iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 19h

I'm thinking about the early 2000s recession that was pretty Portland-specific. The county lost population for the first time in decades, vacancy rates spiked, and losers like me could sleep in converted living rooms in close-in neighborhoods for $350

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 23h

If you haven’t looked at these numbers, you shouldn’t be holding forth on PPS school closures. It’s all very bad but I’d think the teachers’ union would have learned recently that denying reality doesn’t solve problems

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to pooh-pooh people for anger about a policy or an argument they didn’t take the time to understand beyond a TNR tweet; I do think it’s unreasonable to further amplify the whole misunderstanding without linking to clarifying info open.substack.com/pub/matthewy...

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Just wrapped up a canvass for @mitchgreen.bsky.social in the little slice of mixed-use, mixed-income, mixed-politics heaven between NW 21st & 23rd. Here’s to all the @portlandneighborswelcome.org endorsed candidates supporting the right of neighborhoods to evolve in this direction when they need to

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Good question! The latest I could find was 4.6% in inner/central SE and 5.5% in inner/central NE. I'd say you could make a case for a local shortage in those areas, especially SE. cc @emma321.bsky.social. assets.noviams.com/novi-file-up...

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Another benefit: more accessible housing for people of all ages. I mentioned that the state's multifamily zoning code includes a strong incentive for wheelchair-ready homes. We need it. To their credit, Portland & Salem are adopting this incentive, but could apply it to more land.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

A key part of Oregon's housing strategy for the 2030s should be removing barriers to homes that people will happily choose to downsize into. (Pictured: upper floor of a single-stair "sunlight suite" condo in Seattle. In a small multifamily building, everybody gets a corner unit.)

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

A third: more family-size homes for the bigger households who need them most. 25% of Oregon homes with 3+ bedrooms are occupied by just 1-2 people. I'm not saying anyone should leave their home, but in many cases the issue is that they haven't found a place they actually *want* to downsize into.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Another: improved safety, both because modern multifamily buildings are *dramatically* more fire-safe than old detached homes, and because stairs are actually a major source of injury when our bodies age.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

One: more elevator techs. Few elevators => few tech jobs => one dude in Coos Bay is the only licensed elevator tech on the whole Oregon cost. (Seems like a good guy btw, enjoys riding ATVs.) More elevators => more jobs for techs => faster service especially in rural areas => more elevators.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

So to zoom all the way back in, if we want buildings like these to (a) exist in walkable neighborhoods & smaller cities and (b) have elevators inside, we need to exert influence on the private (national, but not governmental!) standards-writing bodies that have failed to get with the elevator times.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

This standard isn't specific to features or size or anything else. It's basically a process hurdle than any of the world's numerous elevator companies must cross to do business in the States. With just 5% of the market at stake, only the Big Four bother - though they enjoy their vast pricing power.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

One of the factors behind this is that despite representing just 5% of the global elevator install market, the US & Canada are (with Japan) the final holdouts in harmonizing their building codes to an international elevator standard developed in Europe.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Outside the Americas, the world's four largest elevator companies (soon three: two just announced a merger) control about 50% of the market for new installs. In Oregon, state data suggests it's at least 90%. Oregon isn't unusual; the rest of the US & Canada face a similar oligopoly.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The 4th & final thing Oregon and other states could do to make elevators more abundant and improve age-friendly & accessible homes has to do with that huge international gap in elevator costs. (pictured again because I find it so shocking)

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Not surprisingly, even the biggest fire departments in Oregon have explicitly or effectively blocked these buildings. We 100% need these buildings to be safe. But that's an engineering question. Since 2024, more & more analysis shows that these conditions are safe. www.dli.mn.gov/sites/defaul...

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The easiest one to explain is about elevator cab size. In a great big building, it's no problem to require a cab that fits a stretcher. So we did. But on a small neighborhood lot, every inch counts. Requiring a big elevator is the enemy of having any elevator at all. www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/rev...

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Zoning mostly banned multifamily buildings from everywhere except the edge of the highway, the old warehouse district, the poor folks' neighborhood, and the edge of town. That led to a collapse in building an important type of home: the neighborhood apartment building. (This one is from 1910.)

