Kaarin Knudson is a licensed architect, educator, and leader with more than 20 years’ experience advancing sustainable design and community-led solutions. In 2017, she founded the housing advocacy organization Better Housing Together (BHT), to increase housing affordability, diversity and supply in Lane County, and was awarded the City of Eugene’s “Community Award” in 2018.  Knudson advised on the implementation of Oregon’s landmark middle housing laws and advocated for the creation of Eugene’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. She is a longtime member of the City Club of Eugene, and she served as its president in 2022-2023.

Knudson is the proud mom of two daughters in 4J schools and lives with her family in South Eugene. She has deep roots as an Oregon Duck. In 2019, Knudson received the UO Hall of Fame’s Becky Sisley Award. As a collegian, she was Oregon’s 1999 NCAA Woman of the Year, a member of the 1997 PAC-10 Championship cross-country team, and an All-American runner in the 800m and mile. She was editor-in-chief of the UO Journalism School’s magazine and the school’s most outstanding graduate. She holds a master’s degree in architecture, bachelor’s degrees in journalism and design, and she studied internationally in Japan, Italy, and Turkey.  

Since 2007, Knudson has practiced architecture and design in Oregon, including several award-winning local projects. She speaks at regional and national conferences about sustainable cities, housing policy, and the work of guiding community change. She teaches a graduate urban design workshop at the University of Oregon and is coauthor of a new textbook, The Sustainable Urban Design Handbook (Routledge, April 2024).