1.1 RESEARCH TOPIC_Chan, Carina
Topic of Interest: Suburbs in Portland Metro vs. SE Portland and Health
Previously, I wanted to research on housing supply and state-to-state migration (coming into Oregon), then I reconsidered from a different perspective: those who can afford moving away from their states might be more well-off because their mobility is higher! So I scratched this idea but still had an interest in suburb housing. Therefore, I switched to housing and health, and whether having a better health would have a correlation with people’s living situations (and financial stability).
The neighborhood I live in is a suburb located in SW Gresham, on the edge of SE Portland, only 10 minutes away from driving. But I noticed that the families who live in my neighborhood and neighborhoods that are 10 minutes away from my place live in two different worlds—race, ethnicity, social class, etc.. As more and more houses are being constructed in my neighborhood, I would like to research on the health level of the families who live nearby verses the families who live in SE Portland.
—————————————– (old idea below) ——————————————-
Potential topic: Is Portland’s housing supply catching with its demand? (affordable versus regular housing?) (Or maybe even suburbs and health?)
I am interested in the topic of if Portland’s housing supply catches up with the housing demand. I am currently located in Gresham, East of Portland metro; the neighborhood that I am currently living in has been growing—acres of lands have been under constructions, houses after houses, neighborhoods after neighborhoods. Where was plain fields are now filled with single family houses. Yet, it is concerning that these houses which are under construction are cost over $600,000.
I am not sure what I will be measuring yet, but the construction across my neighborhood sparked these research topic and questions:
1/ Since there are people moving to Portland from other states, could Portland’s job and housing, especially the housing market, catch up with the demand?
2/ Where are low-income families living when single detached house costs half a million? How is the living environment like?
“In reality, housing bureaus spend a lot of their money making apartments affordable for families earning $35-40k a year (or about 50 percent of median family income), even though the biggest need is among families making $25,000 or less.”
“The problem also isn’t static. About 32,000 Portlanders currently spend more than half their income on rent, putting them one bad month away from slipping into homelessness — and because bad months happen, many people do.”
3/ Is affordable housing (universal housing) catching up? [-is this measurable?]
4/ Are affordable housing developers targeting the “correct” group of people? — ethnicity, race, age, jobs, gross income vs. affordable housing cost?
Sources:
1/ https://bridgeliner.com/10-things-we-learned-about-portlands-housing-crisis/
2/ https://www.oregonlive.com/news/erry-2018/11/7b5de0e930193/oregons-population-keeps-growi.html
3/ https://wgme.com/news/i-team/developers-economists-warn-portland-rent-control-would-lead-to-less-affordable-housing