Michael Andersen
@andersem.bsky.social
Believer, skeptic, humanist, typist & dad. Trying to make places fairer as director of cities + towns for @Sightline.org, here in Portland OR. Views here: mine, all mine.
1. I think you overstate the costs of unfunded IZ somewhat. It was bad & we definitely lost projects but here are annual multifamily (12+) permits 2012-2023. Rents have been flat since 2017 due to the drop in demand you mention, which was already underway (growth rate was slowing) as IZ arrived.
November 26, 2025 at 6:49 AM
1. I think you overstate the costs of unfunded IZ somewhat. It was bad & we definitely lost projects but here are annual multifamily (12+) permits 2012-2023. Rents have been flat since 2017 due to the drop in demand you mention, which was already underway (growth rate was slowing) as IZ arrived.
Why is Portland's housing market so weak? It's always reassuring to point fingers, and some are still under the impression that IZ is a big problem, as it was in 2017-2024.
But the fact is that Portland's population has fallen about 3% since its 2019 peak, and rents have been flat after inflation.
But the fact is that Portland's population has fallen about 3% since its 2019 peak, and rents have been flat after inflation.
November 25, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Why is Portland's housing market so weak? It's always reassuring to point fingers, and some are still under the impression that IZ is a big problem, as it was in 2017-2024.
But the fact is that Portland's population has fallen about 3% since its 2019 peak, and rents have been flat after inflation.
But the fact is that Portland's population has fallen about 3% since its 2019 peak, and rents have been flat after inflation.
We have a counterfactual though
November 25, 2025 at 6:39 PM
We have a counterfactual though
Here's the key finding, from 18 months of multifamily permit intakes.
Before the city put an affordability mandate on buildings of 20+ homes, almost 1/4 of multifamily projects came in just under 20 homes ✅
When the program was underfunded (2017-2024), almost half 😬
Since last year, 1/4 again 😎
Before the city put an affordability mandate on buildings of 20+ homes, almost 1/4 of multifamily projects came in just under 20 homes ✅
When the program was underfunded (2017-2024), almost half 😬
Since last year, 1/4 again 😎
November 25, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Here's the key finding, from 18 months of multifamily permit intakes.
Before the city put an affordability mandate on buildings of 20+ homes, almost 1/4 of multifamily projects came in just under 20 homes ✅
When the program was underfunded (2017-2024), almost half 😬
Since last year, 1/4 again 😎
Before the city put an affordability mandate on buildings of 20+ homes, almost 1/4 of multifamily projects came in just under 20 homes ✅
When the program was underfunded (2017-2024), almost half 😬
Since last year, 1/4 again 😎
The cottage tradeoff in the code is they gotta be small.
November 23, 2025 at 10:24 PM
The cottage tradeoff in the code is they gotta be small.
I can't vouch for the method behind this new ranking of 500 US cities by permitting efficiency, but here's how Oregon cities do in it www.redtapeindex.com/cities
November 20, 2025 at 4:54 PM
I can't vouch for the method behind this new ranking of 500 US cities by permitting efficiency, but here's how Oregon cities do in it www.redtapeindex.com/cities
When I leave the wedding ring somewhere again
November 15, 2025 at 7:52 PM
When I leave the wedding ring somewhere again
hard to argue with www.slowboring.com/p/did-prison...
November 12, 2025 at 6:01 PM
hard to argue with www.slowboring.com/p/did-prison...
Economic growth is when you don’t have to turn rooks upside down at a chess tournament
November 2, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Economic growth is when you don’t have to turn rooks upside down at a chess tournament
I dunno, the Rump Parliament lasted from 1648-1659 www.oregonlive.com/retail/2025/...
October 30, 2025 at 7:38 PM
I dunno, the Rump Parliament lasted from 1648-1659 www.oregonlive.com/retail/2025/...
Another one for the 1987 time machine www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
October 24, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Another one for the 1987 time machine www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
…the council started spending millions of public dollars to finance a “no” campaign targeting their own constituents.
Is this legal? Friends, it is not.
Is this legal? Friends, it is not.
October 23, 2025 at 2:09 PM
…the council started spending millions of public dollars to finance a “no” campaign targeting their own constituents.
Is this legal? Friends, it is not.
Is this legal? Friends, it is not.
In light of that, and thanks to legislation championed by @sightline.org & @pnwelcome.bsky.social, Oregon on Oct. 1 allowed a new set of fire safety rules for small ultifamily buildings that allow (drumroll please)…a fourth story!
October 21, 2025 at 1:44 AM
In light of that, and thanks to legislation championed by @sightline.org & @pnwelcome.bsky.social, Oregon on Oct. 1 allowed a new set of fire safety rules for small ultifamily buildings that allow (drumroll please)…a fourth story!
An amazing thing about the small buildings these allow: everybody gets a corner unit!
Makes family-size condos, with multiple bedrooms with windows, much more attractive.
Makes family-size condos, with multiple bedrooms with windows, much more attractive.
October 21, 2025 at 1:31 AM
An amazing thing about the small buildings these allow: everybody gets a corner unit!
