At 9:30am Tuesday morning, the Planning, Land Use, and Zoning (PLUZ) Committee will open its meeting with public comment and conclude with the first major informational briefing on the final University District land use proposal. The Committee will also discuss and vote on possible amendments to the City’s major update to the Comprehensive Plan (Seattle 2035), making the meeting all the more relevant. To comment, attend the meeting at City Hall, call or email the City Council. Contact info is here. The meeting will be streamed as always on the Seattle Channel.
That U District proposal has garnered great attention from John Fox’s Seattle Displacement Coalition because it includes rezones adding significant development capacity—”upzones” as protesters often write on their signs next to some word of disapproval, disgust, or suggestion of coming apocalypse.
Meanwhile, we at The Urbanist believe the U District changes will usher in a bright future for the neighborhood, yes, with greater density, but also with stronger urban design, a more welcoming pedestrian realm, safer streets, ample open space for recreation, and room for many more wonderful neighbors to call the area home at a range of income levels.
The Urbanist has followed the U District land use proposals closely, including the following articles:
- Mayor’s Announcement
- Incentive Zoning, Historic Preservation, and Affordable Housing
- Urban Design Requirements
- OCPD Recommendations
- Community Feedback
And of course, we will keep you abreast as more develops.
Doug Trumm is publisher of The Urbanist. An Urbanist writer since 2015, he dreams of pedestrianizing streets, blanketing the city in bus lanes, and unleashing a mass timber building spree to end the affordable housing shortage and avert our coming climate catastrophe. He graduated from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington in 2019. He lives in East Fremont and loves to explore the city on his bike.