The Housing Shortage in Profile: Construction in Oregon dropped to the lowest level since World War II.

Politicians bemoan the lack of affordable housing, but their policies often create the problem. Look no further than Oregon, where restrictive zoning and mandates have yielded the lowest rate of residential construction in decades.

Oregon’s population grew by nearly 400,000 between 2010 and 2019. But the state added a mere 37 housing permits for every 100 new residents, according to a report released last week by the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis. Economist Josh Lehner found that “while much of the attention is paid to rising housing costs, we know they are the symptom and not the cause of the disease. The chief underlying cause is the ongoing low levels of new construction this decade.”

Mr. Lehner adds that “on a population growth-adjusted basis, Oregon built fewer new housing units this decade than we have since at least World War II.”

That’s no surprise since Oregon’s land-use rules have been dysfunctional for decades. In the 1970s lawmakers worried about sprawl imposed strict limits on urban expansion. These urban growth boundaries have failed to adjust sufficiently to growing populations, choking residential development despite high demand. Rising housing prices are the inevitable result of this government-imposed scarcity.

Portland is now desperate for affordable housing and says it’s at least 23,000 units short. But its policies discourage investment in housing for low- and middle-income families. Its land-use zoning is more restrictive than more than three-fourths of other metropolitan areas examined in a new working paper by Harvard and University of Pennsylvania researchers. Since 2017 Portland has enforced an “inclusionary zoning” requirement on new residential buildings with 20 or more units. The city now compels many landlords to rent up to a fifth of new units at below-market rates.

Funny you should mention that. My son recently started working for a panel builder/framer. He’s a semi driver for them.

A month after starting, these clowns bounced his paycheck.

He’s looking for a job and is still working. He’s under 21 and can’t leave the state due to DOT rules. Every day of experience is helpful for his future and it gives him something to do. .

Supposedly they are supposed to get some straight answers Wednesday.

Dave,

Instead of putting redwood on your deck, I would suggest IPA if you want to stick with wood. IPA(also known as Ironwood) is a South American hardwood. It will NEVER rot. It starts out as a brown color and turns to a dark grey eventually. However, it is the densest of all species of lumber in the world. It is even harder than Ebony. Therefore, it is extremely heavy. You also have to predrill every hole for the screws.

The other wood option is Cumaru. It is another SA hardwood that is impervious to rot. It is almost as dense as IPA. It is also available as a decking product throughout the world.

If you want to go with a composite(Trex type) I would suggest you use a capped composite decking. This is a product that has composite on the inside and a PVC wrapping around the outside.
The benefit of this product is that is does not shrink or swell in LENGTH like solid PVC. It is also cheaper than solid PVC. This is not the original composite type decking. The PVC cap has the color all the way through(about 3-4 mm).
It will not grow MOLD on the surface if you get a lot of rain in your area.

If you do not have a wide temperature swing in your area, then I would consider a solid PVC product. PVC tends to be the most expensive decking board. However, it is totally maintenance free. It will shrink in the winter. I have PVC fascia boards on my house here in NH. In January(0 degrees)there will be almost a 1/4” gap between boards on the front of my house(36’ overall length). I purposely installed these boards in mid summer when it was 80-90 degrees. I overlap the joints. That way they will shrink. IF you install PVC around here in the winter you have to allow for expansion or it will buckle.

The other benefit of composite/capped or all PVC is that they now have clips that go into a groove on the side edge of the decking. That way the decking is attached to the joists without a screw showing on the surface.
Another benefit of the composite are they can be bent around curved decks to some extent. So, you are not limited in construction to building with 90 degree angles.

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