Want To Help Preserve Existing Low-Cost Housing? Build Density.
When change occurs as rapidly as it has been in Seattle, misplaced blame runs rampant. And one of the most egregious examples is the contention that the construction of new housing is the cause of declining affordability—case in point, a coalition of Seattle neighborhood groups is currently advocating for a moratorium on new housing construction. […]
GMA Data: “All You Want to do is Use Me”
Bill Withers came to mind this morning as I considered how some neighborhood groups use and abuse data generated by planning agencies to implement the Growth Management Act. Here’s Mr. Withers on being used and used again: But it doesn’t feel so good getting used when you’re on the other end of neighborhood groups that […]
You’ve Heard of Backlash. Ready for Frontlash?
Frontlash is the pain that comes before big changes in a city. I can’t take credit for this use of the term,since the first person I heard use it was former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn. He used the term to describe the neighborhood outrage and upheaval that was happening before the imposition of a “road […]
