Recreation Counties and Available Housing in Rural Oregon

Kirsten Ray
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Portland Field Office

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the official positions or policies of the Office of Policy Development and Research, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or the U.S. Government.

The term “recreation county” designates counties that meet certain metrics indicative of regions of high levels of tourism. In rural Oregon, there are seven recreation counties. This article reviews the qualities used to designate these counties as recreation counties, then compares metrics in non-metropolitan recreation counties versus other non-recreation non-metropolitan counties to analyze the relationship between recreation characteristics and long-term rental housing shortages. The impact on housing is particularly prevalent in the Northwest Coastal region of Oregon.