Even if Non-Profit Units Cost $50K, It Would Still Make More Sense to Give Away Cash

Well, here I am again with criticism of the Mayor’s proposed supplement to existing voucher programs. The idea, giving vouchers to people struggling with rent in Seattle, is not a bad idea. But as I had suspected, it’s not a simple distribution of cash for rent. In fact, I’m not sure exactly how it will […]

Durkan’s First 100 Days: So Far, Not So Good

Jenny Durkan’s administration began November 28 of last year. How should the building community evaluate her first 100 days? A week or so after the mayor took office, I wrote up some ways we could evaluate the new mayor. Now more than two-thirds of the way through the first hundred days, we have some answers. It […]

Seattle’s New Bike Parking Requirements Show How Regulation Kills Housing

I’m often greeted with some skepticism when I make the point that regulation is making housing prices worse. Some people just don’t believe it, instead blaming greed or Amazon. Others dismiss what I’m saying as libertarianism; we shouldn’t have any rules! But David Neiman, an architect and an expert at explaining how bad rules and […]