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Why Housing Is Expensive (And How Zoning Fits In)
Affordability is at the heart of every community. It shapes who can live where, who can build what, and how our cities grow. Yet across the country, the cost of housing continues to climb, driven by a mix of demand, scarcity, and complexity that affects everyone from renters to regional planners. At UrbanForm, we think about this every day, not just as a policy question, but as a systems problem. And one of the most overlooked pieces of that system is zoning. Why Housing Co
melissa79083
16 hours ago2 min read


From Coast to Valley: Oregon Communities Lead a New Model for Housing Innovation
Every housing project begins with one simple question: What can be built here? That question just became a lot easier to answer across Oregon. From the southern coast to the Willamette Valley , six cities have joined a growing statewide movement to make zoning information accurate, verifiable, and instantly accessible. In Coos County (Bandon, Coos Bay, and North Bend) and Polk County (Monmouth, Independence, and Falls City), UrbanForm has launched two new digital zoning pl

Melissa Ryan
2 days ago3 min read


Make Intake Easier: A City Planner’s Guide to Self-Serve Zoning Answers
“What’s my setback?” It’s 8:07 a.m. at the permit counter. Dana, a permit tech, has three voicemails blinking, a builder waiting with a folder, and an inbox full of screenshots. One caller copied a height table from a two-year-old PDF. Another is sure an overlay applies because a neighbor said so. A third has a site plan that almost works—until someone notices the frontage standard in a different chapter. By lunch, Dana has answered the same questions five times and hasn’t t

Melissa Ryan
Oct 153 min read


The Hidden Cost of Zoning Research: Why Cities Lose Weeks Before Permits Even Begin
For leaders building the future of cities. In real estate, risk is the name of the game. Risk is both time and money. But before a single...

Melissa Ryan
Oct 83 min read


Meeting Housing Goals Without Burning Out City Staff
Oregon cities are being asked to deliver more housing, faster, in order to meet state production targets and community demand. With the...

Melissa Ryan
Oct 13 min read


Outreach as a Bridge: Unlocking Partnerships for Growth
At yesterday’s ColPac 2025 Northwest Oregon Housing Summit —an event focused on tackling housing affordability challenges and building...
melissa79083
Sep 232 min read


Accessible and Clear Zoning = Faster Housing: UrbanForm Expands Across Oregon with MMHF
Every building project starts with zoning. Yet in most communities, zoning information is complex and difficult to access. For...
Quang Truong
Sep 182 min read


Case Study: UrbanForm Yamhill
We've been talking about this one in bits and pieces for months, but we've never put it all together before. At least in a nice, concise,...
Quang Truong
Aug 251 min read


It's almost Conference season. . .
We've got a full Fall Conference season coming up! We'll be attending a handful of events and conferences, including some confirmed and...
Quang Truong
Jul 311 min read


City Planners love UrbanForm
Allow us to share an email we received from a city planner as part of UrbanForm 's continuing partnership with jurisdictions: "It was a...
Quang Truong
May 301 min read


Shovels.ai + Re-Zone.ai Integration
bWe're thrilled to announce the integration of re‑zone.ai and shovels.ai with UrbanForm. This collaboration brings zoning data and...
Quang Truong
May 122 min read


Yamhill usage to date
We'd like to share data on the usage of UrbanForm Yamhill to date from launch in the beginning of 2025 through April 2025. UrbanForm...
Quang Truong
May 62 min read


Explicit Data Sources and Dates
We hear this question about UrbanForm’s zoning data almost more than any other. Ready for the answer? The question is: "How do I know...
Quang Truong
Apr 291 min read


Initiative and Enthusiasm on the Southern Coast of Oregon
Founder and CEO Quang Truong presented at the Southern Coast of Oregon Housing Summit this past week, and there was a palpable sense of...
Quang Truong
Apr 241 min read


Southern Oregon Coast Housing Summit
UrbanForm's Founder and CEO Quang Truong will be presenting at the Southern Oregon Coast Housing Summit Thursday and Friday, April 11,...
Quang Truong
Apr 91 min read


Yamhill webinar recap
We had a great conversation about the UrbanForm Yamhill project, presented by many of the folks who worked to make it possible: Nathan...
Quang Truong
Mar 211 min read


UrbanForm Yamhill webinar
We are talking about UrbanForm Yamhill ! Join us for a virtual presentation and demo to learn more about a first-of-its-kind partnership...
Quang Truong
Mar 181 min read


UrbanForm is now an award winning company
Last week, UrbanForm was given an award by the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments for the work in digitizing the zoning codes...
Quang Truong
Mar 132 min read


Another year. Another client. A review.
This is the usage chart for one of UrbanForm's customers over the entirety of the 2024 year. They're a mid-sized architecture firm...
Quang Truong
Jan 222 min read


When Building or Rebuilding. . .
The first barrier when you're looking to build, or rebuild, is figuring out what the zoning allows. This is where UrbanForm can help, and...
Quang Truong
Jan 161 min read
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