I am so weary of this business about the UGB's and housing prices in Portland. I have been traveling around the West for the last few weeks and stopped to visit friends in Portland. then headed down to the East Bay, where there no UGB's, at least not in the sense as Oregon's (there are stringent planning rules!) and where housing is vastly more costly. On the way and in between we passed through lots of communities where growth is essentially unregulated and it is still easier to find a $600,000 home than $100,000 one (take a look at housing prices in Boise, for example - there are still a few bargains that you wouldn't find in Portland, but not in desirable neighborhoods). Here's the deal. In Portland, your home is set in an extremely valuable civic context, including great parks and trails, good transit, access to the same urban amenities (or better) you find in places twice the size, a mild climate. etc, etc. Homes in Portland cost more because they are worth more! Same is true in the East Bay, at least to some extent. We are condo-sitting for my wife's parents for a while. If we had to rent this condo on the rural salaries we're used to, we'd be in deep trouble, but on the other hand, can you walk 300 yards up your street and onto a 1,000 mile regional trail system? The problem with housing prices in America is the problem Henry George identified 100+ years ago: land, especially desirable urban land, is a limited resource whose owners need really make no investment at all for its value to rise as society grows. Until we accept that HG was right and tax away the unearned increment, we are creating a country where only the wealthiest will be able to afford to own a home. This shows up fastest in desirable places like Portland or mountain resorts, but the dynamic is not confined to those places, and while I won't say that strict regulations don't play some small role in the cost of housing at times, I think you have to explain why the cost of housing is rising so rapidly in so many places where there are few, if any, effective regulations, before you can attribute anything to regulations! And I have yet to hear or read about anyone doing that.