Researcher(s):
Alex Groher-Jick Samuel Bundenthal Ariel Moyal
ENVS course(s): 330 Initiated: March 2017 Completed: April 2017 Go to project site
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With Portland experiencing a declared "housing crisis", unprecedented houselessness, and rapidly rising rent prices, it seemed imperative to understand this issue more deeply. By focusing on policy response and public perception, we are aiming to examine the motivations and consequences of actions that have led up to the current state.
Through our study, we found that there are many lenses that the issue can be viewed through. Though policy is one of the most important drivers shaping a city’s housing landscape, and Portland has responded to rising public consciousness and anxiety over the state of housing, policy cannot be the only solution without risk of isolating critical actors and perspectives. By looking at both policy implementation and response, we hoped to understand the process of policy intervention in responding to the social, environmental, and economic aspects of this housing issue.
Questions:
Framing: What are the opportunities and limitations of policy as a tool to respond to urban inequities in American cities?
Focus: How and to what extent has Portland’s urban development policy affected and responded to the housing crisis?
We are approaching these questions using GIS to see the issue spatially across the city, through media analysis to understand perception, and by compiling a timeline of important policy actions through our own research and various interviews.