OPB senior political reporter Jeff Mapes spent more than a year researching, reporting and producing 鈥淕rowing Oregon,鈥� a six-part podcast and web series looking at the evolution of Oregon鈥檚 unique approach to growth and the impact it has on our lives today. . You can find the full series here, or through the feed on your favorite podcast app. This is Part 6.
Anyeley Hallov脿 and I are walking in her inner Northeast Portland neighborhood on a drizzly spring day.
We stop in front of an old bungalow. She鈥檚 periodically stopped by as a second house was under construction in the backyard. She says she鈥檚 impressed by how seamlessly the new house was added to the existing property.
鈥淵ou might not have noticed it if we walked by,鈥� Hallov脿 says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 set in the back, beautiful architecture, well-scaled has a beautiful garden in front of it.鈥�
She sees a lot more on the walk that pleases her.
She praises a new eight-unit apartment building that is set back from the street so it doesn鈥檛 overwhelm the single-family homes on either side. She even defends an old apartment building that鈥檚 seen better days.
鈥淭he deal is, the more supply we have, the more affordability. It frees up older buildings to essentially start reducing their pricing because they have competition from new buildings.鈥�
Hallov脿 seems to see opportunity everywhere she looks. It doesn鈥檛 matter if it鈥檚 a backyard or a weedy empty lot. She wants to grow more homes in existing neighborhoods 鈥� lots of them. She imagines denser urban areas less divided by race and income.
鈥淎 big focus of what I鈥檓 interested in,鈥� she says, 鈥渋s how do we unlock the potential of a lot of the vacant land in our cities.鈥�
Hallov脿 has a big stake in how cities 鈥� and the state 鈥� grow. She chairs the , which oversees the state鈥檚 growth system. She鈥檚 the panel鈥檚 first Black member, and she鈥檚 passionate about providing housing 鈥� including for marginalized Oregonians.
鈥淛ust like we were a leader in thinking about preserving farmland forestland,鈥� she tells me, 鈥淚 believe that in the future, we鈥檙e going to be a leader in housing equity.鈥�
In previous stories, I鈥檝e chronicled the history of Oregon鈥檚 land-use system, and how it affects the state we live in today. In the last installment, I鈥檒l talk about where the system is headed.
When Gov. Tom McCall oversaw the creation of the revolutionary system of a half-century ago, he promised to fight for the landscapes that he feared the state was in danger of losing to sprawling development.
However, publicly at least, he didn鈥檛 focus on how keeping development off so much of Oregon鈥檚 land would change lives within the cities and suburbs. Over time, Oregonians have learned that living more compactly changes the look and feel of cities. There are more apartments and smaller lots for single-family homes. And there are more determined efforts to revamp Oregon鈥檚 existing communities to squeeze in more housing.
In her new position, Hallov脿 is also facing another urgent problem: Oregon faces a huge housing shortage that is among the worst in the nation.
A lot of that shortage is unrelated to our growth system.
But state leaders do have to make big decisions about Oregon鈥檚 land controls. Do they make it easier to grab cheaper land for housing outside the growth boundaries? Do they work even harder to pack more homes of all kinds in existing communities?
A modern McCall in spirit
Climate change and gigantic housing shortages weren鈥檛 problems that Tom McCall faced. But it鈥檚 easy to see Hallov脿 as the 21st Century embodiment of the McCall way.
Both had roots on the East Coast but came to love Oregon鈥檚 natural beauty.
And both looked to the way we lived 鈥� to our physical surroundings 鈥� as they responded to the crises of their time. For McCall, it meant protecting Oregon鈥檚 farmland and other open spaces. For Hallov脿, it means transforming cities.
And she learned some of it at Disney World.
Hallov脿 grew up in Florida and frequently visited there. Her favorite attraction was an upbeat tour through a high-tech farm of the future at Disney鈥檚 Epcot Park.
Years later, she said in a lecture that 鈥渧isiting Epcot as a kid and watching Star Trek gave me my interest in鈥he city of the future and in thinking about the environment.鈥�
She may not have been a farmer like another creator of Oregon鈥檚 growth system, Hector Macpherson. He was a dairyman and state senator from the Willamette Valley who was a chief sponsor of the system鈥檚 founding legislation. But she shared his interest in agriculture and in how people live on the land.
