The Atlantic Says Portland's Gentrification Is Your Fault

The magazine weighs in and asks: "Can Portland Avoid Repeating San Francisco’s Mistakes?"

By Rachel Monahan

The Atlantic has weighed in on the reasons Portland is suffering double-digit rent increases and found what we already know: Newcomers are arriving in droves.

But the magazine also concludes we're all to blame in some respects—that the city that "prides itself on progressivism" hasn't had in place the "traditional tools" to create affordable housing:

The article also notes how residents have blanched at the idea of increasing the number of new apartments and duplexes in their residential neighborhoods.

"There are limits to white urban liberalism," Justin Buri, the executive director of the Community Alliance of Tenants, told The Atlantic. "When it comes to housing and schools, all of that goes out the window."

The results have been obvious. Last year, Governing Magazine rated Portland the No. 1 city in the category of gentrification. Our rents are up by double digits.

Has Portland become San Francisco? Not yet. The article notes that average home value in Portland is $345,000, according to Zillow.

In San Francisco, the number is $1.12 million.

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