Over the last decade, the Seattle metro area produced the most affordable housing in the nation, with more than 24,000 new income-restricted apartments. New revenue streams helped the region get there, but more work is needed to alleviate the affordability crisis and hit long-term goals.
As the Seattle City Council took its first look at Mayor Bruce Harrell’s One Seattle Comprehensive Plan on Monday, Cathy Moore delivered a slow-growth manifesto, tinged with derision for renters, who she portrayed an unengaged and a detriment to neighborhoods.
Tell your councilmember to vote against the transportation impact fee. On Tuesday, amidst a deep housing affordability crisis, the outgoing Seattle City Council is setting the stage for a new fee to make building homes in Seattle even more expensive. This homebuilder fee — a “transportation impact fee” — threatens to hamper
Called “Run-of-the-Mill NIMBY” in Court, Delays Mount As Existing Condos Sue for Views. Using lawsuits and an aggressive opposition campaign in Seattle’s design review process, a small group of condominium owners has delayed construction of more than 3,000 units of housing downtown — and blocked $39.4 million in
Last year, The Urbanist covered a Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBAKS) report suggesting that townhouse development in Seattle might be dropping off a cliff. However, nine months later, data from the City of Seattle shows that townhouse production set a record in 2021 and that 2022
In a survey of 475 Bellevue residents commissioned by the Bellevue Housing Research Coalition and conducted by Change Research, 68% of those polled said that the housing market in Bellevue is not currently meeting the needs of the community, compared to 27% who said it was. Additionally, 46% of those
At a West Seattle community meeting on Wednesday, Mayor Bruce Harrell teased the prospect of zoning reforms and said the City is assessing the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) inclusionary zoning program with an eye toward modifications. “I’m not happy at all with how the MHA program is,” Harrell told
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
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
As usual, there was lot going on in the Seattle metro area related to housing this week — much of it is good news in a nice change of pace from some dreary national headlines. Here’s a recap of some of the biggest stories. Millions for affordable housing in Seattle
This morning the land use committee takes up Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda’s proposal to rename Seattle’s single-family zoning as “Neighborhood Residential.” It’s just a first step in breaking the hold of exclusionary zoning that is making it very hard for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and
When we last covered highrise development in the U District, there were only eight highrise projects somewhere along the permitting and construction process. That number has doubled. Even if we exclude the projects that have seemingly stalled, quite the skyline is starting to potentially form north of the Ship Canal.
Last week, Sound Transit released a survey on the U District Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). The parcel at 1000 NE 45th Street is in question, an undoubtedly highly valuable property with amazing transit access due its placement on NE 45th St and Roosevelt Way NE, with excellent bus access and immediate
If you still need proof that Seattle is not dying, just take a look at the development activity undergone, ongoing, and forecasted in the University District (U District, for short). There’s so much going on in this one neighborhood that this article will be part one of a three-part
In November 2018, Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, with the backing of housing advocates like us, succeeded in getting $500,000 added to the City budget to fund a racial equity analysis of the Seattle’s urban village growth strategy. That report was due in December 2019. That deadline came and went
With an overly limited urban village around its light rail station, Roosevelt could really use an expansion. I moved my family to the edge of Roosevelt in 2016, right on the boundary with Ravenna and a few steps away from the University District. We came for the gorgeous parks, great
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
We cannot escape the echoes of history. I live in and own a house in a formerly redlined section of Wallingford. This house was built in 1916, just north of an industrial district, during a period of rapid development in the neighborhood, 47 years after Seattle was re-incorporated in 1869
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
Our city is facing a housing crisis. Before the onset of the pandemic, when the economy was humming and jobs were bountiful, we had thousands of our neighbors sleeping on the streets in the shadows of new office buildings and the doorways of new chic restaurants. We had thousands kept
Last week, the Growth Management Hearings Board issued a ruling denying an appeal of recent zoning changes brought by a coalition of homeowner groups that call themselves the Seattle Coalition for Affordability, Livability, and Equity (SCALE). With the ruling, Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) upzones will stay in force in the
We live in alternate realities. I realized this when I received a pro-Alex Pedersen mailer from People for Affordable Livable Seattle (PALS) political action committee (PAC) arguing that recent development had cost more low-income housing than it replaced. Longtime housing rabble-rouser John Fox of the Seattle Displacement Coalition endorsed Pedersen,
There is probably not much that District 4 City Council candidates Shaun Scott and Alex Pedersen agree on, but one topic on which the opponents seem to see eye-to-eye is the future of University Way, better known as The Ave. Both candidates have come out publicly against upzoning The Ave
The bills’ signage marks the end of a long fight by housing advocates to get affordability requirements enshrined in Seattle law. Before a crowd of enthusiastic supporters, Mayor Jenny Durkan signed legislation authorizing “citywide” implementation of Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) into law yesterday March 20th, 2019. MHA changes zoning laws
Today Seattle City Council is voting on “citywide” implementation of Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA), a form of inclusionary zoning from which single family zones outside of designated Urban Villages are exempt. Looking back at the events that have led to this moment one thing is certain: nothing about the process
As Seattle City Council debates legislation that would require additional housing affordability contributions from developers, big questions have emerged about whether efforts to preserve affordable housing would hurt or help. “Naturally occurring affordable housing” has become a buzz word in urban planning and policy circles in recent years. It refers
Affordable housing advocates should set their sights on what comes next. Citywide Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) legislation passed 8-0 out of the select committee earlier this week, signifying that the legislation will likely be approved by a full council vote on March 18th. Nearly all of the proposed amendments that
The final public hearing on citywide implementation of Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) was long and contentious. Hundreds of speakers waited for hours to present their two-minute testimony on legislation that would increase upzones in exchange for affordable housing creation–6,000 affordable homes are projected the first decade alone. At
Seattle for Everyone is a broad coalition of affordable housing developers, for-profit developers and businesses, labor and social justice advocates, environmentalists and urbanists, all united to build an equitable, thriving, and inclusive Seattle. The Seattle for Everyone coalition was built on a foundation of support for Housing Affordability and Livability
On Wednesday, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Councilmember Lisa Herbold both issued policy ideas to stem displacement. Mayor Durkan issued a new executive order outlining how city departments should act in developing anti-displacement policies over the near-term. Likewise, Councilmember Herbold released a draft of legislation that she proposes would ideally
Today, the City will hold the final public meeting on “citywide” Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) before the Seattle City Council is expected to vote in March and pass the rezone program. We urge you to attend the MHA hearing at City Hall. It starts at 5:30pm but people hoping
As the City Council debates Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) amendments in the lead up to next Thursday’s big public hearing on MHA, the Seattle Planning Commission (SPC), an appointed board that advises on broad planning goals, policies, and plans, is currently advocating for two proposed amendments to the City
On Friday, the Seattle City Council had a marathon meeting on amendments to the proposed Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) rezones and land use regulations. The meeting started with discussion on text amendments to the Land Use Code and then moved into a district-by-district discussion on proposed amendments to zoning changes.