Many people have been expressing their annoyance with yet another story on the front page of the Seattle Times wringing its hands over the plight of displaced people in the face of what some call, “runaway growth.” Every single person in this city faced with a housing crisis deserves our compassion and help, whether they are the subject of a newspaper story or not. And that’s kind of the point of my irritation with the Times story written by Sanjay Bhatt: it’s the wrong story.

When a developer demolishes the century-old Williamsburg Court Apartments in downtown Seattle this year, 49 households will have to find new homes.

A couple of paragraphs later Bhatt writes:

The Seattle metro area is witnessing a historic boom in apartment construction: More than 7,000 units opened last year in King and Snohomish counties, including many in downtown Seattle. At least 10,000 more will open this year, and perhaps 14,000 next year.

Bhatt plays the same song, the one about the 49 units being “lost” but doesn’t bother with the thousands of new ones being created. His story is the one about how growth comes, it displaces lots of regular people minding their own business with fancy high rise towers for the rich. Of course Bhatt didn’t write those words, but the conventional wisdom in the community is that new housing causes prices to rise when we know, of course, that the opposite is the case. Furthermore, the sad cases of displacement are far outnumbered by the thousands of people who move into our city with newly created housing.

I have yet to read a story about the happy people getting the keys to their apartment after their search is over and they find that perfect place. A young couple or a retiree finding a new place in the city that fits their expectations and makes their life easy or more exciting just doesn’t make good copy. But the fact is those stories far outnumber the unfortunate cases of actual displacement. Those stories aren’t any less sad, but the press ought to report the whole picture. And here it is, again.

New housing in Seattle is not coming at the expense of existing housing, especially affordable housing. That probably isn’t consolation to the people losing their homes at the Williamsburg. But Bhatt’s story incites and support the know-nothing efforts by angry and entitled single-family homeowners in town that want to shut new housing down. Bhatt writes about the human wreckage of the Williamsburg:

“I work two jobs so that I can live in the city, but I don’t know what we’re going to do,” said Mali Lustica, 36, a hotel concierge and retail sales clerk who lives at Williamsburg Court. “I’m trying to find something else in the city, but everything is so expensive.”

But what would Lustica face when she tried to move into microhousing in the Eastlake neighborhood, an “established neighborhood?”

Yes, that’s right, total rejection. So please let Mr. Bhatt know what you think about his take. The front page of the Sunday Seattle Times is important journalism real estate. Urge him to write the full story. Yes growth can be painful, but it won’t be easier if we get mad about new housing’s impacts while clamping down on new housing. The only people that will suffer are people like Lustica who need a place to live.

Sanjay Bhatt
sbhatt@seattletimes.com