The upzones are coming! The upzones are coming! (Can you picture me riding my horse through Wallingford and sounding the alarm just like Paul Revere?) But seriously, the City Council is moving forward.
On January 7, the City had the first of five special committee meetings to discuss the HALA MHA upzones. A public hearing has been scheduled for February 21 and a final City Council vote is set for March 18. Yikes.
There’s currently a glut of empty luxury apartments and increased density is driving gentrification in historically minority neighborhoods like the Central District, but the City moves forward anyway with its plan to upzone 27 urban villages for increased building heights and more apartment buildings, including Wallingford. And it’s championed by our own District four Councilmember Rob Johnson (who has announced he is not running for reelection in 2019).
If you happen to be completely unfamiliar with what the heck I’m talking about (maybe you’re new to town or not totally enthralled by land use discussions), I wrote a sort of intro to HALA piece here. Or if you want more specifics about what is proposed for your block (which the City Council could decide to change on a whim) you can click here. And if you really want to dive in deep, you can look at all of the posts I’ve written here. Now it might be clear that I am not a fan of this upzone plan, but of course there are two sides to every story, so just to be fair you can read this Wallyhood post in support of the upzones if you are looking for another perspective.
If you would like to be more involved, the Seattle Coalition for Affordability, Livability
And please plan on attending the public hearing on February 21 at 5:30 p.m. This will probably be a busy one, so definitely arrive early if you want a chance to speak before the Council loses interest. The hearing will be held in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 600 4th Avenue. To view information on the public hearing, and all of the City Council MHA Special Committee meetings, click here (make sure you scroll down to the 2019 meetings).
Lastly, make sure the City Council and Mayor hear from you!
Mayor Jenny Durkan: [email protected]
An email to [email protected] will reach all of the City Councilmembers.
Or to email the Councilmembers individually:
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
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You misunderstoodthe articles. The Reuter article didn’t say that density is driving gentrification. And you know why we have a glut of empty luxury apartments? Because the zoning rules are so strict that developers only ever make money by insisting to build only the luxury ones and they have to hold out for rich tenants. And by no mean is “1 in 10” a glut. If anything, if you combine the message of the two articles you should realize what we need is even more apartments to be built so the price can come down enough for those who squeezed out due to gentrification can afford to come back.
Think about it: for all the people who moved from Central to Kent and further, what does it take for them to be all back? Obviously you can’t do that by asking the rich new kids in town to move out of their houses to make room. What about the youth who used to escape their rural towns by coming to Seattle to live in cheap and tiny rooms to figure out what they can do in a big city? You need a lot more density to fit them all.
And just looking at my own street: it used to be mostly middle-class people. Now without density going up and the neighborhood being desirable, the houses are mostly sold in the 1m to 1.5m range. That means people moving in are mostly couples that both work for tech companies with upper middle class incomes. How can we keep middle class in Wallingford? Increase density and build more houses so the housing price can come down for school teachers and nurses to afford to buy here.
I do not post on other neighborhood blogs, and I live and work in Wallingford.Maybe there are people that thinks like me that post in other neighborhood blogs that you mistook as me?
Might be a good time to flag, report and block trolls. ( c re C)
“Think about it: for all the people who moved from Central to Kent and further, what does it take for them to be all back? ”
Shaun Scott (D4 candidate) has put this in his platform:
“The time to prevent gentrification as such was in 1995. As it is, the question before us is less how do we “prevent” further gentrification (although prevent it we must); rather, we should concern ourselves with undoing it.”
(form DSA candidate questionnaire https://docs.google.com/document/d/1siXKGcebxZ5r23snHj_LOXqdvwjsr_3OIkaAQZO2dSY/edit?fbclid=IwAR1VgZ0Q3iVNqAolNSTr3XwWhzbInLn-rm54PwP9u-yocaO5Kxkixt7mfTY
That is an absolutely FASCINATING document Bryan. I heartily encourage voters in Wallingford and all over District 4 to read it carefully.
In the meantime, let me summarize just a few of the positions that Shaun Scott supports in it for clickbait:
Shaun admires Kshama Sawant, supports taxpayer funded heroin injection sites, supports the “abolishment of single-family zoning,” “would support the reinstatement of an even steeper head tax,” wants to “significantly reduce SPD’s budget,” and “massively increase bike lane infrastructure.”
So there a few of his positions. There are plenty more in that document and Shaun Scott’s announcement in The Stranger and elsewhere.
Voters in District 4: Ask yourselves do we really want this guy representing us? If your answer is “No,” support Alex Pedersen!
Thanks for keeping us current on this issue, Susanna!
Here’s hoping the City takes this step to get zoning out of the way of more diverse and affordable streets like this throughout Wallingford instead of just parts.
(Photos are all from Wallingford, Fremont, and Green Lake; the montage is assembled as a model street.)
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0d8b973d18d9f6fadf9062ec2d37decab9dabc9cf66cb93855c9a45809f0629e.jpg
Excellent! Thanks for the reminder that I need to send another message of support for the housing upzones to our council representatives and mayor. Hopefully we can pair them with more parking downzones as well.
What part of the city are you in Skylar?
Own or rent?
I’ve lived in NW Wallingford for three years, and NE Fremont (Edgewater) for 10 years before that.
I guess I missed the second part of your question – I’ve rented my entire time in Seattle. I’ve never owned a car, as I never saw the need to deal with the hassle or expense.
Thank you, Susanna!