The 35-story Block 216 tower was approved in December. Our post about the project’s Design Advice Request was our most popular post of the year.

Happy New Year.

2018 is the fourth full year Next Portland has been in operation and I’m excited to see what 2019 brings. I’m currently on vacation in Scotland, so new posts will continue to be sporadic until I return next week.

Last year was another busy year for the site. Of the course of the year 141 new posts were published, with nearly 900,000 page views.

The year started with the last of the pre-inclusionary zoning (IZ) projects working their way through the design review process. In February it was reported by the Portland Mercury that Portland’s inclusionary zoning mandate was getting lackluster results, with only 12 qualifying building in the pipeline.

By the end of the year Next Portland had posted about a number of large post-IZ developments that have been approved through design review. These include 815 W Burnside, 1715 SW Salmon, Nomad, the ART Tower Block 216, 1935 N Killingsworth and the Pepsi Blocks. The Portland Housing Bureau now estimates that there are 43 projects subject to inclusionary zoning in the pipeline, with 362 affordable units in projects that have permits or are close to permitting.

Despite the uptick in post-IZ proposals, new design review and building permit applications remain down relative to years ago. At the end of the year the Bureau of Development Services was forced to lay off staff for the first time since the recession, citing “quite sobering” forecasts.

Similarly to 2017, many of the most popular posts were published in previous years, a reflection of the fact that the content Next Portland remains relevant for a long time, as buildings move through construction and into occupancy. One post in the top 25 most popular posts was from 2015; seven posts were from 2016; six posts were from 2017; and eleven were published in 2018.

In reverse order, here are our 25 most popular posts of the year:

Read More →