Hello Readers. My name is Nick Etheredge. I am a new contributor to Smart Growth Seattle. In a future post I will tell you more about myself and how I ended up writing for, and teaming with, Roger Valdez and SGS. In short, I am a Seattleite who loves cities in general and Seattle in specific. Like all of you, I want our great city to be the best version of itself it can be. Roger, myself, and the rest of the SGS team share a vision of what “the best version of Seattle” looks like and I will be using this blog to throw my hat into the ring, as Roger has done for awhile.

For now, I’d like to respond to this microhousing post by Erica Barnett of Publicola with a simple challenge for all of us taking part in this debate. The challenge is this: Let’s lower the rhetoric. In a time of rapid growth, like the one Seattle is currently experiencing, it is to be expected that some nerves will be frayed. Growth means change. Change (for some) is scary. Development is perhaps the hot-button issue in our city today, and microhousing seems to have taken center stage as the poster child of new development. And unfortunately, it has brought out our ugly side.

When I read Erica’s post, in which she responds to the comments coming from a few microhousing opponents, I was alarmed by the utter vitriol displayed by the neighbors (the term “carpetbaggers” was bandied about). As Erica alludes to, these people had no intention of having a meaningful, constructive, or respectful discussion of the issue. Their disdain for the product has morphed into a disdain for the people living there. This ugliness has reared its head before.

That is why I am challenging all of us, on both sides of the argument, to put aside the rhetoric, put down the pitchforks, and let our cooler heads prevail. More light and less heat. This is not a call to universal agreement with the other side. Like Roger, I believe the housing issue has a correct answer, which is to allow new supply of housing (of all kinds in all neighborhoods) to meet the very high demand from all those who wish to live here. I believe housing is a social justice issue and that ensuring everyone, at all income levels, can find proper shelter is critical if we are to champion ourselves as a sustainable, equitable city. But I understand that some people have a different viewpoint. As such, I am ready to have a respectful, constructive debate with those with whom I disagree.

Let’s show the country that Seattle is a place where evenly highly contentious issues are handled with dignity and class; that we can place reason above emotion. That we can be reminded that whatever our position, we are all Seattleites working to make this great city the best version of itself. I believe an issue as critical as housing is worthy of a constructive debate. So let’s hold ourselves to a higher standard. How I Met Your Mother‘s Barney Stinson spent nine years accepting all kinds of challenges. Let’s accept this one.