The conversation shared below was part of the YIMBYtown 2022 conference, cohosted by Sightline Institute and Portland: Neighbors Welcome.*
Sightline Executive Director Alan Durning opened the conference with a recounting of housing victories.
As reported in the New York Times, I was feeling triumphant when I opened YIMBYtown in April 2022. I was feeling triumphant because abundant-housing ideas and advocates have gained an immense amount of sway in recent years in Cascadia and around the world. Win after win after win has come in recent years. It hasn’t been enough, of course, but it’s still been gratifying. In my remarks, I recounted zoning and parking policy improvements across North America and beyond. (My remarks start at 17:20.)
Other speakers included co-sponsors and co-hosts: Candace Avalos of Verde and Portland: Neighbors Welcome, who told her captivating story about housing and change, and Dr. Aaron Golub of Portland State University, who gave a sweeping orientation to the place where we gathered. Conference “mayors” Steph Routh, of Sightline, and Aaron Brown also welcomed, oriented, and stoked up the crowd.
Related: The theme of winning—how to do it in Cascadia and beyond—runs through the whole Winning Abundant Housing series.
This closing panel bookended YIMBYtown. Courtesy of Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Think Out Loud program, it featured Sam Diaz of 1,000 Friends of Oregon; Rukaiyah Adams of Albina Vision Trust; Marisa Zapata of the Portland State University Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative; and Jerusalem Demsas, writer at the Atlantic.
*YIMBYtown 2022 occurred April 11–13 in Portland, Oregon, the fourth annual gathering (after some COVID delays) of “Yes in My Back Yard” (YIMBY) community leaders, organizers, planners, policymakers, educators, and housing providers eager to share resources and strategies for building more affordable, sustainable, and equitable communities.
