FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 14, 2025
CONTACT:
Gabriel Mathews, PHB – (503) 865-6867; gabriel.mathews@portlandoregon.gov
(PORTLAND, ORE.) – Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) officials and staff, oversight committee members, local housing organizations and members of the community gathered on Thursday, March 13 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the City of Portland’s N/NE Neighborhood Housing Strategy.
The strategy was launched in 2015 as a means to address the ongoing threat of displacement and gentrification in historically Black neighborhoods of Portland. Decades of segregation had led to an enclave of Black Portlanders, which bloomed into a vibrant community and cultural center. But government-led projects like the construction of I-5 through the Albina neighborhood, as well as the Rose Quarter and Emanuel Hospital, decimated and dispersed the Black population. During the 1990s, the City’s urban renewal efforts reinforced a cycle of gentrification that left long-time residents with fewer and fewer affordable housing options.
In 2014, then-Mayor Charlie Hales, with the support of housing Commissioner Dan Saltzman, directed PHB to begin a community engagement process in order to plan for a $20 million investment in affordable housing in the area. After seven months of community engagement, the Strategy was approved by City Council in January 2015, and an oversight committee made up of community members was created to ensure that the Strategy remained accountable to the community it was meant to serve.
“It is always the right time to do the right thing,” said N/NE Oversight Committee Chair Dr. Steven Holt. “The City of Portland did the right thing ten years ago, convening the N/NE Oversight Committee to ensure that this work was led by, responsive to, and focused on the community and their needs. We will continue to hold the City accountable to the core vision of this strategy as we advance this work for the next ten years.”
“The past ten years of the N/NE Neighborhood Housing Strategy represent a major accomplishment,” said Portland Housing Bureau Equity & Business Operations Manager Leslie Goodlow. “We have shown that cities can do business differently – that they can address harmful actions from the past by centering community in decision making and program planning. I am excited to continue this work of deep investment in the people of North and Northeast Portland.”
Over the past ten years, the Strategy has grown to an investment of $135 million. The resulting work, guided by community vision, has:
- Produced 865 affordable rental homes open and in development across 11 projects
- Produced 115 affordable homes for purchase open and in development across 5 projects
- Stabilized 1,300 households with home repair grants and forgivable loans
- Helped 127 households become first-time homeowners
Homes produced by the Strategy are subject to the N/NE Preference Policy, a first-of-its-kind measure for prioritizing applicants for affordable housing opportunities based on their generational ties to an area impacted by urban renewal. This policy helps to ensure that displaced former residents of N/NE Portland and their descendants are given the opportunity to return to the neighborhoods they once called home. The Preference Policy has been studied by cities around the country, becoming a model for their own efforts to address gentrification.
###