Oregon's housing crisis and growth boundaries

In times of a housing crisis it seems all policy positions are on the table. Even for places with policies that go back to 1973.

Oregon passed a landmark state law in 1973 that created urban growth boundaries to limit urban sprawl. The law has been instrumental in raising Oregon’s reputation as a green haven.

There is a proposed bill in Oregon that grant a one-time exemption to the urban growth boundary law, allowing cities to acquire new land and expand the boundaries for housing, with the caveat that 30 percent of new housing must be affordable. This would change the current requirement for cities to submit a 20-year plan to change their urban growth boundaries. The bill would still require cities to provide they lack the land to build necessary housing units, and would prevent them from acquiring ‘high-value’ farmland and forests.

The nature of the policy proposed poses many questions. One I think about, isn’t there always enough land to build the necessary housing units if you go up? That is, continue to raise density?