Gorgeous city that once boomed is now construction desert after woke policies sent builders fleeing
Portland was once a hotspot for housing investment, particularly after a construction boom in 2010, but has recently seen a dramatic decline. The city dropped to 80th out of 81 metro hubs in a recent Urban Land Institute report into construction levels, according to Oregon Live.
At the end of 2024, the city had just over 1,600 housing units under construction - the lowest number recorded since 2011.
The construction slowdown can be attributed in part to the 2020 protests in the heart of the city and the reputational damage that followed, with one economist describing Portland's lingering image as a 'dumpster fire,' according to Oregon Live.
Governor Tina Kotek and Mayor Keith Wilson have agreed to meet with skeptical investors in an effort to address the city's rising cost of living and restore confidence in the housing market.
'We're going to have to stay on the development community,' Gov Kotek told the outlet.
'I want to make sure Portland is competitive,' she added.
To rein in the cost of living in the coastal metro, more housing must be developed - but homebuilders rely heavily on outside investors to finance these projects.
Wilson and Kotek share a goal of boosting housing by making construction easier - starting with a three-year waiver on certain building fees.
The Portland City Council approved the fee waiver earlier this month, a move welcomed by developers, according to Oregon Live.
The idea to waive the system development charges and fees related to housing construction came from a group called the Multifamily Housing Development Workgroup.
But the recent report, watched by investors and industry insiders - has done little to restore confidence among business owners and developers about Portland's future.
This week, the mayor and governor convened a taskforce made up of city councilors, state officials and housing policy experts - an idea also suggested by the Multifamily Housing Development Workgroup.
Together, the group will brainstorm ways to reverse the city's severe apartment construction slump, though the details of upcoming meetings about Portland's business outlook are still undecided.
Since the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Portland has been grappling with ongoing unrest that has deeply affected the city.
On New Year's Eve 2020, another riot erupted as protesters smashed windows and threw firebombs at police officers, who later shared images of Molotov-style cocktails scattered on the streets.
The Portland City Council approved a three year waiver on certain building fees earlier this month
This week the governor (pictured) launched a taskforce made up of city councilors, state officials and housing policy experts to generate ideas to reverse the city's construction slump
In May the west coast city was forced to slash the sale price of one of its biggest office buildings after it became overrun with homeless people.
Portland, which is known for its liberal politics, has since seen its downtown suffer after a failed attempt at drug decriminalization.
The city's office vacancy rate was 35 percent in the first three months of the year, the worst of the top 25 central business districts in the country, according to real estate firm Colliers.
One of the most telling signs of its downtown decline is the sale of its US Bancorp Tower at a list price of 80 percent less than its previous valuation, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Technology publisher Digital Trends filed a lease-termination lawsuit claiming its staff were unsafe as the building had been taken over by the homeless population of downtown Portland.
The publisher claimed in its lawsuit that the building had 'vagrants sleeping in hallways of vacant office floors... starting fires in stairwells, smoking fentanyl and defecating in common areas.'
The building had became a 'cesspool of criminal activity and vandalism,' they alleged.
Earlier this month chaos erupted at an ICE detention facility center in the city after hundreds of protestors attempted to storm holding cells.
Video footage captured demonstrators being tackled to the ground as officers deployed smoke bombs and tear gas to try and control the crowd.
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Daily Mirror
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The Herald Scotland
a day ago
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Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. And, also, for the small matter that the club have banked a record fee at the end of it all. It was one of the great debates swirling around Motherwell all summer; which would happen first, Lennon Miller being sold or the Pig Iron pub up Brandon Parade opening its doors? We should have known better. Thankfully, there are other hostelries in the town available for any Motherwell fans seeking a consolatory pint after the departure of one of the finest young talents to have come through the club, and four and a half million or so reasons why his loss from the team isn't the end of the world. It is a great shame of course that we won't get to see Miller strut his stuff in this side being built by Jens Berthel Askou, which would surely complement his skillset and allow him to shine even more than he managed previously, but whisper it – the midfield has actually coped fine without him. 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Trump's ‘bombshell offer to Putin for peace' revealed…but he warns of ‘severe consequences' if despot keeps up onslaught
