Pollet to O’Brien: Stop Single-Family Home Building
State Representative Gerry Pollet, a Democrat from Seattle’s north end, introduced legislation to mandate notification of neighbors when a new home is being built in a single-family zone. Fortunately, Representative Pollet’s bill, which only had one other sponsor also a north end legislator, died in the State Legislature. Pollet’s efforts aren’t really about notice, but […]
Incentive Zoning:Wrong Problem, Wrong Solution
There is abundant quantitative evidence that puts to rest the idea that there is a lack of “workforce” housing. The market is producing many new units of housing priced at 30 percent of he monthly income of people who earn 60 to 80 percent of Area Median Income (AMI). The City Council may have already […]
Innovation in Affordable Housing
Innovation happens in affordable housing, but progressive cities such as Seattle who have chosen to make it a priority could be doing more to encourage creativity in developing new models. City planners are on board with the value that mixed income living brings to neighborhoods, but regulators too easily think in terms of twisting the […]
