PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 31, 2022
Members of Portland’s real estate community say a citywide referendum passed to promote affordable housing and green building is having a chilling effect on new development, but city officials say it’s unclear what has caused a slowdown in new projects and whether it will persist. Housing projects can take years to plan, officials said, so it is too soon to know the “Green New Deal” referendum’s long-term impact. Other factors such as the coronavirus pandemic, the labor shortage and higher materials costs also make it difficult to draw conclusions, they said.