It’s time to continue the conversation we had last month about Troutdale’s housing needs over the next 20 years.
The population of the Portland metro area is expected to grow to more than 3 million by 2040. So the question is: how can our city can accommodate that population and housing growth?
The City of Troutdale has formed a Housing Committee that is tasked with updating the city’s housing policies, which were last reviewed in 2011. Consisting of the City’s Planning Commission and housing stakeholders, the Committee is working this fall on updating the City’s Buildable Lands Inventory (BLI) and Housing Needs Analysis (HNA). From there, the City will have up-to-date information for which to re-visit housing policies related to current and future growth in the City.
The BLI is a review of all properties that are zoned for residential uses within the City to determine what the current housing capacity might be for vacant or under-developed. The HNA then uses the information from the BLI and looks at housing demand and economic trends to determine how the City should handle future residential growth. From those items, policies can be established by City Council to support those recommendations.
The Committee began its work in July with its first meeting with EcoNorthwest, a leading consulting firm that assists cities with this work. The Committee met on Wednesday, September 18 and is set to meet again again on Wednesday, October 16 at 6:00 p.m. in the Kellogg Room at the Troutdale Police Community Center at 234 SW Kendall Court. The meeting is open to the public.
The Committee expects the work to be completed by late January 2020.