Figure 17 - Portland's Investment Strategy to prioritize strategic neighbourhoods

Figure 17 - Portland's Investment Strategy to prioritize strategic neighbourhoods (Source: Portland Urban Design Framework, 2014)

For the application of the FMC, a 20-minute neighbourhood initial index was created to measure the status of existing neighbourhoods w.r.t 20-minute neighbourhoods (Refer figure 16). This analysis was based on three factors

• Distance (by walk). • Destinations (to grocery stores, restaurant, retail, schools and parks, transit access) • Density (to support selected amenities, 12-18 household per acre minimum density was calculated)

According to the preliminary analysis, only 6% of the city population lived in 20-minute neighbourhoods in the red hotspots (city centre and inner neighbourhoods), while 69% in areas which were least characteristic of 20-minute neighbourhoods, mostly eastern neighbourhoods. The city targets 80% of the population living within 20-minute neighbourhoods (City of Portland- Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, 2008; City of Portland, 2015a, p. 136). The Portland plan acknowledges that some residential areas, for example, western neighbourhoods with large number of natural areas cannot be 20-minute neighbourhoods as increasing density and installing infrastructure will compromise the environmental function of these areas.

The index highlights that the city centre and the inner neighbourhoods are the hotspots of 20-minute walkable neighbourhoods while the eastern neighbourhoods are the challenging areas due to vulnerable populations, low density, and low transit connectivity. (Bureau of Planning and Sustainability- City of Portland, 2014)

Based on the analysis, a matrix is drafted to inform the investment strategy to counter the city-wide differential since the neighbourhoods vary in size and local conditions. The investments are complemented by place and people-based approach to maximise the outcome of the funds. Programs which achieve more than one goal are prioritised to be implemented in ‘high priority neighbourhoods’ (Refer figure 16). These ‘high priority neighbourhoods’ are defined as areas which are undergoing lagging commercial investment, augmented poverty, gentrification pressures, experiencing substantial change due to major public infrastructure improvements, or businesses at risk due to suburban or big box competitors (Bureau of Planning and Sustainability- City of Portland, 2014; Portland Development Commission, 2010, p. 5). To increase the number of residents living within the 20-minute neighbourhoods, the actions of Portland Action Plan focus on,

• Increasing housing density and affordability in areas with services i.e., city centre and inner neighbourhoods (Portland Metropolitan Region, 1995) • Invest to enhance affordability and accommodate growth in all areas • To introduce more services including transit connectivity in areas which currently are under served i.e., eastern neighbourhoods • Retain and attract full-service grocery stores and retail sector in underserved areas. The growth strategy targets new growth centres and corridors, by improving public space in parks, streetscapes, enhancement of local transit nodes and its densification to support services, mixed use and multistorey buildings, areas of redevelopment of potential spaces like surface parking lots, underutilised and vacant lands, abandoned buildings. (Refer figure 18)

Following are the six themes which summary the action-policy framework to address above mentioned four strategies

1. Building Density and Affordability

Building density is the primary requirement to create complete neighbourhoods, which shall allow amenities and services, ie. Healthy food, parks and recreational areas and local businesses. Most of the housing stock in Portland, especially in its eastern neighbourhoods are single household detached housing typology. In order to tackle the issue from bottomup perspective, pro-housing zoning reforms are introduced to mobilise the houseowners. Through programs like ‘Residential Infill Project’, the city is promoting new infill development with different types of house types by increasing the legal limit of maximum allowable household units in single residential plots. The city also removed parking mandates from 3 quarter of the city to increase the built-up area and thus indirectly promoting soft mobility. Parallelly, the city has adopted ‘Accessory Dwelling Unit’ (ADU) as a strategy to increase affordability and housing density in underserved neighbourhoods. ADUs are small structures with maximum area of 1000 sq.ft. built on the land of existing homeowners. These ADU may have residential usage (and thus maintain affordability in the area) or commercial for micro-enterprise or home owned businesses to increase household self-sufficiency (Andersen, 2020; City of Portland, 2017; Sisson, 2018)