Lake Oswego Middle Housing Code Update

Lake Oswego, OR | 2021

The City of Lake Oswego, one of the most affluent communities in Oregon, was required to comply with Oregon House Bill 2001, which requires the city to allow middle housing types--duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, and cottage clusters--in all residential zones by June 30, 2022.

The City engaged Cascadia Partners to help lead the public engagement and technical analysis to both comply with the law and leverage the benefits of middle housing. Cascadia was the prime consultant and project manager with sub consultants Walker Macy and Laurence Qamar & Associates.

To set the stage, Cascadia Partners led an in-depth quantitative analysis of urban form and community demographics as they vary by neighborhood in Lake Oswego. The analysis assessed existing development patterns as well as market conditions and vulnerability to residential displacement that may be affected by middle housing code updates.

Collaborating with design partner firms, Cascadia produced a Neighborhood Character Report that delineated pattern areas and a building form typology. This work was used to identify opportunities and constraints for infill of middle housing in various contexts. Cascadia then conducted an extensive audit of the city’s comprehensive plan and development code to inventory necessary amendments to comply with HB 2001 and assess the degree of change for various zone districts. Cascadia then produced a report laying out alternative approaches to middle housing integration across eight regulatory issue areas.

All of this technical work was informed by a neighborhood character survey that received over 900 responses and 12 in-depth interviews with neighborhood association leaders.

The City adopted the middle housing code changes by the state deadline. Although the code update was required by state law, several stakeholders and community members expressed appreciation for Cascadia’s efforts to help ensure the code was tailored to local context and would be most likely to contribute positively to meeting local housing needs.