You can also thank her father for that. He was a water engineer from Ghana. When she was 10, her family moved to Nigeria for two years while he opened a water pump factory.
鈥淚 was sort of this American kid from Florida who got shocked by this reality of lack of water and of people living on the margin,鈥� she said.
After that, she said, 鈥淚 wanted to feed the world. I was concerned about hunger and environmental issues.鈥�
In college, she got hooked on how to help people live sustainably. She earned degrees in environmental systems technology, city planning and landscape architecture 鈥� from, in order, Cornell, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard.
Hallov脿 wound up as a partner at a development firm in Portland. She worked on several innovative housing and commercial projects. And she became an expert on . That鈥檚 the building material lauded as greener than steel and concrete.
鈥淲e鈥檙e actually going to be in a great competition,鈥� she said, over just which states are going to win the economic competition to become the biggest suppliers of mass timber.
That helped bring Hallov脿 to the attention of the governor鈥檚 office. She joined the Land Conservation and Development Commission in 2018. For years, the commission has been embroiled in many high-profile fights over such things as expanding urban growth boundaries and defining the rules over what鈥檚 permissible on farmlands.
The result has been a system that has certainly limited urban sprawl. The agency under the commission, the Department of Land Conservation and Development, says that the vast majority of the state鈥檚 farm and forest lands have been protected from sprawl since the controls took effect. Since the 1990s, the Willamette Valley 鈥� where most Oregonians live 鈥� has added more than one million new residents. But more than three-quarters of the valley鈥檚 farmland is still in production.
Several experts around the county have told me that Oregon鈥檚 growth controls are unique 鈥� and uniquely powerful.
鈥淚t鈥檚 had a lot of staying power in ways that other states鈥� programs have not,鈥� said , a land use expert at the University of Oregon.
Oregon鈥檚 system has certainly surprised many outsiders. I keep thinking of an oral history from veteran homebuilders lobbyist in 2015, a few years before he died. He complained that the boundaries had become an iron ring driving up housing costs. And he recalled driving with local homebuilders and some Texas developers through the Willamette Valley.
The out-of-state developers, looking for homebuilding opportunities in new markets, marveled at all the open farmland near cities.
鈥淭hey said, these are wonderful subdivision sites,鈥� Van Natta recalled. 鈥淎nd one of the [Oregon] homebuilders in the car says, 鈥榊ou can鈥檛 build there.鈥欌��
The Texas developer replied, 鈥淲hat do you mean, we can鈥檛 build there? That鈥檚 perfect land for subdivisions.鈥�
Told about Oregon鈥檚 land-use laws, Van Natta said the developer replied, 鈥淵ou mean Oregonians are a bunch of communists.鈥�
Perhaps needless to say, the Texans decided not to open up shop in Oregon.
The housing dilemma
In recent years, the state planning bureaucracy hasn鈥檛 gone in the direction those Texas developers would have liked.
But Oregon鈥檚 growth management system is now focused more deeply on housing.
Planners need to figure out how to fit everyone in, and they鈥檙e under heightened pressure to help Oregon dig out of that deep housing shortage.
Last year, a that the state is 111,000 homes short of demand. That鈥檚 how much less housing has been built in Oregon than what the state needs 鈥� particularly to keep prices in check.
By some measures, Oregon has one of the worst housing shortages in the country. Oregon is not alone, though. The lack of housing supply is a national problem in growing states, particularly so on the West Coast.
Housing production never returned to previous levels after the 2008 financial meltdown that led to a severe recession. And many communities, perhaps most notably in California, have fought hard to fight new housing they fear will increase traffic congestion and hurt the character of their neighborhoods.
There have been Not-In-My-Backyard sentiments in Oregon. But the Land Conservation and Development Commission 鈥� and the agency it oversees 鈥� is focusing on implementing several new initiatives aimed at boosting the housing stock, largely within the current urban growth boundaries.
Among them is a 2019 law passed by the Legislature that made Oregon the in much of the state. New rules allow a variety of 鈥渕iddle housing鈥� units in those neighborhoods, including cottage clusters, townhouses and two, three or four-unit buildings.
The commission is also working on a companion law that requires cities to show how they can of more affordable housing.
鈥淐ities now have to say, what is our housing need by price point,鈥� said Hallov脿, 鈥渁nd what housing production strategies are we going to use to achieve that.鈥�
At the same time, she said, cities must show how they can do so without causing gentrification that displaces lower-income residents.
