The new construction is not cheap and will necessarily be in the luxury class or near to it. But renters will not be buying space as much as location. This is one reason young people generally move out of the downtown area when they settle down and raise children - more space, good schools, and a back yard. Notice too that parking is extremely limited - less than 1 space per unit, and usually those are an extra cost.
On the page "North Pearl: Going Up?" notice the size of the apartment buildings. All but the tall towers are already, or may be approved under new codes in Lake Oswego. The question is, what will Lake Oswego look and feel like? How many more people would be added to an already built-out city? And, is this what citizens want? If not, let your City Council know so they can provide direction to the Planning Staff to change course and deliver a product that is more in keeping with what the community wants. I heard a lot of people say 3 stories max. in the East End, with the 4th as an exception if done right is about right. With a single word change in the code, 5 stories might be a new height instead. I don't think more than a handful of people know that there is a max. height of 158' along the Kruse Way corridor.
The point is to make Lake Oswego the way regular Lake Oswegans want, not the way the planning theorists say we should live. And, oh yeah, if someone tries to tell you we need to comply with rules that allow for this type of density, we don't. Our current codes and zones meet all the state requirements now and can provide housing for the next 20 years as required. But where do we stop?
It's our city after all.
Plotting Portland's New Skyline
*Led by chief planner Joe Zehnder, Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability created this diagram for its Central City 2035 effort to envision a “Center of Innovation and Exchange.” The vision is still in progress. To find out more, go to portlandoregon.gov/bps.
Lloyd District: Ecotopia
With a new lush public plaza and major face-lift for the aging mall, Portland’s first “ecodistrict” will be a lean, green, sustainable machine.
Published Apr 2, 2014, 9:00am
By Randy Gragg
Very timely with code changes underway!
ReplyDeleteThe biggest immediate threat is the Annual Code Updates, or "Housekeeping." Changes in wording can usher in 4-story buildings in downtown without a review by the DRC, the City Council or anyone. If it's in the codes, there's not much you can do about it. But who writes the codes but the people who interpret, administer and enforce them. The Fourth Branch of Government rules the city.
ReplyDelete