HOUSING

Although we’re facing an urgent homelessness crisis, even more Seattleites are at-risk of displacement. Rent and home prices are so high that people across income levels – teachers, firefighters, students, blue-collar workers, retail employees -- find it increasingly difficult to find housing they can afford close to their workplace or even within Seattle. I want Seattle to be a city where my kids can afford to live, not just a playground for the ultra-rich. So, we need more affordable housing but, let’s face it, we won’t be able to subsidize our way out of our housing affordability crisis. What do do?

  1. First we need to retail existing, naturally affordable rental units, over 50% of which are owned by small, mom-and-pop landlords. That means we need to be very careful about measures that make it difficult to rent and maintain their properties. Otherwise, they are forced to sell their properties, resulting in market-rate redevelopment.

  2. Seattle needs to add new family-wage and market-rate housing. I support targeting new housing growth along frequent transit corridors and in urban centers and facilitating the creation of “missing middle” housing such as backyard cottages, duplexes, and townhomes. These housing options also create more paths to ownership because they are generally less expensive than high-rise residential units.

  3. We should fast-track new affordable housing construction. Projects like the Third Door Coalition, which help implement land use and regulatory changes to reduce the cost of affordable units, are key to getting very-low-income and chronically-homeless individuals into stable housing.

  4. We also need to think outside of the box on housing, like legislation requiring that the City have the option of purchasing for-sale multifamily properties in the City for use as affordable housing. I also support a proposal to allow religious organizations to create affordable housing units on their property.

Housing is a complex issue with no silver bullet. But, together, we can make a real dent in our affordability crisis.

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