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A Guide to Portland’s Charter Change

This article is part of the series Fairer Elections in Portland Find audio versions of Sightline articles on any of your favorite podcast platforms, including Spotify, Google, and Apple. Portlanders will soon find ballots for the November general election in their mailboxes. One important question they’ll see is ballot measure 26-228, which if voters approve … Read more

Troutdale Says Tax-Funded Housing Project Has a Problem: Too Many Homes

rendering of an apartment complex as seen from above. Three buildings are surrounded by parking spaces, which are surrounded by green space.

Takeaways Troutdale, a suburban city five miles east of Portland, requires each new home to come with at least 2 parking spaces. Car counts at similar projects nearby suggest residents will probably average about 1.1 cars per home. The affordable housing provider proposed 130 spaces: 1.4 per home. Last month, Troutdale’s planning commission rejected that. … Read more

The Downsides of Single-winner Districts

For Immediate Release: October 3, 2022 Media Contacts: Jay Lee, Democracy Researcher jay@sightline.org, @jaylee_tx Michael Andersen, Senior Housing Researcher michael@sightline.org, @andersem The Downsides of Single-winner Districts Research shows that single-winner districts invite gerrymandering and worsen housing shortages  Portland, OR – This afternoon, Councilor Mingus Mapps released an alternate proposal to Measure 26-228, which has been … Read more

Summer Recap: Changing Portland’s City Charter

This article is part of the series Fairer Elections in Portland Find audio versions of Sightline articles on any of your favorite podcast platforms, including Spotify, Google, and Apple. Author’s note: Based on our research into the proposal’s effects, Sightline Institute has endorsed ballot measure 26-228. Read on for some details about the measure and … Read more

Oregon Just Slashed Parking Mandates. 5 Things That Might Happen Next

A parking lot in downtown Portland, Oregon with a very cool graffiti art prominent

This article is part of the series Parking? Lots! On Thursday, Oregon approved the largest rollback to parking mandates in modern US history. The unanimous vote by the state’s land use commission came through an unusual channel: an administrative action, ordered by the governor, that breathed new ambition into the broadly written land use laws … Read more

Oregon Nears Green Light for Big Parking Reform

Google Earth image of a Walmart parking lot

This article is part of the series Parking? Lots! Update, July 21: Oregon’s Land Conservation and Development Commission unanimously approved these rules on a permanent basis. The first round of parking reforms, removing mandates near transit, for smaller homes, and for regulated-affordable homes, are set to take effect Jan. 1, 2023, in the state’s eight … Read more

Oregon Has a Chance to Sharply Cut Urban Parking Mandates

image of a typical small US city's main street, with two-to-three story buildings built immediately against each other and no parking lots. several cars and a pickup are parked along the curb.

This article is part of the series Parking? Lots! Update, July 21: Oregon’s Land Conservation and Development Commission unanimously approved these rules on a permanent basis. The first round of parking reforms, removing mandates near transit, for smaller homes, and for regulated-affordable homes, are set to take effect Jan. 1, 2023, in the state’s eight … Read more

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