From pedestrian superblocks to a betterment tax, proven policies from Barcelona to Bogotá could help the Seattle region maximize communal benefits of light rail buildout.
Earlier this week, Governor Bob Ferguson signed the Seattle Social Housing Developer's priority bill, granting new powers to collaborate with state and local government and receive access to public land.
In this podcast episode, The Urbanist’s newsroom dives into recent headlines including Katie Wilson’s State of the City speech, which bills are moving and which are dying at the Washington State Legislation, and the Seattle Social Housing Developer’s latest moves.
The Seattle Social Housing Developer smashed projections and pulled in more than double the amount expected from a recently voter-approved “excess compensation tax.” Social housing advocates’ priority bill at the state legislature is also making significant progress.
In a major shakeup, the board of the Seattle Social Housing Developer ousted its CEO, Roberto Jimenez, on Thursday night, and installed social housing advocate and nonprofit leader Tiffani McCoy as the authority’s interim leader.
Tacoma’s recent election elevated two urbanist-backed progressives, which could buoy efforts to expand housing, roll out street safety upgrades, and improve transit. The Urbanist chatted with Tacoma Mayor-Elect Anders Ibsen and incoming Councilmember Latasha Palmer about their plans.
The idea of using King County’s uptapped bonding capacity to unlock dollars for affordable housing seemed like a promising new area for exploration. But a report dropped on the county council’s doorstep this summer outlined some major obstacles and the need for a new dedicated revenue source to back
Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck’s newly passed “Roots to Roofs” program is a 35-project pilot that lets nonprofit organizations and the Seattle Social Housing Developer tap into additional development capacity, particularly in areas with a history of past racial covenants.
Seeking to fend off progressive challenger Katie Wilson, Mayor Bruce Harrell took a combative tone in the first debate of the general election season, recently aired by Seattle Channel’s City Inside Out. Harrell frequently attacked and spoke over his opponent, hoping to land a punch that could shake
With a mandate to design its buildings for an ambitious green housing standard called “Passive House” while maintaining affordability, Seattle’s newly funded social housing authority has an important point to prove.
Alexis Mercedes Rinck’s new “Roots to Roofs” bill would provide zoning bonuses for community-based organizations to build housing and other cultural spaces, building on the rejected Connected Communities pilot. It already has the support of Land Use Chair Mark Solomon.
On Monday, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced a proposal for a $2 million bridge loan to the Seattle Social Housing Developer. Harrell campaigned against the successful grassroots social housing funding measure in the recent February election, but is pledging support going forward.
Here are five things Seattle leaders could be doing to lower your rent, in observance of Affordable Housing Week.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has failed on housing, Ron Davis writes. Whether kickstarting a homegrown social housing push, encouraging a wide diversity of market-rate housing, or scaling up traditional nonprofit low-income housing to meet the need, Harrell’s halfhearted efforts have fallen flat.
Last month, actor and union representative Ry Armstrong jumped in the Seattle mayor’s race, arguing Bruce Harrell is dropping the ball on a plethora of issues. In their interview with The Urbanist, Armstrong explained what they’d do differently.
House Our Neighbors led a campaign that overcame a flood of corporate cash against them. Here’s how they did it, and what comes next to grow social housing in Seattle and ignite a broader movement.
Proposition 1A has won the special election to decide the fate of social housing in Seattle. After leading by 15 points on election night, Prop 1A continued to expand its lead in subsequent ballot counts, reaching a 20-point advantage on Thursday. Ultimately, it ended up being a 26-point win.
Proposition 1A grabbed nearly 58% of the election night vote tally, signaling social housing is on the way to victory in Seattle. The measure would tax big businesses to raise about $53 million annually to fund social housing.
The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce crafted the ballot language for Proposition 1B and pressured councilmembers to follow their plan to delay the social housing vote and put the competing measure on the ballot to siphon support, newly unearthed public records show. The centrists on Seattle
Backers of Proposition 1A highlighted a flood of cash from the region’s large corporations, including Amazon and Microsoft, promoting alternative Prop 1B. Unlike 1A, Prop 1B would not actually fund social housing or raise new revenue.
The rents and temps are too damn high. Seattle’s social housing developer can help — with Prop 1A funding. Vote yes on Prop 1A by February 11.
