The challenge is overwhelming. But the crisis will only get worse if we do nothing. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers and no one solution. All paths forward will be enormously expensive and difficult to implement.

So, what can we collectively do to help?

Zoning

The State of Washington has recently passed several bills mandating and/or encouraging cities to lift some restrictions on housing density. This is timely because most major cities in the state are updating their Comprehensive Plans (an exercise typically done once every 10 years). Get engaged with your local planning commissions and city councils to urge them to adopt land use policies that allow for more housing density and a broader range of housing types (apartments, condominiums, townhouses, duplexes, etc.). Urge them to implement minimum mandatory requirements and incentives to produce affordable housing.

Identify Affordable Housing Targets

Find out how many affordable housing units are needed within your community. The Puget Sound Regional Council has done an excellent study that breaks this down by city and affordability levels for those communities in and around Seattle. Armed with this information, find out from your city planners how they intend to address these needs. Keep in mind, land use policy can only impact affordability at the upper range of lower incomes (likely 60%–100% of the Area Median Income). Cities will need to work with outside agencies and affordable housing developers to foster housing for lower-income families.

Support Affordable Housing Developers

Producing affordable housing is HARD. The financing is very complex, and funding is extremely difficult to secure. Neighbors often object to having an affordable housing project close to their homes, and it is challenging to achieve adequate organizational capacity to build and maintain housing units. Because the units are rented out far below market rates, it is difficult to keep the properties financially sustainable.

During the pandemic, many policies were adopted throughout the region that made it very difficult to evict tenants. This was understandable given the circumstances. But an unintended result is that it is now very difficult to evict even the most troublesome tenants. Many have learned that there is very little consequence for not paying rent and/or indulging in highly problematic behavior that can put their neighbors at risk.

Added to this is the lack of quality property management companies that understand the needs of these clients.

This work is not for the faint of heart.

Reach out to your local affordable housing developer. Find out how you can help them, either with your expertise and community contacts or with financial support. And do your research before you support blanket non-eviction policies.

Housing Levy

The City of Seattle recently passed a Housing Levy that will produce almost $2 billion in revenue. That figure is astounding. And yet, even that may not be enough to meet the needs. To my knowledge, no other city in the Puget Sound region has a housing levy to help fund the development and maintenance of affordable housing. The Eastside of Seattle has ARCH, which is funded by several cities there, but the amount of financial support they can provide to get a project off the ground is a fraction of what is needed.

At some point, we expect to see a movement to create a housing levy for the Eastside. The state legislature will need to make changes to state law, but if we push hard enough, it might just happen. Do your best to support this work.

As mentioned earlier, there are no easy solutions. But we need to do something NOW. This is a crisis that is only getting worse. The Comprehensive Plan update work is an ideal time to engage with your local jurisdiction to see what they are doing to address the problem.