In the beginning of the twentieth century, as Portland grew and expanded to the east and north, residential and commercial buildings were constructed along the streetcar and automobile travel corridors and at neighborhood centers. Many of these utilized unreinforced masonry (URM) for its improved fire resistance, durability, and lower maintenance over wood framing. The City […]
Pilot Program Aims to Retrofit Portland’s Older Homes
Seismically retrofitting your home can be expensive. Fortunately, a new pilot program in Portland aims to ease a majority of the costs for homeowners. Most people think the buildings in Portland vulnerable to earthquakes are larger, unreinforced masonry buildings (URM) built between the 1840s and 1930s; yet, in all reality houses built before 1974 are […]