Impact of the Urban Growth Boundary on Metropolitan Housing Markets

As required by state law, Metro has conducted an Urban Growth Report and a Housing Needs Analysis to determine whether the currant Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) surrounding the Portland metropolitan area is sufficient to handle the increase in population and number of households expected over the next 20 years. Mr. Don Morissette commissioned Portland State University\u27s Center for Urban Studies to assess whether the techniques used in theses two studies were appropriate and to assess the impact of the UGB on housing markets in the Portland metropolitan area generally. The focus will be be on the impact of the UGB and other land use regulations on the availability of land for development, the achievable density, as well as land and housing prices. As such, much of this report is a review and techniques used by Metro rather than primary data collection. However, some review of public data on housing construction, zoning, and prices was done as part of this study