That鈥檚 not all. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued an in 2020 calling on state agencies to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon. She was acting in response to Republicans blocking the passage of a sweeping climate bill.
For its part, the Department of Land Conservation and Development produced an ambitious plan to create what it calls 鈥渃limate-friendly areas鈥� in metropolitan Portland and in urban areas encompassing Salem, Corvallis, Albany, Eugene, Bend, Grants Pass and Medford.
The plan, which was approved this summer, calls for climate-friendly areas within these cities that could be an urbanist鈥檚 dream.
Planners are seeking a mixture of housing that could average around 900 square feet in size. There would be plenty of buildings in the four- to seven-story range. These areas would be easy to get around on bike, scooter and foot 鈥� and have good transit service.
More broadly, the commission rolled back parking minimum rules in these cities. The idea is to reduce costs for new housing while freeing up more space.
For Hallov脿, all of these initiatives are coming together 鈥� just maybe 鈥� to produce real change.
鈥淭hese are things we should have been doing all along,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut obviously the need is more dire now.鈥�
In many ways, Hallov脿 is trying to fulfill that Oregon set for itself back in 1974. That鈥檚 the goal that said communities had to provide room for a range of housing that fits all income levels.
Hallov脿 and I talk about this as we stand on the busy corner of Northeast Alberta Street and North Williams Avenue. In recent decades, the gentrification of the historically Black neighborhood has been the dominant narrative. Hallov脿 agrees with those concerns. But she also has an optimistic take as we stroll around her community.
鈥淚 like it because you have a little bit of everything,鈥� she says. She points to a nearby vacant lot slated to be filled by a subsidized housing apartment building. Further south is a cluster of market-rate apartments along the one-way twins of Williams and Vancouver streets. In between are a variety of smaller apartments, duplexes and single-family homes.
鈥淪o you kind of got a little bit of all the uses that you might see in a city,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut also within close proximity and working well, I would say.鈥�
She says that change in established neighborhoods 鈥� particularly the more upscale ones 鈥� will be gradual. Besides, she adds, Oregon is a different state now. It needs a broader range of housing for a more diverse population 鈥� whether you鈥檙e talking about age, income or family size.
That includes people once excluded or marginalized in Oregon. Only ever so slowly has Oregon shed its abysmal record of how it treated people who came here who weren鈥檛 white.
This state was founded by white settlers who black people. The Ku Klux Klan was a powerful force here in the 1920s.
Many communities were known as 鈥渟undown towns鈥� 鈥� towns that made it clear the presence of non-whites wouldn鈥檛 be tolerated after nightfall.
Even when Tom McCall was governor, the state was about 97% non-Hispanic white. But Oregon is changing.
The found people of color now make up about 28% of Oregon鈥檚 population.
The new development rules reflect this changing reality. They鈥檙e supposed to fight gentrification and produce more equitable communities. Hallov脿 says these issues can鈥檛 be ignored any longer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 shocking how supposedly progressive and forward-thinking we are in this state,鈥� she says, 鈥測et if you look at the numbers, the social inequity is drastic 鈥� So obviously we鈥檙e not fulfilling our promise to everyone.鈥�
Hallov脿's personal journey took a big turn just after the Covid pandemic hit in 2020. That summer, she and her family 鈥� she鈥檚 married with two kids 鈥� took an RV tour of the American West. She listened to the audio version of The Color of Law, which put a new focus on the racist home-lending policies by the federal government during America鈥檚 housing boom following World War II.
She talked about her experience listening to the book while rolling through the American landscape as she introduced the book鈥檚 author, Richard Rothstein, at an Oregon housing forum.
鈥淭o be honest, I came out of that experience very mad,鈥� she said. 鈥淢ad that I hadn鈥檛 been taught this history 鈥� but also very empowered to spread the word and seek change.鈥�
Hallov脿 said she was so affected by the book that she decided to shift her work in real estate development so it focused on addressing racial equity issues.
She started a new business, . And she鈥檚 now working with other Black-owned firms to develop a long-vacant plot of land near Legacy Emanuel Medical Center. The land once was in the heart of the Black community of lower Albina before it was razed by urban renewal in the 1970s.
After this plot of land lay unused for several decades, Legacy Health agreed to donate it and work with the city to begin rebuilding a small part of the community.