Makes family-size condos, with multiple bedrooms with windows, much more attractive.
Makes family-size condos, with multiple bedrooms with windows, much more attractive.
But Seattle did. In 1977, that city said that if a building had 100% sprinkler coverage & some other extra safety measures (most importantly, a really short hallway), then a small multifamily building could go up to 6 stories around one staircase.
October 21, 2025 at 1:26 AM
But Seattle did. In 1977, that city said that if a building had 100% sprinkler coverage & some other extra safety measures (most importantly, a really short hallway), then a small multifamily building could go up to 6 stories around one staircase.
The famous @holz-bau.bsky.social is keynoting
October 21, 2025 at 1:11 AM
The famous @holz-bau.bsky.social is keynoting
I’m at the launch of Oregon’s design competition for sunlight suite buildings - neighborhood-scale mulifamily buildings designed around one central staircase.
“This is one of those innovations whose time has come,” says Gil Kelley of @1000oregon.bsky.social.
“This is one of those innovations whose time has come,” says Gil Kelley of @1000oregon.bsky.social.
October 21, 2025 at 1:09 AM
I’m at the launch of Oregon’s design competition for sunlight suite buildings - neighborhood-scale mulifamily buildings designed around one central staircase.
“This is one of those innovations whose time has come,” says Gil Kelley of @1000oregon.bsky.social.
“This is one of those innovations whose time has come,” says Gil Kelley of @1000oregon.bsky.social.
The goal here is very building code & speed related: to re-legalize three-story wood-frame buildings, the simplest & most economically viable multifamily buiilding type.
Shockingly to me, buildings like this are forbidden today in even the densest multifamily zones of most Oregon cities.
Shockingly to me, buildings like this are forbidden today in even the densest multifamily zones of most Oregon cities.
October 20, 2025 at 2:07 PM
The goal here is very building code & speed related: to re-legalize three-story wood-frame buildings, the simplest & most economically viable multifamily buiilding type.
Shockingly to me, buildings like this are forbidden today in even the densest multifamily zones of most Oregon cities.
Shockingly to me, buildings like this are forbidden today in even the densest multifamily zones of most Oregon cities.
Half of my emails and Slack posts right now are just me trying to figure out the best way to tell the people that this table is coming
I am not the model code, but I have been sent before it. Prepare ye the way of the model code. www.oregon.gov/lcd/HAPO/Doc...
I am not the model code, but I have been sent before it. Prepare ye the way of the model code. www.oregon.gov/lcd/HAPO/Doc...
October 20, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Half of my emails and Slack posts right now are just me trying to figure out the best way to tell the people that this table is coming
I am not the model code, but I have been sent before it. Prepare ye the way of the model code. www.oregon.gov/lcd/HAPO/Doc...
I am not the model code, but I have been sent before it. Prepare ye the way of the model code. www.oregon.gov/lcd/HAPO/Doc...
PDX metro rents down 1.1% since last year. (They'd be down more if adjusted for inflation, which is running just below 3% for this period.)
www.apartmentlist.com/research/nat...
www.apartmentlist.com/research/nat...
October 19, 2025 at 10:24 PM
PDX metro rents down 1.1% since last year. (They'd be down more if adjusted for inflation, which is running just below 3% for this period.)
www.apartmentlist.com/research/nat...
www.apartmentlist.com/research/nat...
I agree with almost everything here, but just from the years, isn’t this rising-prices narrative a little long in the tooth?
It’s true & very bad that rents have more than doubled since 2011, but it also seems relevant that median income is up 70% and has been rising *faster* than rents since 2017.
It’s true & very bad that rents have more than doubled since 2011, but it also seems relevant that median income is up 70% and has been rising *faster* than rents since 2017.
October 19, 2025 at 5:56 PM
I agree with almost everything here, but just from the years, isn’t this rising-prices narrative a little long in the tooth?
It’s true & very bad that rents have more than doubled since 2011, but it also seems relevant that median income is up 70% and has been rising *faster* than rents since 2017.
It’s true & very bad that rents have more than doubled since 2011, but it also seems relevant that median income is up 70% and has been rising *faster* than rents since 2017.
I like @jackiekcalmes but my hot take is that the Fuller court was at least as wrong for its time as the Taney court www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
October 16, 2025 at 3:05 AM
I like @jackiekcalmes but my hot take is that the Fuller court was at least as wrong for its time as the Taney court www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
It started mostly attached rowhouses but has more recently shifted to ~half detached. And almost all are ownership - condos or subdivisions. Is that what you’re getting at? Whether or not the homes are stacked is relevant but not, like fundamental imo.
October 15, 2025 at 3:28 PM
It started mostly attached rowhouses but has more recently shifted to ~half detached. And almost all are ownership - condos or subdivisions. Is that what you’re getting at? Whether or not the homes are stacked is relevant but not, like fundamental imo.
Are smallplexes more or less affected than other multifamily development?
October 15, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Are smallplexes more or less affected than other multifamily development?
However I understand it will apply to the Pacific
October 13, 2025 at 10:05 PM
However I understand it will apply to the Pacific