How Dynamic Density works: 

The Dynamic Density process empowers neighborhoods to direct how they would like to grow, and enables them to share in the economic benefits of development in their communities. 

The Dynamic Density process recognizes the inherent value of Portland’s classic neighborhoods and empowers citizens to take an inventory and preserve what they love. This includes historic houses, but also trees and other non-development features. 

By establishing each neighborhood as a Community Development Corporation under the auspices of a Prosper Portland designated district, neighborhoods will be able to capture a portion of the System Development Charges (SDC’s) and the new tax revenue generated by that development. 

We know we need to increase housing in all our neighborhoods, and particularly in urban neighborhoods close to employment and served by transit. We begin by establishing a baseline density for all based on data driven metrics (for example, 22 dwelling units per net acre). 

Lay people don’t often have much exposure to talk about typologies and density. We will create self guided walking tours, assisted by a mobile app, that will guide people around examples of higher density development and allow them to get a first hand impression of traditional building types that already exist in our neighborhoods. This will also function as a visual preference survey. 

We will show neighborhoods what their current population density looks like and provide a visualization of different ways to meet or exceed the density target. We will lead neighbors in a series of public design workshops, in which we will:

1. Educate the neighborhood about the reasons for doing the work

2. Show neighbors what their neighborhood already contains

3. Help neighbors prioritize what they want to preserve most

4. Show what different forms of density look like with examples from Portland neighborhoods

5. Lead a mapping exercise to place denser housing types in their neighborhoods

6. Develop an actionable plan to implement the neighborhood’s preferred development scenario

The Workshop is where all these experiences come together to shape a plan. Drawing on what they have learned about growth targets, existing conditions on the ground, shared priorities for preservation, and a knowledge of what higher density housing can look like, neighbors choose the puzzle pieces and arrange them on the board. We provide a pattern book of vetted, compatible, historically derived building types based on examples we’ve documented from months of walking Portland’s classic neighborhoods with our cameras and talking to neighbors we’ve met on the way.

Dynamic Density provides neighborhoods with a universal kit of parts, based on the foundational fabric of Portland’s neighborhoods. With these parts, or Typologies, neighborhoods can choose how they will grow and accommodate their share of new housing.