Lack of affordable housing is an issue across the nation that is impacting the economic stability of individuals, families, and whole communities. Zoning is often blamed as one of the key barriers to building more homes. The state of Oregon is on the cusp of implementing a major, innovative change in zoning law that could help address the problem.

Addressing systemic inequities is so incredibly hard. You’re essentially fighting the status quo, and the status quo will reassert itself at every turn. Whenever you’re pushing for change to such ingrained problems, you can of course expect a certain amount of overt resistance, but the more challenging part can be the passive resistance. When people have the status quo on their side, doing nothing is actually a very effective method of killing the change. So how do you combat that?