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) DONALD Trump is reportedly planning to make a bombshell offer to Vladimir Putin to crack a ceasefire deal and end the bloody war in Ukraine. But the US prez warned that the Russians risk facing "very severe consequences" if they continue to bomb Ukraine and kill innocent civilians. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 15 Trump is reportedly planning to make a bombshell offer to Vladimir Putin to crack a ceasefire deal Credit: Reuters 15 An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv Credit: Reuters 15 Don, who hails himself as a great dealmaker, is said to be planning to present a money-making deal to lure sanctions-hit Putin into peace-making. 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Witkoff apparently supported the plan, which the Americans believe offers a solution to the Ukrainian law which bans giving up land without a national referendum. Trump yesterday warned there would be 'very severe consequences' if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire. Yesterday, he spoke out after a video call with European leaders, including Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Trump & Putin's 1-on-1 meeting is a 'listening exercise', WH says as 'Vlad wants Ukraine to withdraw for ceasefire' Zelensky said on August 12 that Putin may deploy thousands more troops to continue attacking Ukraine and grab more land. 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A Western security source confirmed that Russia is preparing a Burevestnik test. Experts say the test could happen as soon as this week, which could overshadow the scheduled meeting between Trump and Putin. Though they believe the test would have been scheduled long before the summit was announced. 15 A satellite view shows equipment at the Pankovo test site in Yuzhny Island, on the Barents Sea archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, Russia Credit: Reuters 15 Satellite imagery shows an increase in personnel, military equipment, ships, as well as aircraft associated with earlier tests of the 9M730 Burevestnik Credit: Reuters Sir Keir Starmer today welcomed Zelensky to Downing Street as Europe braces for Trump's face-to-face discussions with Putin. The meeting comes aftr Sir Keir said Britain stands ready to "increase pressure" on Russia if necessary. Yesterday, European leaders and Zelensky had a "constructive" chat with Trump, said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Zelensky said he pushed again for a meeting between all three leaders of Ukraine, Russia and the US after he was snubbed from Trump and Putin's head-to-head on Friday. He said he hopes a ceasefire will be the main topic of discussion in Alaska - and Merz reassured that it would be. The Ukrainian leader also slipped Trump a warning about his cunning Russian counterpart - and confirmed he would receive a call from the President after he bids Putin farewell. 15 Keir Starmer and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky today Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 15 Starmer talks with Zelensky in the garden of 10 Downing Street Credit: AFP 15 EU leaders together during a summit Credit: PA Drawing lines Top diplomats from the US and Russia are currently working on an agreement to finalise post-war territories - but it may not be all good news for Kyiv. Putin, who has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire, said that he wants peace but that his demands for ending his invasion were "unchanged". One major sticking point for Moscow is the annexation of more Ukrainian territory - one of Putin's long-term demands. These are some of the possible outcomes of a Ukraine ceasefire deal. What Europe wants Zelensky and European leaders are likely to reject any settlement proposals by the US that demand Ukraine give up further land. They want to freeze the current frontline as it is - giving away the territory already being held by the Russians. Zelensky has reiterated that Ukraine will not cede any further territory to Russia. 15 Putins price Luhansk and Donetsk collectively make up the region of Donbas Zelensky said that Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30 per cent of the Donetsk region that it controls as part of a ceasefire deal. That's almost 3,500 square miles of land still under Kyiv's control. And losing it will hand Putin almost the entirety of the Donbas - a region comprising Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland that Putin has long coveted. 15 Kyiv cedes When the war began in 2022, Putin signed declarations annexing the entirety of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts. His troops never controlled Zaporizhzhia and were pushed out of Kherson by the Ukrainians in a daring counteroffensive. Slave to one's habits, Putin may demand further territorial concessions from Ukraine and grab more land that it already occupies. 15 Don's proposal Trump said that the only way to resolve the issues is for both sides to accept losses of land. But he added that he would try to return the territory to Ukraine. 15 The Trump administration has said that it will not engage in any agreement on a final peace deal without Ukraine's formal involvement in the negotiations. After Trump held a call with the European leaders yesterday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirmed that Trump reaffirmed that Trump would not negotiate territorial issues with Putin. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron will not be engaging in any "schemes for territory swaps" during the summit. On the offensive Russian forces launched a last-minute ground attack to grab as much Ukrainian territory as possible ahead of the peace talks with Donald Trump. The lightning speed offensive saw Russian troops breaching through defence lines in eastern Ukraine in a dramatic two-pronged attack. And it could give Putin an upper hand when he meets the US President for the historic peace summit on Friday. But in the last few days, Russian sabotage and reconnaissance units pushed some six to 15 miles deep into Ukrainian territory near the town of Dobropillia in Donetsk. The catastrophic breakthrough is set to help Moscow, which currently controls over 70 per cent of the highly-contested Donetsk region. The catastrophic breakthrough is set to help Moscow, which currently controls over 70 per cent of the highly-contested Donetsk region. 15 15 Russian soldier raising a flag, reportedly following the capture of Yablunivka in Ukraine on August 12 Credit: Reuters Russian forces surged towards three villages on a section of the frontline near Kostyantynivka and Pokrovsk, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported. The location of the land grab near Dobropillia is of immense strategic importance to both Moscow and Kyiv. If the Russian forces can defend the captured land and establish a secure foothold, they would be able to cut the city of Kramatorsk off from the Donbas region. Kramatorsk is the most important fortress city in Donbas that is still under Kyiv's control. And if it falls, it will hand Putin almost the entirety of the Donbas - a region comprising Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland that Putin has long coveted.