Seattle voters received Prop 1B campaign mailers riddled with lies about social housing. Don’t be fooled. Vote for Prop 1A.
Seattle Proposition 1A would tax excess compensation to fund mixed-income social housing. The Urbanist endorses a yes on 1A vote and urges you to vote by the February 11 deadline.
Join The Urbanist and House Our Neighbors at TeKu Tavern Monday February 3rd at 6pm to socialize and hear about Prop 1A.
Seattle must embrace bold zoning changes in Queen Anne and similar neighborhoods to preserve our city’s promise for future generations. We need a lot more housing in all parts of Seattle. Seattle isn’t full. Queen Anne isn’t full.
New renderings, created by Neiman Taber Architects, present a vision for voters of what publicly-funded social housing would look like in Seattle. A dedicated funding source for social housing is on the ballot in February via Prop 1A.
Join House Our Neighbors for a Prop 1A campaign kick-off event 5:30pm Saturday, November 9. The ballot measure would fund social housing with an excess compensation tax and is up for a February 11th special election.
King County Council advanced a motion from Girmay Zahilay commissioning a study of a billion-dollar bond for workforce housing, but questions remain about how to guarantee the bonds and structure the program.
Seattle Councilmember Maritza Rivera and three other councilmembers sponsored a competing measure seeking to elbow out a ballot initiative funding social housing. The two measures will go to voters in February. Only one can pass.
King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay rolled out the Regional Workforce Housing Initiative this week, aiming to use bonding to boost family-sized workforce housing construction. Colleagues were largely supportive, but warned the devil was in the details.
King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay lays out the case for his $1 billion workforce housing bond proposal, saying workers deserve affordable housing near their jobs.
Despite backers collecting enough signatures to make the ballot, the Seattle City Council voted Tuesday to delay a decision on I-137, which would fund Seattle’s Social Housing Developer.
By this winter, Seattle voters will have before them the question of whether to fund the city’s new social housing developer with a tax on the highest compensated employees in the city. To make it happen, House Our Neighbors gathered more than 38,000 signatures in support of Initiative 137.
After her bill failed Tuesday, Councilmember Morales said: “My Connected Communities legislation would have produced more affordable housing, commercial affordability, and anti-displacement measures right now. I’m incredibly disappointed in its failure to pass today.”
Chair Tammy Morales appeared flabbergasted as she initially failed to get a second to her motion to introduce her bill providing incentives for affordable housing.
The mayor’s comprehensive plan proposal failed to deliver real solutions on housing abundance, affordability, and climate. It promises only modest zoning changes at the margins and 100,000 additional homes over 20 years.
Filed Tuesday, I-136 would create a dedicated income stream for social housing, generating around $50 million per year.
The Urbanist‘s in-person monthly meetup series is back and it’s headed to Yesler Terrace on Thursday, January 11, for an event focused on Seattle Housing Authority’s Yesler Terrace redevelopment. It’s been a while since we’ve taken a comprehensive look at Yesler Terrace, and the community
Social housing is popular in Seattle — so popular it even seems to override concerns about appropriate building scale and amorphous “neighborhood character.” To wit, 65% of respondents to a recent poll targeting high propensity Seattle voters support constructing four- to six-story apartment buildings “anywhere in Seattle” to expand social housing.
