The Thriving Communities Network and Seattle Tech 4 Housing hosted an urban design workshop on April 29, 2017. Video of the event is available from the Seattle Channel. Participants heard about the history of land use, the intricacies of non-profit housing and how to engage with the city. During design charette sessions attendees chose from three neighborhoods slated for policy changes: Miller, Uptown, and Capitol Hill.

We were instructed to create a “feasible vision for how the neighborhoods can be made more affordable, inclusive and sustainable.”

Presenters included David Neiman, Architect and Partner, Neiman Taber Architects, Walter Zisette, Associate Director, Real Estate Development of Capitol Hill Housing (Nonprofit housing provider), and Jesseca Brand, City of Seattle, Department of Neighborhoods.
The goal of the event was for attendees to “create a general proposal for the City of Seattle for consideration when planning for neighborhood change, while grow(ing) workshop participants’ network and expand everyone’s understanding and perspective of how to achieve affordable housing and create car-free, livable options.” Friends of the Waterfront Seattle provided the gorgeous space for the event. Highlights included data from Department of Neighborhoods showing the impact of a call-to-action by The Urbanist and Neiman’s history of zoning talk.

Hosts of this event did an excellent job engaging newcomers to this discussion while also providing new information to land use nerds. The Urbanist is excited to see more collaborations from Seattle Tech Workers for Housing and Thriving Communities. For the full video, follow the link to Building a Better Boom: Designing a Thriving City on the Seattle Channel.
Article Author
Laura Loe

Laura Loe is an educator, musician, and gardener from Colombia/NY/LA/Chicago who has lived in Seattle since 2009. Laura is a board member for Be:Seattle, an organization building the power and leadership of renters and people experiencing homelessness to fight displacement.