Hallov脿 said one of her major goals for the project is to develop affordable homes that people can buy. It鈥檚 a key way, she added, for people who have been marginalized to become 鈥渆conomically resilient and independent 鈥� independent in the sense of allowing them to create generational wealth through real estate ownership.鈥�
A new kind of suburbia
I also wanted to see how the new policies championed by Hallov脿 are affecting the suburbs.
So I went to the literal end of the Oregon Trail 鈥� Oregon City. The pioneer city along the Willamette River south of Portland is going through its own changes. And plenty of residents don鈥檛 share Hallov脿's views about changing neighborhoods.
I drove up Karla Laws鈥� street in Oregon City on a sunny weekend afternoon. She was outside talking with neighbors and waved to me. But I had to drive a few more blocks to find a parking space.
After I hiked back with my radio gear, she gestured down her car-lined street.
鈥淪ee how busy we are just with residents on a Sunday,鈥� she said, noting that many of her neighbors have to park some or all of their cars on the street. There鈥檚 much more competition for parking spots on weekdays when a nearby office building is open.
Laws worried that parking is going to be an even bigger concern as more dense housing is allowed in her single-family neighborhood. Like many of her neighbors, she lives in a historic house on a street that is so narrow that parking is only allowed on one side of the street.
If duplexes and triplexes start popping up, Laws said they鈥檒l generate more additional cars than they will parking spaces or driveways. And she fears this new housing will detract from the city鈥檚 historic feel.
鈥淲hat is livability,鈥� she asked, 鈥渋f we鈥檙e not following some type of guidelines or criteria for people to live comfortably?鈥�
At the same time, Laws said she isn鈥檛 opposed to growth.
鈥淲e need to change, 鈥渟he said. 鈥淲e need to offer opportunity.鈥�
What Laws said she doesn鈥檛 like is the threat of losing Oregon City鈥檚 character.
鈥淚 came to Oregon City because I wanted a small-town feel,鈥� she said, not 鈥渘ecessarily even a suburb of Portland but its own entity.鈥�
Of course, Oregon is only a dozen miles from downtown Portland. And it鈥檚 now a prime spot for development as the Metro region grows. That鈥檚 been true ever since the early 2000s when several hundred acres just outside the city were placed inside the urban growth boundary.
Once that happened, Oregon City in a sense became as urban as Portland. The system is designed to work that way. If you鈥檙e inside the boundary, it鈥檚 supposed to be easy to build new homes and businesses 鈥� even if it鈥檚 a farm.
The reality has been messier. Oregon City and many other cities had allowed voters to go to the ballot to block annexations sought by developers who need municipal services. That鈥檚 one reason land on the outskirts of Oregon City has been slow to develop. In 2016, the Legislature shut down those citizen votes.
Developers still complain about how long it takes to get building permits, and how those delays drive up costs. But builders are making headway in Oregon City. The 37,000-population city has numerous projects in the work. There鈥檚 a big apartment complex going up near Clackamas Community College. New houses and apartments are sprouting on smaller lots. I even saw three stylish 鈥� if unorthodox 鈥� homes made out of cargo containers.
A Tigard firm, Summit Development Group, is proposing to build a large mixed-use development over an old landfill on the north side of the city. It would have about 500 multi-family units, a commercial district and a public plaza.
Rachel Lyles Smith, who recently left the post of mayor, said many newer residents like what they see. They are upbeat about the pleasant neighborhoods and the increasingly lively restaurant and arts scene. Oregon City鈥檚 historic downtown is also on the upswing 鈥� complete with a large food cart pod.
But Smith added that many longtime residents are 鈥渦nhappy about us being within the Metro鈥檚 urban growth boundary and don鈥檛 want to see Oregon City growing at the rate in which it is growing.鈥�
Smith said she supports Oregon鈥檚 land use system. But she did get frustrated at some of the new state housing mandates.
鈥淲e want our communities to maintain their uniqueness,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f we all just wanted to be a rubber stamp of the next city over, then what鈥檚 the point of having our own jurisdictions?鈥�
The uncertain future
Oregon City isn鈥檛 unique. Every growing city in Oregon feels like it鈥檚 going through a transition.
