Portland observer., September 24, 2014, Page 3, Image 3

September 24, 2014
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Fred Meyer
What's on your list today?.
photo by
C olin S taub /P ortland O bserver contributor
A home available for short-term rental in the King Neighborhood of northeast Portland is advertised
for $125 a night, $850 a week, or $2,300 a month. Vacation rentals by homeowners in the
Portland market is a dramatic new housing trend that opponents say will contribute to gentrification
and the loss of affordable housing options.
A Nice Place to Visit
Short term rentals another blow
to housing affordability, access
C olin S taub
P ortland O bserver
by
CONTRIBUTOR
As Portland gains prominence
on a national scale, it is increasingly
becoming a destination for tourists
and vacationers. People visit our
neighborhoods, take in the sights,
and see what life is like in America’s
hippest city.
Unfortunately, aspects of this
very process can threaten afford­
able life in Portland, as short-term
vacation rentals begin to drive up
housing prices and lessen the sup­
ply of available traditional rentals.
ENIECIAINMENI
A
g ro w in g
n u m b er
of
homeowners are renting out one or
two bedrooms, and sometimes an
entire house, for a nightly rate. There
are around 1,600 short-term Port­
land rentals advertised on Airbnb,
the forem ost short-term listing
website. Three years ago, there were
only 107 listings.
In the King Neighborhood of
northeast Portland alone, there are
71 listings, 35 o f them advertising
entire houses available for rent
short-term.
During this entire period of growth,
the practice has been in violation of
zoning laws. But this month marks
the beginning of a change.
T he P o rtlan d C ity C o u n cil
passed am endm ents to zoning
regulations this sum m er, which,
as
of
S e p te m b e r,
a llo w
hom eow ners to legally rent out
room s on a short-term basis. Pre­
viously, it was allow ed through a
conditional use perm it. A ccord­
ing to city data, in the past 10
years only 24 rentals have been
ap p ro v ed th ro u g h co n d itio n al
use, suggesting that virtually all
the A irbnb listings have been ille­
gally rented.
The new rules create a new des­
ignation for these short-term rent-
continued
on page 4
pages 10-17
C alendar
C lassifieds
F ood
page 20
page 14
Housing Bureau Reaches Out
Input sought on affordable housing commitment
O livia O livia
T he P ortland O bserver
by
pages 18
N ortheast Portland residents
sent a message to the City of Port­
land about the displacem ent of
people of color from their historic
neighbourhoods when they pro­
tested anew Trader Joe’s moving to
N ortheast A lberta and M artin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard. At the
end of the dispute, Mayor Charlie
Hales allocated $20 million towards
creating affordable housing in north
and northeast Portland through the
course o f the next five years.
Now, the Portland Housing Bu­
reau is reaching out to the commu­
nity and hoping to come to a con­
sensus on the best way to invest the
new funds. Affordable housing has
become an increasingly pressing
issue in the last decade, and these
funds are intended to alleviate at
least some of the tensions surround­
ing some of the negative impacts
from gentrification.
The investment marks a win for
the Portland African American Lead­
ership Forum which originally criti­
cized the Portland Development
Commission project citing its lack of
a housing plan. The forum will be an
important voice when it comes to
deciding where the $20 million is
spent, officials said.
Community members are invited
to discuss what they want in terms
continued
on page 4