Oregon’s legislature just passed Bill HB 2138:
In recent years, Oregon did 2 things to make housing more affordable :
Oregon reformed zoning.
Most american cities require single homes, the most expensive form of housing. You want to build something else? They will try to stop you. Oregon changed zoning rules to make it easier to build duplexes, triplexes and condos.
Oregon banned parking requirements
Right now, most american cities ban apartment buildings that don’t add parking spots. If you want to build housing, you must add parking. Buyers and renters are forced to pay for parking spots, whether they like it or not. Even if they don’t have a car. Even if they are blind. Oregon ended mandatory parking requirements. Eliminating parking requirements doesn’t mean 0 parking. It just means it’s up to the market now.
These 2 reforms delivered some real results:
https://www.streetroots.org/news/2023/04/12/parking-reform-secret-new-oregon-housing
https://www.sightline.org/2025/06/04/oregons-zoning-reforms-are-working-but-they-need-some-upgrades/
But they didn’t go far enough.
This new bill makes it significantly easier to build housing.
For the first time, I can say Oregon has a realistic chance to fix the housing crisis.
Let’s hope Bill HB 2138 is signed. This was long overdue. 🎉🥳🎊
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