North District Council Considers Housing Choice
The local Seattle land use world has been abuzz lately with talk about small, affordable apartments—otherwise known as aPodments. What’s frustrating about all this talk is that it’s almost inevitable that the talk will lead to some kind of action. Members of the City Council feel like they have to do “something” to address the [...]
“You May Not Like My House, But I love It!”
About 18 months ago, my family and I moved into a new modern home built in beautiful Madison Valley in Seattle. We love the location: its proximity to parks, restaurants, and other amenities, and the fact that it would cut our daily commute to work in half. We love the house built by GreenLeaf Construction. [...]
It Takes All Kinds: Housing Supply, Choice, and Variety
Housing, like people, comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors. New housing in single-family neighborhoods doesn’t all look the same. Diversity and variety are good things. Some opponents of new single-family housing argue that new housing is too big. But the facts tell a different story. Here’s an image that shows a typical block face [...]
Discussion of Small Lot Legislation Heats Up
The good news is that people are paying attention to ideas for finalizing small-lot legislation in Seattle. Last week’s Seattle Channel panel gave us a chance to talk about our initiative and how it would create predictability while still creating more housing supply and choice for Seattle. Monday of this week led off with a [...]
Smart Growth on the Seattle Channel
Last week I had the opportunity to represent Smart Growth Seattle on a panel discussing development on small-lots in Seattle. The panel is part of a broader discussion on density and you can watch it by clicking on the embedded video above. The panel covered a lot of ground, but what was especially important is [...]
A Building Boom: Small Homes Are Big in Vancouver B.C.
Canadian media has been abuzz in the last year over the proliferation of small houses in Vancouver, British Columbia’s single-family neighborhoods. But the story there has been about the innovation, sustainability, affordability, and predictability of the new homes, not about controversy about their impact on neighborhood character. In fact, in environment is so supportive that [...]
Preventing Sprawl and Preserving Neighborhood Character
Along with highlighting Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin’s support of more housing in single-family neighborhoods, this week’s Seattle Times story on neighborhood density had some confusing language about growth and growth targets. I think it’s worth looking at the Growth Management Act (GMA), growth targets, the City’s Comprehensive Plan, and what growth in single-family neighborhoods [...]
Richard Conlin: “More opportunities for people who want to live in the city.”
There is a lot to think about and respond to in Lynn Thompson’s recent story about neighborhood density in the Seattle Times. The story seems to confound growth targets with growth in single-family neighborhoods (more on this later). Growth targets mostly apply to Urban Villages, those knots of more intense activity and use like the [...]
KING 5: What’s the Big Story?
Last Friday KING 5 news went out to JMS Homes’ site on 55th and Manning in West Seattle to talk with neighbors and JMS about the project. When Linda Brill the reporter asked me what the big story was I said, “there isn’t one.” I pointed to Bill Richmond the developer of the project and [...]
Fact Check: Proposed West Seattle Homes Are Neighborly
There is something about land use and housing that provokes a lot of interest and emotion. That’s especially true about new housing in single-family neighborhoods. New housing in any neighborhood means change, and change isn’t always easy to accept. A project in West Seattle that will add two new homes where there is only one [...]
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