this morning show that home prices rose 5.1 percent year to year nationwide—although, according to The Wall Street Journal, "[p]rice growth did show some sign of slowing in the country's largest cities." But is this "slowing...
Continue Reading >
Landlords, Beware: HUD Warns Against Discriminating Based on Criminal Background
Last month, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development issued guidance that all residential landlords, property managers, and brokers should be aware of: While checking a potential renter's criminal background is not off limits whe...
Continue Reading >
Taxes, Fees on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) Eased in Portland
At a time when Portland grapples with a shortage in housing, two new regulatory changes may bring many more accessory dwelling units (ADUs)—small apartment units like basements and small backyard houses added to single-family homes—to the city, there...
Continue Reading >
Portland Commissioner Saltzman Proposes New 1% Construction Excise Tax
Today Portland Commissioner Dan Saltzman, whose bureau assignments include the Portland Housing Bureau and the Bureau of Development Services, proposed a new excise tax on residential and commercial development equal to one percent of the total permi...
Continue Reading >
Does Homeownership Still Beat Renting?
Zillow, a real estate listing and analytics company, recently looked at the "break-even" time horizon for owning a house versus renting in a number of markets across the nation. "Breaking even" means the amount of time it will take for the cost of ow...
Continue Reading >