About the Inner Eastside Zoning Project

Project overview and purpose

The primary intent of the Inner Eastside Zoning Project is to change zoning to allow for a greater diversity of housing to be built in Portland's Inner Eastside. This will help make this desirable area more accessible to people with a broad range of incomes.

View full size image of A public plaza with ample seating, shade structures, vegetation, and artwork.

Portland's Inner Eastside neighborhoods provide opportunities for residents to live close to a broad range of everyday needs, such as shops, schools, parks, and heath care. These opportunities are anchored by several neighborhood business districts, such as the Hawthorne and Division main streets and the Kerns and Hollywood districts.

Generally located within three miles of the Central City, these neighborhoods also have close access to the city's highest concentration of jobs, community services, and important educational and cultural institutions, providing opportunities for employment, higher education, and entertainment.

Additionally, the Inner Eastside's extensive network of transit lines, sidewalks, and bike lanes makes it easier to travel without a car.

The area primarily has single-dwelling zoning which limits the range of housing that can be built in this area and the number of people who can live here. Many of the single-dwelling homes in this area have become too expensive for most Portlanders to purchase or rent. Zoning that allows apartments and mixed-use development is mostly limited to narrow bands of land along transit corridors, and a few mixed-use centers such as Hollywood, Kerns, and around the 60th Avenue light rail station. Expanding the areas where multi-dwelling housing and mixed-use development can be built will allow more people to live in the area.

View full size image of A map of Portland's Inner Eastside that showcases the predominance of single-dwelling zoning in the area

Expanding housing options and opportunities for mixed-use development in this high-opportunity area supports a number of the City's Comprehensive Plan goals, addressing urgent housing needs and advancing Citywide goals of creating equitable access to opportunity and reducing climate impacts.

The scope of the project is being evaluated and will also consider the following:

• Expand access to neighborhood businesses by changing zoning to allow businesses in more places, including the possibility of small corner stores in appropriate neighborhood locations.
• Support the preservation and continuation of existing multifamily housing through zoning approaches that make it easier to retain these housing types while managing pressure for redevelopment. Existing multifamily housing serves as the area's most affordable housing options.
• Inventory potential historic resources that are key components of the area's Streetcar-era main streets and are part of the area's diverse mix of multifamily housing.
• Identify potential transportation improvements to make it easier and safer for people to access local destinations.
• Consider infrastructure improvements needed to support growth in the area and inform zoning approaches, building on the Inner Eastside Infrastructure Assessment.

Project study area

The boundaries of the project study area are generally NE Fremont Street to the north, 60th Avenue to the east, SE Powell Boulevard to the south, and 12th Avenue to the west.

The project study area, not all of which may be proposed for zone changes, includes the following neighborhoods (in whole or in part): Brooklyn, Hosford-Abernethy, Richmond, South Tabor, Buckman, Sunnyside, Mt. Tabor, Kerns, Laurelhurst, North Tabor, Sullivan's Gulch, Grant Park, Hollywood and Rose City Park. It also includes small portions of the Sabin, Alameda, Beaumont-Wilshire, Creston-Kenilworth, and Foster-Powell neighborhoods.

View full size image of The project area, generally south of NE Fremont, east of 60th Ave, north of SE Powell, and east of 12th Street.

Project background

A series of past land use decisions has resulted in the predominance of single-dwelling zoning in the Inner Eastside. Zoning in much of this area has remained largely unchanged since the 1980s. This plan provides an important opportunity to rethink the prevailing housing patterns in this part of the city and to revise zoning that limits housing options.

The predominance of single-dwelling zoning in close proximity to the Central City is distinctive to the Inner Eastside. In contrast, other areas close to the Central City - such as Albina, the Northwest District, and South Portland – have been the focus of area plans and have substantially larger portions of their land in multi-dwelling and mixed use zoning.

The need for the Inner Eastside Zoning Project is informed by recent planning efforts, including:

• Portland's 2035 Comprehensive Plan. Much of the project area is located within the Comprehensive Plan's "Inner Ring Districts." Policies for this area call for expanding housing options while providing continuity with the area's historic urban fabric. The project will also help implement other Comprehensive Plan policies related to expanding housing options - such as affordable housing - in high-opportunity areas.
• 2045 Housing Needs Analysis (adopted 2023), which identified the need for 85,000 to 120,000 additional units by 2045 and to increase housing options in high opportunity areas with good access to services.
• Housing Production Strategy (adopted 2024), which identified strategies to support the development of needed housing, including affordable housing. The Inner Eastside Rezoning Project will serve to implement Strategy C.2, "Increase Housing Capacity in Inner Centers & Corridors," one of the report's 35 identified implementation strategies.
• Inner Eastside Infrastructure Assessment (completed 2025), which provided findings and recommendations on infrastructure capacity and risks to inform consideration of zone changes in the Inner Eastside area.

Project timeline

On April 15, 2026, City Council passed Resolution No. 37746 that directs staff to develop an accelerated timeline for this project, with a goal of City Council consideration of zoning changes by June 30, 2027. Staff are producing a 90-day report to consider how staff can shorten the overall legislative timeline and integrate previous public feedback into project recommendations.

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