The debate and discussion over housing can sometimes take an ugly turn, especially when facing opponents of small-lot housing, microhousing, and people that want jobs and housing to go somewhere else. There are days when all we do is defense, batting away the lastest half-truth about supply and demand, or arguing why we should be taking away rules rather than adding more of them to spark innovation.

But we also need something positive, a statement of how we see the future of housing in Seattle. I often get asked, “Ok, what’s your solution to all this then?” It’s a fair question. In response we’ve created Seattle’s Housing Future, the beginning of a broad citywide agenda to build more housing. When you go to the tab on the website you’ll see a page that is table of contents for a whole bunch of ideas about how to improve  housing for everyone in Seattle.

Let’s be clear, this is just the beginning. Some of these things like the Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) are already doing a good job of creating some housing that is affordable by HUD standards for someone earning 80 percent of Area Median Income (AMI). The program is under siege with many people calling it a give away, but almost everyone agrees it efficiently creates units accessible to people at that income level.

And here’s a term I am introducing to the mix: accessible. By accessible I do not mean compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, although that’s part of the idea. When I am using the term I mean housing that people can get into without experiencing a stress or strain. Some of this has to do with price, but it’s also about where the housing is and how it fits into a person’s or family’s needs in other areas like transportation.

The ideas in Seattle’s Housing Future need refinement. What do you think we missed? What’s the most important? What parts seem easy to do with the biggest impact? What elements need more explanation and development?

We’ll be trying these ideas out in the weeks ahead, looking for more ideas, and adding, subtracting, and expanding as we go. We’d like to know what you think. Share this with your networks. Convincing leaders at the City to try new ideas won’t be easy; there is a lot of worry in the Seattle over change. Ideas matter, and these ideas are a good place to start building a smart, knowlege based agenda for welcoming new jobs and people to our city.