“Build for the Future Design Challenge”
1000 Friends of Oregon is looking to partner with the UDP - and possibly others - on this project. They need design partners, logistical support, and funding for a dedicated manager. As an organization, they do not currently have the capacity to fully manage this project, but are willing to put energy into gathering partners and helping to seek and secure necessary funding. They are early in the planning process and value UDP’s advice on how best to frame the competition and reach out to potential partners. We estimate this will take about a year to plan and roll out.
In this presentation they will present their thinking about the need, the target geographies and competition design and financial needs, so far, and ask for everyone’s collective thoughts on these. They will include key discussion questions in our presentation.
Infill Design Competition
“Build for the Future Design Challenge”: Host neighborhood design competitions in small or medium-sized towns across Oregon.This may include one Portland Metro location as well. Encourage designers to consider the specific needs of a local community and design creative and vibrant urban infill development in a target neighborhood with a local sponsoring municipality or civic group or both.
Goal: Drive attention and investment towards small-medium size town building challenges and opportunities to make walkable, vibrant and affordable neighborhoods. Invite communities and decision makers to work with design teams to visualize neighborhoods with affordable, mixed use, middle housing development that meets the challenges of the future head-on.
Justification: Middle housing and infill has largely been legalized in cities across the state, but insufficient energy and investment has been put towards actually building the types of housing that meet the needs of everyday Oregonians, especially in small and medium towns, as well as metropolitan suburbs. Many builders and investors are entrenched in traditional housing types, and may not be aware of other options or their financial feasibility. We need to work with the design community to present a bold vision for the future of housing – generating excitement and accelerating the transition.
Why Now? We’ve never before had so much broad, bi-partisan, cross-cultural support for improving housing availability and diversity. People are ready and excited to know what options are out there! Additionally, the average age of our population is increasing, and baby boomers are increasingly looking to downsize
Presenters:
Gil Kelley, FAICP (he/him) Gil Kelley has served as the Planning Director for several major west coast cities and now practices as a consulting advisor to cities and private clients on a variety of urban issues. He also serves as Board President of 1000 Friends of Oregon. In his work for cities he has sponsored and provided overall management of several design competitions, including Portland Courtyard Housing Competition, Berkeley Civic Center Design Competition, Vancouver BC metro Missing Middle Housing Design Competition and Portland Mid-town Blocks Design. He has also developed many neighborhood plans and infill development strategies for Portland, San Francisco, Vancouver BC and Berkeley, California, as well as affordable housing strategies in those cities.
Jacky Lee (they/them) Jacky Lee is the Oregon for Everyone Housing Manager at 1000 Friends of Oregon. They live in Corvallis and have a background in community organizing and activism, especially around climate policy and housing justice. The Oregon for Everyone program increases 1000 Friends’ capacity to work with community partners around the state. Jacky is particularly interested in building relationships in rural, small town, and medium-sized communities, and has spent a good part of the past four months traveling around the state and getting to know local residents and the housing issues they are facing. They have learned a lot about the diverse challenges facing different cities and counties, especially those in Eastern Oregon, Southern Oregon, and Coastal communities. While every community is unique, there are also patterns and opportunities for collaborative learning. Oregon for Everyone is a program that will work to identify and share information about different policy and implementation strategies so that communities can learn from each