House Our Neighbors’ coalition members reflect on how the campaign achieved social housing victory. Ballots are still being counted, but with a 14-point lead established as of Friday, it appears that Social Housing Initiative 135 in Seattle is headed for a win. This may come as a surprise to some,
In this installment of Housing Notes, we focus on Seattle where there’s a bevy of housing news to report on, and then make a visit north to Ferndale where the City is banking on residents’ love of heavy metal music to promote ADUs (accessory dwelling units). Social Housing Initiative
Vote For Social Housing on February 14. In an effort to compete with the Super Bowl and Valentines Day, Seattle has decided to have an election. On the ballot is social housing, specifically creating a new housing authority that will develop and own green, public, and perpetually affordable homes and
In this WALeg report, predictable opposition arises against missing middle housing bills. * Also in this digest: * Important Bills at a Glance. * The Week’s Focus: Condominium Act reforms. The legislature’s housing bills faced a small tempest of push back this weekend. Former chair of the House housing committee and
The special election to determine whether Seattle will embrace a new social housing model starts this week. Ballots for Initiative 135 will be mailed Wednesday. Ballot boxes open on Thursday. The deadline to vote is 8pm February 14th, so fill in your oval, sign your envelope, and get it postmarked
Social housing is going to the ballot in February, and if you want to learn more about the initiative, The Urbanist has you covered. At our monthly virtual meetup on January 10, we’re hosting Tiffani McCoy, co-chair of the House Our Neighbors campaign behind the measure, to break it
Councilmember Tammy Morales had hoped to lay some groundwork to expand social housing in Seattle, but her amendment did not make it into Budget Chair Teresa Mosqueda’s balancing package. The House Our Neighbors coalition gathered signatures to put Initiative 135 on the February 14th ballot. Passage of I-135 would
It’s no secret that restrictive zoning is prevalent in the Seattle metropolitan area, but a new study underway at the Urban Institute is taking a comprehensive look at the extent and impact. Cities like Lake Forest Park, Newcastle, Normandy Park, and Mercer Island dedicate more than 90% of their
Yesterday, the House Our Neighbors coalition announced their social-housing-focused Initiative 135 had qualified to run on the ballot in Seattle, which will likely occur in February 2023. King County Elections informed the campaign it had verified enough ballot signatures to clear the 5,033 signature gap that had remained after
Initiative 135 has taken a step closer to putting social housing on the ballot. House Our Neighbors, the campaign behind the effort, says they turned in 7,543 signatures on Thursday. They expect their submissions to put them over the top, with King County Elections needing to accept 5,033
Rent stabilization and ending apartment bans, a match made in heaven. Rents are going up, and almost no one is being spared. Even tenants in subsidized affordability programs are being impacted by rising housing costs. This is because those rents are set to the area median income (AMI) as determined
Seattle voters may have a unique opportunity this November to support a new model of providing affordable housing, and they should take it. Initiative 135 was crafted by the House Our Neighbors Coalition as a progressive alternative to the Compassion Seattle ballot measure, which sought to codify homeless encampment sweeps
Dave Amos at City Beautiful talks about the history social housing in the United States and whether it’s a policy solution worth pursuing again. For decades, social housing — particularly low-income public housing — has been discouraged as a housing policy, but it has found new life in recent years. In
The City of Seattle declared this week “Affordable Housing Week” as part of an annual tradition, with the Housing Development Consortium hosting events highlighting affordable housing efforts both planned and underway. Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda sponsored the resolution at city council, and she is also the driving force behind the Jumpstart
The Housing Development Consortium (HDC), a prominent player in affordable housing creation in the Seattle region, has come out against proposed ballot Initiative 135, which seeks to create a public development authority to build and maintain social housing in Seattle. In a statement published on April 27th on its website,
In this podcast episode, Ray and I discuss the current proposed ballot initiative to create a public development authority (PDA) that would be tasked with constructing and owning mixed-income social housing in Seattle. It’s an ambitious plan modeled after social housing elsewhere in the world, notably Vienna, Austria, that
A Host of Market-Rate and Affordable Projects Are in the Works Rainier Beach has long been one of Seattle’s most diverse and affordable neighborhoods. But as the city’s housing costs continue to climb and a large share of new developments are skewed toward higher-income renters, residents of Rainier
Earlier this week the House Our Neighbors! coalition filed a petition for a ballot initiative asking Seattle voters to weigh in on the creation of a public developer tasked with creating and owning social housing in Seattle. Unlike most other forms of nonprofit affordable housing in the city, social housing
More than 4,500 homes have been constructed, permitted, or proposed in the Chinatown-International District since 2019 — 1,240 units of them affordable, based on our roundup of development. Like other neighborhoods in Seattle zoned for apartments, the Chinatown-International District (CID) faces heavy development pressure. These pressures are particularly acute
