1. The cost of living is rising and becoming increasingly unaffordable.

• There is major concern among respondents that if the cost of living continues to rise, many individuals and families will be forced to move outside of the city.
• Some Portlanders who have lived in neighborhoods (North/Northeast and Downtown) have either already been or anticipate being displaced to non-centrally located neighborhoods, suburbs or neighboring cities, primarily due to increasing costs of housing. Specific complaints include:
  • Rising taxes (property and income) for business, homeowners and workers;
  • Low wages, which are not keeping up with the cost of living; and
  • Unaffordable basic necessities like food, clothing, transportation and medical expenses.
    [For more information on these issues, see Economy: Employment, Government: Government Spending and Health: Cost of Healthcare.]

Sample Strategies:

1. Keep public transit affordable by not allowing fares to continue rising.
2. Control rent increases and create more renter rights.
3. Increase multiple types of affordable housing in all neighborhoods, including apartments for students.
4. Increase wages until they become livable and provide more workers with benefits.

2. Jobs are not meeting the financial needs of individuals and families.

• Respondents are frustrated that there are many non living-wage jobs.
  • Minimum-wage is not the same as living wage, and is often not enough money for individuals and families to survive on alone.
  • While the cost of living is increasing, many people feel that wage increases are infrequent and are not keeping pace with rising costs.
  • Wages should increase to counteract high property taxes, inflation and income taxes.
• Many people feel that professions in certain sectors that involve working extended hours or that contribute to the community are not fairly compensated. These include:
  • Nonprofit work;
  • Education;
  • Social services; and
  • Arts.
• Many people do not receive employment benefits, contributing to high cost of living. Respondents are concerned about:
  • Health Coverage: Healthcare is uncommon for many jobs and job sectors.
    • If people have healthcare through employment, it is still very limiting in the types of medical coverage and provider options.
    • Dental and vision plans are often not included.
    • Alternative health care is absent from many plans.
  • Child care: Some respondents complain about high child care expenses, which are rarely covered through work.
  • Unions: Unionized jobs that promote job security, fair wages, benefits and quality working environments are rare.
    [Note: Refer to Economy: Employment for more information].

“Wages are not rising with the cost of living in this city, including home ownership, and it is causing working class folks with children to look at relocation.”

“Wages do not match cost of living in Portland. I think corporations have taken advantage of lower wages and higher profit margins."

"Encouraging home ownership - keep it affordable. The big change among other cities is that the cost of living there gets so high that a focus on financial goals replaces other ones, like family and community. Attract companies that have good paying jobs.”

Sample Strategies:

1. Encourage more companies that pay living wage jobs to move to Portland.
2. Enforce living wages in larger local businesses.
3. Smaller local businesses need government support/incentives to provide living wages and benefits to employees.

3. Housing costs are too high.

• Housing costs are inflated.
• Many people want to see lowered property taxes, particularly for vulnerable communities such as elders and people with lower incomes.
• Apartment complexes converted into condominiums make housing unaffordable to former tenants.
• Rent prices are increasing, and affordable rentals are becoming scarcer.
• People identify discrimination and oppression as factors contributing to housing displacement.
• Gentrification needs to be prevented because it can disproportionately impact some minority groups and people with lower incomes.
  [Note: For more concerns around the cost of housing, see Economy: Housing.]

4. Small, local business owners have a hard time affording the costs of starting and maintaining businesses.

• Small businesses need to be supported through financial incentives offered by the City to first time business owners.
• Existing local businesses should not be forced out of urban renewal districts.
• Business owners need to be supported in affording start-up costs and licensing fees.
• Reduce small business taxes, but increase the large business tax (for more on this subject, see Economy: Business).

5. Affordable living is impacted by the rising costs of transportation, healthcare and education.

Transportation

• People shouldn’t have to work far from home if they don’t want to.
• Public transit routes should serve all areas equally, including low-income neighborhoods, so everyone can benefit from affordability of public transport.
• People should not have to make several connections on public transportation (see Transportation: Public Transportation].

Alternative Transportation:

• People should have safe bike paths and accessible areas for pedestrians (see Transportation: Alternative Transportation for more information).

Healthcare:

• Healthcare should be affordable to everyone (see Health for more information.)

Education:

• Education should be accessible to all, not just to those with higher incomes. 
• An educated work force is important to growing a local economy (see Education for more information on this topic).

6. Policies need to be reevaluated to ensure equitable outcomes of urban renewal areas.

• Displacement of minority-owned businesses and residents in low-income housing or neighborhoods should be prevented.
• People want to see new government policies decided through the lens of community livability for children and families.
• Urban renewal should ensure the inclusion of existing residents and business owners, and should factor issues of race and class in the process.
• People are anticipating being priced out of the housing market in Portland, if they have not been already.

Sample Strategies:

1. “Develop mixed-income housing areas so that a greater percentage of the population can become home owners.”
2. “I would like to see more business nodes with affordable housing built above it. I'm a Realtor and have worked with a lot of low income clients, but now that the Oregon State Bond program is in jeopardy how will they afford their first home?"