A 2017 survey from PolicyInteractive revealed 77 percent of Oregonians feel "climate change requires us to change our way of life, drive less, and live more simply." At the same time, Oregon, and especially Eugene, is facing a drastic shortage in housing. As a state, we need to build 30,000 housing units a year to close the 155,000-unit shortfall we currently face.

We can, and should, significantly address these two challenges with the same solution: Allow more diverse and abundant housing in all neighborhoods by building communities where more people live within walking and shorter distances of schools, stores, places of worship, parks and jobs.

There is no silver bullet to solving Oregon’s ongoing housing challenge. However, HB 2001 will make a significant dent in the problem – not just today, but for generations to come. Thanks to the leadership of House Speaker Tina Kotek and Eugene’s very own Rep. Julie Fahey, we have the opportunity to allow for more diverse housing types in cities across the state. HB 2001 requires cities over 25,000 to allow "missing-middle" housing, such as duplexes, in areas presently zoned for single-family residential use.

Since the first half of the 20th century, cities implemented policies that ban more affordable, "middle" housing types, such as cottage clusters, duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes. These exclusionary policies were often used as a form of redlining, a practice used to keep people of color out of desirable neighborhoods.

The outdated prohibitions against middle housing are at odds with changing demographics of cities across Lane County. Today, most households consist of 1 to 2 persons. Smaller, more affordable homes will meet the needs of our community’s changing family size while helping us protect the environment and reduce our reliance on automobiles.

Middle housing also is affordable by design. The math is straightforward. Allowing more than one unit of housing on a property reduces the land costs per unit. Futhermore, smaller units require fewer building materials. Middle housing is cheaper to build than large apartment buildings that require more expensive structures, such as concrete podiums.

Understanding the relationship among housing production, affordability, gentrification and displacement requires more nuance. The basic principle of supply and demand is at play in the housing market, but that’s not the end of the story. Increasing the housing supply lowers housing costs across the regional housing market. As the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis recently described:

"[I]f a community were to allow for more units to be built on a given parcel of land, then better affordability can be achieved, and future growth more efficiently accommodated. This is for at least two reasons. First, one would be dividing high land costs over a larger number of units which both lowers cost per unit and increases supply relative to existing zoning. Second, each unit will be smaller than under current zoning, which also lowers the cost per unit."

Single family homes always will be a vital part of our residential zones. HB 2001 will simply increase the availability of housing types that smaller households, such as aging boomers who want to downsize, working families, and millennials, urgently need. Neighborhoods will not notice dramatic impacts, because the development of these smaller homes will be modest and gradual. The bill allows cities to establish reasonable sideboards, such as allowing quadplexes only on corner lots.

Oregonians value protecting our farms and forests and living in sustainable and equitable communities, which includes providing housing opportunities for all in our towns and cities. The stakes are too high for the environment and social equity to keep our cities frozen in time as our state is growing. Maintaining the socio-economic segregation of exclusively single-family neighborhoods will push those who can least afford it to live on the outskirts of town or to satellite communities. That will only further burden historically disadvantaged communities and increase our transportation greenhouse gas emissions.

It is our choice to build a state that welcomes all people and continues our environmental leadership. Enacting HB 2001 is a critical step toward building that legacy.

Alexis Biddle is the urban advocate for 1000 Friends of Oregon. He holds a J.D. and master’s degree in community and regional planning from the University of Oregon and lives in Eugene.