Despite public perception, our region’s homelessness crisis affects our Eastside communities and is not just a Seattle problem. Supportive services, including permanent supportive housing and transitional housing, are part of a suite of proven solutions, but recent implementations on the Eastside have faced undue pushback from disgruntled residents. Providers
Discussions at this week’s Bellevue City Council meeting centered around three topics: reviewing Juneteenth as a paid holiday for city staff, approving funding allocations for A Regional Coalition on Housing, and providing comments on the city’s Conflict Resolution Center and their program to mediate landlord-tenant repayment plans. Juneteenth
A collaboration between SRM Development and the nonprofit Downtown Action to Save Housing (DASH) is set to bring 235 homes near the future East Main Link light rail station in Bellevue. The 4.55 acre site is currently the home of a partially-constructed hotel building, which, by the end of
As one of the few places in Seattle where industry rubs elbows with homes and small businesses, Georgetown is one of city’s most distinctive neighborhoods, a place for makers — people who dream up, design, build, and fix things. The neighborhood has long attracted people drawn to its industrial grit,
One of the best bills this session has been quietly working its way through the legislature, and it’s time to pay attention as it must make it out of the finance committee by February 17th, if we want a chance to unlock billions of dollars for affordable housing. (Supporters
This installment of housing notes contains mix of high and low notes, but we’ll kick things off with story that hits the upper octaves. After years of hardwork, Africatown Community Land Trust and partner Community Roots Housing broke ground on their plaza project at 23rd and Spring in Seattle
First a quick factoid to kick off this installment of housing notes. U.S. Census data shows that housing construction is on the rise across the country. In November 2021, 1.48 million housing units — both single-family and multifamily — started construction, the highest level since 1973. Even better, the numbers
On a day-to-day basis, we are confronted with a million different challenges: maybe you dropped your coffee on the carpet, maybe you just cannot find that missing sock, or maybe a new light rail station was announced in your neighborhood. “Wait a second!” I hear you saying. “Light rail stations
Today, Governor Jay Inslee rolled out another big initiative, this one focused on housing and homelessness services. King County Executive Dow Constantine, Seattle Mayor-Elect Bruce Harrell, and Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards joined Inslee for a press conference at a Habitat for Humanity build site in Seattle. The strategy would direct
The Jumpstart Seattle tax was a take-off-the-mask moment for Seattle that is still reverberating through Seattle politics. Some would have us believe low taxes are more important than investments in the social safety net, the Green New Deal, and racial equity. They’d have you believe a progressive payroll tax
On Monday, the Seattle City Council had a busy — and consequential — day of voting on council bills related to renters’ rights in the face of steep rent increases. The Council also voted on an ordinance related to density bonuses for religious institutions building affordable housing. By the end of the
Bloomberg Quicktake/CityLab explores how Vienna is tackling affordable housing for all in the city. Mike Eliason, syndicated columnist of The Urbanist, offers his perspective in the video, too.
The building will provide affordable LGBTQ+ affirming housing, health services, and community support to seniors. Today GenPride and Community Roots Housing break ground on Pride Place, a 118-unit LGBTQ+ affirming affordable housing development for seniors on the 1500 block of Broadway Avenue in Capitol Hill. The seven story building will
Is it possible to create deeply affordable housing for people making less than 30% of area median income (AMI) without relying on ongoing public subsidies? Nonprofit EcoTHRIVE believes so, and they are seeking to acquire land in Burien to test out their hypothesis. If all goes well, the result will
Policymakers get ahead of themselves sometimes, especially when it comes to the complicated world of housing policy. How often do we stop and ask if our system can produce the results we seek — things like stability, affordability, quality, equitable access, and narrowing the racial wealth gap? Will tinkering work or
Update: Since this article was initially published, Councilmember Kshama Sawant has formally submitted a resolution calling on the City to “support community demands to fund quality affordable social housing to prevent and reverse displacement” and “urge the Office of Housing to fund the affordable housing project proposed by New Hope
In July, the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) released their draft three-pronged Regional Housing Strategy (RHS). The strategy is to be a collection of regional and local measures to preserve, improve, and expand the region’s housing inventory. It hopes to encourage fair and equal access to housing for the
Update: Council Bill 120081 was signed into law on by Mayor Durkan on July 9, 2021. Critics are still hoping that the amended law can be repealed. In September 2021, they got their wish, as the Seattle City Council passed a revision easing the affordable threshold to 80% of area
