Thank you to all those that joined us for our webinar “Single-Family Zoning: History, Impact, & Change.” By popular demand, the video from that session is now available for you to view at your leisure! As a reminder, our webinar consisted of:
- Moderator: Alex Hudson, Executive Director @ Transportation Choices Coalition
- Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, WA State Representative, 34th District
- Donald King, (FAIA/NOMA) Principal Architect @ Mimar Studio, affiliate professor of architecture @ UW College of Built Environments
- Rick Mohler, (AIA, NCARB) Associate Professor @ UW College of Built Environments, Commissioner @ Seattle Planning Commission
Our conversation, unfortunately, was limited by time. Some of our panelists have kindly provided some final takeaways that we didn’t have time to cover in the webinar. These are below:
Final Thoughts from Rick Mohler:
“I remain concerned by the divisive nature of many housing discussions in which it becomes an either/or argument for market rate versus community-based development. We need both although more emphasis on community-based development is certainly needed right now. I increasingly believe that inequitable taxation is at the root of our crisis. This exacerbates income inequality and, thus, access to housing while eroding our capacity to fund critically needed public programs. This is particularly true in our state. This, along with some form of reparations to address the long-standing economic impacts of racist policies and practices, should be central to conversations at the local, state and national level moving forward.”
”The next major update to Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan is coming up in 2024, and alternatives to the current single-family zoning should be included in the Environmental Impact Statement”
“We should leverage [our massive] $60B regional investment in transit by building complete, walkable, mixed-use, mixed-income communities at scale in existing and planned station areas.” There’s an effort underway to do this: Sound Communities
Final Thoughts from Donald King:
“Examine new polices and legislation for changes in single-family zones for potential harm, like I stated above. Require a “problem-seeking” exercise in policy and legislation-making that uses history as a guide to how good intentions can go wrong.”
“Demand property tax justice for homeowners in the formerly redlined neighborhoods who purchased modest homes that are now paying the same tax as the new millionaire neighbors.”
“Prevent real estate speculators and absentee landlords from building Air B&Bs on small residential lots.”