"In a historic district, can we build Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)?" That is a common question, and the answer is easy: YES. The LNA's Exploratory Historic District Committee investigated this and confirmed that ADUs can be and are being built in Portland's historic districts. In 2016, every ADU proposed in the historic districts of Irvington and Ladd's Addition was approved. More ADUs were built in those historic districts than were built in Laurelhurst. To see this in a picture, here is a city-generated map of ADUs constructed in Portland. Each circle is an ADU. Irvington and Ladd's Addition historic districts are outlined and shaded in blue. More ADUs have been built in the histo
A few months ago, we discussed the environmental benefits of preserving older houses, in The Environmental Benefits Of Historic District. In today's post, we'll focus on the toxic contamination created when houses are demolished. When houses are demolished, large amounts of airborne fragments and particulates - which we see as dust - are emitted in the neighborhood. The total radius of this "dust fall" is as much as 900 yards, on a windless day. Part of this dust is toxic lead. Most houses built before 1978 contain lead-based exterior paint and sometimes interior paint. So long as the paint is intact and undisturbed, the lead is encapsulated and we are not exposed to it. But when a house
We have lawn signs! Lawn signs show our pride in our neighborhood, demonstrate our support for the Historic District, and let our our neighbors know about the historic district petition effort. To request a lawn sign, send us an email or contact your quad leader. We will place a lawn sign in your front yard. If you would like to make a $5 or $10 donation to fund more signs and the historic district effort, please visit the DONATE page. The Historic Laurelhurst effort, including this website, are entirely a grassroots effort of Laurelhurst neighbors like you and us. Have you seen a Historic Laurelhurst sign in a cool place - perched high in a tree, or proudly standing in a field of flowers?
Last week, we posted "A Case Study Of Demolitions: Beaumont-Wilshire Neighborhood". In that neighborhood, nearby to us, a resident documented 34 demolitions: The result of these demolitions has been that the average replacement house was +149% larger (2.5X times larger) than the original demolished house, and the average replacement house cost +148% more (2.5X times more) than the original demolished house. A reader asked if similar data has been located for Laurelhurst. After all, some people claim (misleadingly) that there have been "no", or only "four", demolitions in our neighborhood. Here's what we have learned. In just the past several years, over 30 houses have been demolished in L
Portland houses are being demolished at an unprecedented rate. The city has recorded nearly 2,800 demolition permits since 2005, with 384 recorded in 2016 alone. Many more houses have been effectively demolished via a loophole in Portland's regulations, which allowed a developer to avoid obtaining a demolition permit by leaving a small piece of the original house standing, even just part of one wall. How have these demolitions affected neighborhoods? A recent study in the Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood counted 34 demolitions - both officially recorded demolitions and demolitions-by-loophole - during the period 2011 to 2014. This count includes only demolitions in which the original house
