When voters passed the Metro affordable housing bond in 2018, its initial goal was to provide funding for the construction of at least 3,900 homes. Now, with almost all of the funding allocated to projects in some phase of development, the bond is expected to fund 4,700 new homes for about 14,000 people.
Racial equity is a core value shaping how these public dollars are spent. Because of this, developers who use Metro housing bond funds are required to carry out robust community engagement to inform the design and programming of each apartment community. These engagement processes include communities of color, seniors, households with low incomes, people with disabilities, immigrants and people who have experienced homelessness.
A common theme in these conversations is the need for outdoor spaces. “Again and again, communities tell us that trees, green spaces for gathering, and community gardens that foster connection will be important for the health and well-being of future residents,” said Metro regional housing director Patricia Rojas. “Preserving mature trees and planting greenspaces will also help to keep the grounds cooler and store more carbon as the climate continues to warm.”
Portland-based firm PLACE has designed the sites of three of the Metro housing bond’s most expansive apartment communities. Though each complex has a different feel, they all feature abundant shared outdoor spaces anchored by trees that were already on the site. “Mature trees are a big win” on a project site, said PLACE principal Dylan Morgan. They provide natural shade and are an important element of resident amenities like open green space, playgrounds and community buildings.
Las Flores in Oregon City, photo courtesy of PLACE.
PLACE works on both affordable and private-market housing, in addition to many other types of projects. What Morgan enjoys most about designing affordable housing sites is that the community engagement required for these projects often prioritizes welcoming and diverse common spaces in a way that market-rate housing developments don’t always do.
Located just a stone’s throw from busy Southeast 181st and Stark Avenues, Community Development Partners and Hacienda CDC’s Rockwood Village Apartments is home to 225 households. About 400 kids live there.
The apartment complex wraps around a central commons holding raised garden beds, an urban farm, a playground, a community center and pedestrian pathways connecting a previously dead-end street. It’s also home to Neighbors Park, a public park with a tall stand of mature Douglas fir trees.
During the project’s community engagement process, people in the Rockwood neighborhood expressed a need for green spaces where people could gather and kids could play. This diverse neighborhood lacks spaces for youth and community programming. In addition to providing a cool, shady place to hang out on hot days, Neighbors Park hosts the YMCA’s Summer Kids in the Park and Hacienda’s Expresiones after-school program. The garden beds and food from the community farm are also shared with the wider community.
Rockwood Village in Gresham.
At the 150-residence Nueva Esperanza in Hillsboro, mature maple trees line a pedestrian path between one of the apartment clusters and an expansive lawn with a playground and dog park. The community center borders the other side of the lawn, creating a town-square feeling similar to Rockwood Village. Several smaller outdoor gathering areas are distributed across the property, offering with amenities like grills and a piñata pole.
Local nonprofit organization Bienestar developed the property in partnership with Housing Development Center on land owned by the City of Hillsboro. When the development team first visited the site and saw the trees, they knew immediately that they wanted to incorporate them into the design.
PLACE worked to preserve as many of the trees as possible (some of them weren’t healthy enough to remain) to form an alameda – Spanish for “tree-lined walk” - which is a common feature in Latin American towns and cities. Today the trees provide a canopy over the pedestrian path and natural cooling for adjacent homes.
Nueva Esperanza in Hillsboro.
Las Flores in Oregon City is another partnership between Hacienda and CDP. Like Rockwood, the 171-apartment complex envelopes a central green space with a public park and mature Douglas fir trees. In their human-centered design approach, the PLACE team focuses on how to accomplish the programming goals that emerged from community engagement, while separating parking and roads from spaces people use as much as possible.
Learn more about how affordable housing is being developed in the region