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The City Club of Portland has endorsed building more 鈥渕iddle housing鈥� in Portland’s established neighborhoods, after a committee had earlier narrowly rejected the measure.

City Club members overwhelmingly endorsed the minority report April 15 after a committee rejected adopting the recommendations by a 6-5 vote.

Mike Westling, who wrote the minority report, said construction will be an important ingredient in the effort to ease Portland’s housing crunch.

鈥淚f we’re serious about addressing the housing crisis in Portland, we need to take steps that we know are effective, and that means creating more supply,鈥� he said.

Middle housing refers to structures such as duplexes, townhomes, small apartment buildings, accessory dwelling units and homes that have been divided into apartments. Those types of developments can’t be restricted to Portland’s outer edges, Westling said.

鈥淧roximity is really becoming the equivalent of opportunity in our city,鈥� he said.

Westling said Northwest Portland is a good example of a healthy and affordable housing mix.

鈥淵ou can see all that vibrant mix of single-family home next to a duplex, next to a larger home that’s been broken into five units, next to commercial,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t doesn’t have to be this massive, gross box dropped into a residential neighborhood.鈥�

But zoning in some established neighborhoods such as Eastmoreland, Concordia and Laurelhurst doesn’t allow for such mixes.

Some residents have voiced concerns that more middle-housing development would harm the character of existing neighborhoods.

However, the City Council is considering allowing more middle housing in areas along Powell Boulevard, Hawthorne Boulevard, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and areas that serve as town centers, such as 42nd Avenue and Killingsworth, and Lents.

鈥淭hat still leaves out massive areas of the city from this type of housing,鈥� Westling said. 鈥淚n my opinion, they’re not going quite far enough, but we’ll see where they end up.鈥