Overview:
For the first time, statewide eviction data are being collected, analyzed, and shared publicly on two new websites. A team of researchers, led by Dr. Lisa K. Bates at the PSU Center for Urban Studies, is compiling and analyzing eviction records and making it available for the public, housing advocates and policymakers.
The need to better track and understand evictions in Oregon has been a leading call of housing activists historically — and with growing urgency since the affordable housing crisis and the pandemic. As lawmakers, municipalities, and nonprofits worked to help keep people housed during the pandemic, it became clear that a lack of data made these efforts all the more difficult. It underscored a need for the public and policymakers to be able to see how, where, and why evictions happen across the state.
“Making eviction court data visible and usable begins to shed light on how evictions are playing out across Oregon; but there is much more to learn and act on. This project will also include community-based research to expand what we know about eviction as one driver of housing injustice and racial inequities,” Bates says.
The Evicted in Oregon website houses monthly eviction data, graphs and maps; information about how to work with eviction data in organizing efforts and policy recommendations; and educational resources about the eviction process. Visit www.evictedinoregon.com to learn more.
The project is also collaborating with a team of researchers at University of California, Berkeley with the Evictions Research Network who specialize in analyzing racial & gender disparities in eviction with social & data science techniques. Visit evictionresearch.net/oregon/ for more findings from the analysis and about the methods used.
Evicted in Oregon will continue to collect and analyze data regarding evictions, eviction policy, and support community organizing to prevent evictions in Oregon through 2024.