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IncDev National Field Trip | Portland, OR


  • Portland, OR United States (map)

Join Incremental Development Alliance for our Fall 2025 National Field Trip in Portland, Oregon! 

What Makes Portland Special for Small-Scale Developers

Portland has become America's laboratory for innovative small-scale housing development. The city combines the most permissive zoning in the country with a culture that embraces creative housing solutions, creating unique opportunities for developers focused on community impact alongside financial returns.

What to Expect:

Over three days, you'll explore spaces and walk the streets with the developers, planners, and community leaders who are actually making incremental development happen. You'll see firsthand how collaboration between public, private, and nonprofit efforts creates more vibrant, walkable neighborhoods.

Get the behind-the-scenes story of how these projects came to life — challenges overcome and creative wins from successful small developers. Connect with IncDev Faculty, alumni, and supporters while building relationships with others in your ecosystem.

Our local steering committee has lined up the best examples of adaptive reuse, infill development, and historic renovations across different neighborhoods throughout the city. The weekend kicks off with a FREE public lecture on Thursday evening, followed by two full days of guided tours showcasing the region's most innovative small-scale development projects.


October 2 - Kickoff Happy Hour & Lecture: Join IncDev Faculty for an evening that sets the stage for everything you’ll explore over the next two days.
October 3 - 4 - Full Immersion Tours: Walk through Portland’s hottest small-scale development neighborhoods, including:

  • Concordia - with alleyways, 4- and 6-plexes, cottage clusters, and adaptive reuse of schools and churches.

  • Cully - a low-density mixed-use neighborhood with developer-led cohousing communities, single-family to multi-family conversions, and tiny homes.

  • Montavilla - featuring the neighborhood “farming” by local developers Rees Bittenger and IncDev Faculty Member Neil Heller.

  • Richmond - showcasing the transformation journey from a car-centric neighborhood to reclaiming space for people.

October 4 - Project Showcase: Cap off the experience by presenting your own projects to fellow attendees from across the country. Learn from each other’s challenges and successes and celebrate the wins.

Take a look at the IncDev Field Guide: NWA Spring 2025 and peek Jon Jon The Happy Urbanist’s video to get a sense of the experience.

AIA CE Pending

Who Its For:

This event is exclusively for Associate and Charter Members. Not a Member yet? Learn more and join today!

IncDev National Field Trip - Portland Steering Committee

A cohort of Portland’s most influential and active housing developers, urbanists, and policy advocates focused on small-scale infill development and affordable housing solutions are shaping this field trip. We thank the following people for their guidance and contributions:

Thank You to Our Sponsors:


Sponsorship and Partnership Opportunities

We invite sponsors and partners to support this effort to offer an exceptional experience for participants while keeping costs down. Become a sponsor and help create an experience that will offer ripples of knowledge and inspiration for development across the country. As a sponsor, you will connect directly with local and national developers, investors and civic leaders and support a proven method of neighborhood revitalization. Learn more HERE.

REGISTRATION

Contact

Chloe Chapman training@incrementaldevelopment.org · (479) 305-4807

Earlier Event: September 23
The Small Bites Series | Policy or Partnership: How Do We Get The Projects We Want?
Later Event: October 2
Portland, OR - Introduction to Incremental Development Lecture