Ever wonder why the price of homes and land is so high in the tri-county metropolitan area? Consider that supply normally is a product of demand. The supply is how much/many of a certain product is made. The demand is how much a product is wanted. The regional government known as Metro has decided that the supply of lands will continue to be stifled; yet demand increases. American humorist Will Rogers perhaps said it best: “Buy land. They ain’t making any more of the stuff.”

I have been a real estate broker for more than 30 years. In that time I have continually heard, “Why is property so expensive here?” asked by people who are moving to the tri-county area from other parts of our state as well as from out-of-state buyers. Oregon is the 16th most expensive state in which to own a home. That rating takes into account the average cost of homes in the entire state. We all know how inexpensive homes are in Central, Eastern and Southern Oregon. Hence our more dense urban areas are very highly priced.

Let’s go back to the rule of supply and demand. Metro decided long ago that we all needed to stop allowing ourselves to believe that the American dream of home ownership should include a home on a large lot. Instead, their newest mandate of “Smart Growth” includes people stacked up at a minimum rate of 12 units per acre. That requirement begets condominiums and apartments, not homes on lots. The supply of land has been overly restricted yet demand continues. That, coupled with overregulation, makes the land more expensive and the housing prices simply follow suit.

For over 40 years we have all heard that the Department of Land Conservation and Development is here to save us from ourselves and to keep Salem and Portland from becoming next door neighbors. Metro came along and began requiring people to stack up rather than spread out. One of the results is that builders and businesses have had to build on marginal lands that greatly add to the costs, which are then passed on to the consumer. The scarcity of land has driven the price of buildings and lands skywards. Metro, DLCD, and my opponent, are partly responsible.

Clackamas County has abundant lands. If elected as your Clackamas County commission chair I will advocate at the Oregon Legislature for urban growth boundary flexibility for our county. Abundant useable land is integral to job creation and a quality of life that doesn’t require our citizens to live in three story bunker cubes.Remember in November: “It’s the status quo or Ludlow.”

John Ludlow is running for Clackamas County Board of Commissions chair.