Sound Transit recently opened a survey looking for community input on their plans for transit-oriented development near the Overlake Village Light Rail Station. If you’d like, you can respond to it here. The rest of this article goes deeper into detail about current and future development plans around Overlake
On a humble lot in Belltown, a remarkable building is underway. While 303 Battery may never raise the same level of international buzz as the 1960’s era Space Needle, it is posed to quietly revolutionize the future of buildings, not just in Seattle, but potentially around the world. At
Corporations hoping to derail Seattle’s JumpStart progressive payroll tax were thwarted in a court ruling released Friday. King County Superior Court Judge Mary Roberts ruled in favor of the City of Seattle, dismissing “with prejudice” the lawsuit that the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce brought against it. The City
Recently on a cool May afternoon, a group of protestors gathered in Victor Steinbrueck Park brandishing signs that read “Sweeps Bring No Compassion” and “We Need RV Safe Spaces.” These protesters came together to announce the arrival of a new coalition called House Our Neighbors!. The coalition, which includes a
Last week the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) program celebrated two years of being in effect in all multifamily areas of the city. The data thus far suggests the program is largely working as intended and on pace to hit its goal of producing at least 6,000 affordable homes in
Author’s Note: I eventually changed my mind and moved from the ambivalent support you see below to firm opposition. Two reasons were paramount: 1. CA29’s use of “enhanced shelter” in the definition of “emergency housing” meant that the “units” built could be beds in big, congregate shelters. I
Leslie Kern teaches feminist geography, but she is under no illusion that straightforward solutions can magically cure the imbalance and violence baked into our cities. “No amount of lighting is going abolish the patriarchy,” she writes, pointing to research from feminist geographers Hille Koskela and Rachel Pain revealing that widened
News that Amazon was planning a large distribution center in Mount Baker caught fire last week, and many people were rightfully outraged. This important 13-acre site sits at the crossroads of the Central District, the Rainier Valley, and Beacon Hill — the heart of a Black, Indigenous, and people of color
President Joe Biden released his much anticipated $2.25 trillion dollar jobs and infrastructure plan today. Republican congressional leaders were quick to brand it as an overly large grab bag of progressive priorities, saying that like it was a bad thing. The breath of investments is a strength, but it
Jessyn Farrell joined an increasingly crowded Seattle Mayoral race on Thursday, and she came out swinging. “If you feel really great about how things are going, then definitely there are two candidates in this race who have been in city government, and they may be who you’re interested in,
Earlier this month, a 47-group-strong coalition urged Mayor Jenny Durkan to extend Seattle’s eviction moratorium through the end of the year. That pressure has borne fruit. On Monday, Mayor Durkan announced a three-month extension. Governor Jay Inslee’s decision is still pending [Update: On March 18th, Governor Inslee extended
Historically, Berkeley has been a hotbed of resistance to new housing and an innovator in excluding people of color. In fact, Berkeley was the first city to implement single-family zoning in 1916. Last month, the Bay Area city took a major step in changing that legacy. The Berkeley City Council
Social housing composes 8.6% of Seattle’s housing stock, which is well below many peer cities around the globe. Some standouts are far ahead. In Singapore, that number is around 80% and in Vienna it’s more than 60%. Other cities are gaining ground fast. Paris is on pace
Sound Transit is making good on a policy directive to expand bathroom access to facilities and equitable transit-oriented development (TOD) commitments in Seattle. The agency is also making strides to take an even bigger stake in equitable TOD as the transit system grows. In briefings yesterday, agency staff shared details
Kenmore could be on the cusp of passing a package of amendments that streamline the permitting process for affordable housing projects and provide a process for a special affordable housing density bonus. The amendments are derived from recommendations made in November by the city’s planning commission, which hopes to
Bloomberg Quicktake highlights America’s growing homelessness struggles and ways that could lessen it.
Last week was a weird week for public housing. On Tuesday, Substack pundit Matt Yglesias opined that public housing doesn’t solve a single problem and isn’t worthy of investment. Later that day, Raphael Warnock won his election for the United States Senate. It was the first time Georgia
Since the Reagan administration, the federal government has gotten out of the game of producing social housing itself. A new report titled “The Case for Social Housing” calls for the federal government to reverse that in a big way and produce twelve million social housing units by 2030, echoing a
We are facing the twin crises of housing affordability and climate change, but solutions at the state level appear too timid while the federal government is coated in Orange Cheeto fingerprints right now and is trying to go backwards. King County decisively backed the I-1631 Climate Pollution Fee in 2018
Is Stadt Wien the model for US urban housing policy? Part I: Paying for housing This is a two-part series on housing policy in Vienna and how it could be a model for progressive housing policy in Seattle, where I live, or other American cities struggling with affordable housing. The