The city has created more than 4,300 units of affordable homes since the city declared a housing state of emergency in 2015. Still, the high cost of housing in Portland has put homeownership out of reach for many Black people and people of color in general. A new report by the city’s housing bureau finds that in 2022, Portlanders identifying as Black, Native American, and Latino and making the average income for their demographic would have been unable to afford the cost of a house anywhere within city limits. One solution is to increase living wage jobs as Raimore Construction company’s Jeff Moreland has preached locally.
Portland will receive financial support from the state to increase affordable housing. A $200 million housing package passed the Oregon Senate which includes $20 million to create modular housing (which can cost less to buy) and $3 million to help developers interested in building affordable homes.
Based on 2020 U.S. Census data for Portland, the average Black household brings in about $3,000 in monthly income, while Latino households earn $4,500, and Native American households earn nearly $5,000. In comparison, white Portland households earn $6,400 on average each month.
The city considers property to be unaffordable if residents have to spend more than 30% of their monthly income on housing costs. The report shows that white residents can afford a home in about one-third of Portland’s neighborhoods — mostly adjacent to the city’s eastern border.
Jeff Moreland, a founder of Portland construction company Raimore Construction has been in the forefront of talking about Black wealth. The prime contractor on the Rose Quarter Highway Improvement Project hires a significant amount of people of color at a living wage. Many look at a strong solution to the affordable housing issue is investing in companies that have proven to hires the populations that are historically at the bottom of the income spectrum.