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

If Oregon cities want to improve their multifamily zones for accessibility & age-friendliness, the state just created an "easy button." Its new multifamily model zoning code allows for 40' buildings by right, or taller for buildings that include a few Type A (wheelchair-ready) homes.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Should 4-5 story buildings be legal *everywhere*? I think probably not. But the thing that blew my mind once I started looking is how rare elevator-friendly zoning is EVEN IN THE APARTMENT ZONES. (Oregon does have a few standouts - shout to recent multifamily zone reforms in Beaverton & Salem.)

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Oregon, like other states, is stuck in a cycle of scarcity. Expensive elevators - about the price of an entire extra home - mean developers stop at 3 stories. So planners don't bother to allow buildings taller than 3 stories. So accessibility is, at best, limited to the ground floor.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

But for context, the last time Oregon's population as a whole was growing at 5% annually was 1943. Like a lot of places, Oregon mobilized then to adapt to changing needs. We can again.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Outside the big cities, this population is growing even faster. This is great! Long healthy lives are good for individuals and for their communities. (Among other things, did you know that for every retired couple who chooses to move to or remain in a place, it creates 1 local job?)

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

How urgently should we be trying to solve this problem? Well, one in 3 Americans over 75 has an ambulatory disability, which is literally defined as "serious trouble getting up stairs." As in all states, longer lives mean our over-75 population is growing fast. In Oregon, it's 5% annually.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The main reason we have so few elevators is that the EXACT SAME equipment costs 3-4 times more to install & operate in the US and Canada than in other rich countries, even after you adjust for local wage levels. WTF

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The United States and Canada have way too few elevators - by far the fewest in the rich world. This is true even after you account for our higher shares of detached homes - but if you've ever lived in a walk-up, you know it's also part of the REASON we have so many fewer attached homes.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Elevators. How do I love thee? Not nearly as much as I did when I was 9 or, probably, will when I'm 79. 🤞 Or after I break my foot for a few weeks, or develop MS, or the zillion other ways our bodies change over the course of our lives.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The only way the math works on a walkable neighborhood without relying on stairs is if some of the buildings around have a) multiple stories b) one particular 150-year old technology that I have learned a *lot* about in the last year (more in a bit)

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

My colleague @trufahey.bsky.social sent me this on Instagram a few months ago. Nice visual illustration of this "trap" of aging...but the creator missed the crucial fact that if you actually want local amenities, stair-free homes can't be one-story homes. They've gotta be a few homes stacked.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Townhomes are great for all sorts of people & neighborhoods, like these charming 20something homebuyers in Concordia. Here's the thing: none of us are 20somethings forever. And every townhouse is built around something that doesn't work for everybody. A staircase.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I have a confession to make. The townhomes I & others spent most of a decade trying to legalize are popping up all over Oregon & elsewhere...and I love that...but they're a problem in one big way. (get ready for a twisty thread about the housing report @sightline.org just published)

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Hopefully @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social won’t mind if I share his thoughtful takes here (Evan, let me know if so! Seemed quite inoffensive)

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The one way in which I’m a bad yimby is how much I love Ladds Addition just the way it is 🫣

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

More clever Spanish gadgets for aging comfortably

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

It’s funny that you can tell where he typed his own stuff in because that’s where the dashes are not properly formatted. Also one of the more readable passages in the piece I’d say

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Photo editor deserves a raise for this one

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Here are the weakest performers I could find

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

One of these things is not like the others

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

The year is 2038. The nation is in recession but Oregon has been booming for a decade. It's my 4th term as God-Governor, the kicker is gone and single-stair is legal. Thanks to @andrewdamitio.bsky.social for making a game I've enjoyed more than any in years. andrewdamitio.github.io/oregon_polit...

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Here is the inside of one of them. That's the bedroom on the right. You could switch the bedroom and the living area. You could require the resident to pay for a bigger home. Or you could force the building to be narrower (so, fewer homes) to increase surface area. Or we could just stay out of it

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Sorry, I'm not talking about the physical middle of the building, I'm talking about the middle of each side of the building. What's your suggestion for getting multiple rooms with bedrooms in all these homes?

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