In 2023, a national assessment of housing underproduction rated Oregon’s housing shortage as the fifth-worst in the United States. That year, Gov. Tina Kotek convened a bipartisan, multidisciplinary effort to identify and remove barriers to homebuilding in Oregon and boost the housing production rate by more than 50%.

For Cascadians who believe in sustainable prosperity, the stakes are high. Oregon’s 50-year tradition of state-led land-use planning, and the relatively compact metro areas its land use laws make possible, could be a model for the rest of the rich world. But Oregon would also need to prove it’s possible to have abundance without sprawl and affordability without excess.

This series articulates a specific, actionable agenda for abundant housing that respects the land Oregonians depend on, all the millions of people who live in Oregon, and the millions more who will someday want to.

Housing Every Oregonian articles