Ed Sullivan sees big changes coming in Oregon鈥檚 urban form. He is a semi-retired land use lawyer who has been involved with the growth management system since the beginning. He鈥檚 probably written more academic papers than anyone about Oregon鈥檚 system.
In recent years, he鈥檚 been a strong proponent of doing what it takes to increase Oregon鈥檚 stock of affordable housing. And he argued that鈥檚 best done by sticking largely inside urban growth boundaries where services and jobs are closer.
鈥淭o me, the average person is not going to be able to afford a single-family home,鈥� particularly in the Portland area, said Sullivan. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e going to have to just really look within ourselves and decide that we鈥檙e going to have to build more densely and that people are going to have to be satisfied with condos or smaller houses.鈥�
Sullivan described it as a vision for the future that is 鈥渕ore like Europe, and that鈥檚 not a bad thing.鈥�
That bothers people like Dave Hunnicutt. He leads the Oregon Property Owners Association. The group was once known as Oregonians in Action and was a prime backer of the property rights initiatives that once threatened the growth management system.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 poor public policy,鈥� Hunnicutt said, 鈥渇or a bunch of unelected planners and political appointees of the governor to tell people we don鈥檛 care how you want to live 鈥� this is how you鈥檙e going to live.鈥�
In recent years, Hunnicutt has been pushing legislation to make it easier for cities to expand their urban growth boundaries. He said more single-family housing that average people could afford could be sited just outside existing urban growth boundaries because land costs are cheaper.
Most Americans tell pollsters they want a single-family home. But in Oregon, at least, voters have also repeatedly acted to protect the state鈥檚 open spaces.
Oregon is also in the middle of an emerging national debate over housing and zoning.
Like so many other things, it鈥檚 become partisan.
Democrats want to push states to produce more affordable housing 鈥� and combat climate change in the process.
Republicans, like Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, are calling this an attack on traditional suburbs.
鈥淭hey want to get you out of your pickup truck,鈥� he said in a recent Fox News appearance, 鈥渙ut of your SUV, out your home in the suburbs, where you can have a backyard with your kids.鈥�
Hallov脿 said she understands the average American鈥檚 desire for a single-family home. But she said it鈥檚 not that simple.
There鈥檚 this kind of delicate balance between what people want and the future of our viability as a human race,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 being a little dramatic. But, you know, we鈥檙e dealing with climate change issues too, right?鈥�
If nothing else, listening to this debate has given me a new eye for my own surroundings.
My wife and I live in a Northeast Portland neighborhood where many houses are now selling for more than $1 million. We could never afford to live here if we were a young couple moving to Portland.
But when we moved to the city in the 1980s, we paid less than $70,000 for our first single-family house.
Then we rode the real estate market up. This is one reason why many homeowners my age care less about increasing the housing supply and more about protecting the value of their own homes.
Our current house is a 1970s infill home on the lower slope of a steep ridge. It was once somebody else鈥檚 back hillside.
Next door to me is an empty backyard for another ridgetop homeowner. It鈥檚 covered in trees, bushes, ivy and blackberry vines.
One day, I was on our deck interviewing Robin McArthur. She is Hallov脿's predecessor as the LCDC chair. She鈥檚 been working with Oregon鈥檚 growth system for decades.
I told her the empty hillside next door would be a good site for more housing. But we also enjoy this bit of nature.
鈥淵es, it would be pleasant for you to keep your view,鈥� McArthur replied. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 pretty unpleasant for the person that can鈥檛 find housing in your neighborhood and needs housing.鈥�
She has a point. When our house was built, it screwed up someone else鈥檚 nice view. But I鈥檓 sure glad that my house is here.
I think of my walk with Hallov脿. It was mid-day. The side streets in her neighborhood were quiet, the trees dripping from the intermittent rain. We talked about how neighborhood change isn鈥檛 easy. But in Oregon, she said, there is one consistent thing.
鈥淥ne of the reasons we love Oregon so much,鈥� she said, 鈥渋s that clear access from where you live to the mountains, to the ocean 鈥� and not the sprawl, right? I think everybody enjoys the benefits of that. I think not everybody understands why it is that way. And it鈥檚 really there because of our land use system.鈥�
As I listened, I could imagine Tom McCall 鈥� all 6-foot-5 of him 鈥� standing there saying, 鈥淪ee, this is what I was talking about.鈥欌��
The Growing Oregon audio story is available through the podcast feed.
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