David Neiman is one of my favorite people in the housing world. And that says a lot right there. There aren’t many folks left who have the patience to engage with the system and still hang on to their principles and build housing. It isn’t easy. The incentive structure in Seattle today is slanted toward non-profit housing while people who make a living housing the vast majority of households in Seattle are told that what they’re doing is some how a bad thing. Neiman’s work has always proven them wrong. Yet Neiman is always my go to when I think the latest overreach by the City (e.g. giant garbage rooms) is absurd; when he thinks it’s absurd then I know it really is. But he keeps building great projects. Here’s a paragraph from his blog post about the video and the project part of a project with “everyone” in the title.

Ben Leiataua, the resident featured in the video, is one of the many artists who make their home at The Roost. Ben spent many years working as the marketing director for a casino before deciding to change direction and lean into the craft of singing and acting more fully. The Roost provides him with a modest home in the city from which to pursue his art in the company of other people who share his passions and interests. Ben’s work is in Seattle, but before he moved to the Roost he was living in Auburn, where he had been commuting 60 miles a day in order to find affordable rent. Ben’s story is fairly typical in that respect. Over 75% of our residents moved to The Roost from distant neighborhoods or exurbs around Seattle.

I’m not as patient as David. But it takes all kinds, right?