Portage Builds Itself Model Housing Blueprint

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 06/25/2026) (PORTAGE) – While HUD Secretary Scott Turner praised a new workforce housing development in Portage last week, city officials say the project is the product of years of rewriting local zoning rules to make housing easier — not harder — to build.

As the Trump administration urges communities to remove barriers to home construction, Portage was highlighted through a cabinet-level visit for its ability to reduce regulatory hurdles while collaborating with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).

“We have moved way beyond that. We’ve got our parks, we’ve got our bike trails. Now, we got to really dig in and do what’s tough,” said Portage Mayor Patricia Randall.

Randall said city leaders began focusing on housing after hearing concerns from the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research that employers were struggling to attract and retain workers because affordable housing was in short supply.

One of the city's biggest initiatives has been rewriting its Unified Development Ordinance, replacing what officials described as a patchwork of zoning, subdivision and condominium regulations dating back to the 1960s.

The city received a $50,000 MSHDA grant in 2023 to help modernize those regulations.

Under the updated ordinance, developers that meet established standards can move projects through the approval process more efficiently while still complying with state environmental laws and other requirements.

“It just doesn’t have to go through such a laborious planning process that we’ve had before," Randall said. “We’re trying to be more shovel-ready, more receptive.”

She acknowledged new housing projects often draw neighborhood opposition before construction begins, but said attitudes frequently change once developments are completed.

"People really oppose this when it's near their homes, but as soon as the community is done they really embrace it," she said.

Randall said state partnerships through MSHDA and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation have also been critical because affordable housing projects often require financial assistance to be economically viable.

"Without them, they can't afford to build them," she said. "If they don't build them, we're right back to where we were on the gerbil wheel, where people can't find housing that they can afford."

Turner said Portage illustrates what the federal government hopes to see more of across the country.

He credited local governments for taking the lead while describing excessive local regulation as the biggest obstacle to increasing the nation's housing supply.

"It starts local, and then state, and obviously the feds can come in where needed — if needed — but it's really a local issue," Turner said. "The federal government is not the answer. The federal government's a great facilitator, great convener, but the answers are right here, local."

Turner called public-private partnerships the "secret sauce" behind successful housing developments.

U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland) said Portage has embraced innovative approaches to expanding homeownership, including developments in which the city retains ownership of the land while residents purchase the homes.

Portage City Council member Jihan Ain Young said expanding workforce housing is essential to keeping young families in the community and maintaining the area's economic competitiveness.

"The goal is to not have people move out of Kalamazoo County," Young said. "We want them to build their homes here in the city of Portage."

Young said elected officials recognize housing decisions are not universally popular, but said the council has relied on planning experts to pursue long-term solutions to the city's housing shortage.

"When we make these decisions, they're not haphazard," Young said. "We were going to figure out how to get this done for our citizens."