Black diamond expansion (Seattle: apartment, to rent, condo)

[civic94]

Tiny community of Black Diamond divided over big development | KING5.com Seattle


pretty much building new homes there. I see 2 ways, on one hand its a small town, people want too keep it that way, on the other hand, in the whole seattle area, land is like gold, there is not much buildable land here, its mostly mountains and lakes, and to the west of seattle, its hard live in bainbridge and still be on the ferry schedule. seattle has a lack of land, and if not for Quadrant homes and the other builders buiding all over, im pretty sure homes right now in this region will be way worse than now, since there will be more demand and very little supply.

i'm not rooting for these cookie cutter homes, but the way i see it, even right now for a middle class family to have a decent home, they have to live in kent or everett just to buy a piece of american dream that is big enough for their family, anything in seattle is just too expensive, unless you live in the bad areas. I think the average family salary is like 65k?so if my math is correct, most families can safely buy a 3 bedroom starter house is 200k, and that pretty much lands most folks out of seattle, you dont want to live in a 1 bedroom condo in seattle for 200k with 2 kids..... if I can get a 3 bedroom cookie cutter home there for 140k, im all over it, otherwise, I will live in seattle paying rent for my small 500 sf apartment.


your views city-data users?

[Ancalagon]

Zoning Restrictions in existing cities should be eased to allow more housing units to be built in areas that already have the infrastructure and can handle the growth instead of bulldozing our forests and farmlands to build McMansions that require new infrastructure and that can only be serviced by Single Occupancy Vehicles.

[civic94]

Originally Posted by Ancalagon

Zoning Restrictions in existing cities should be eased to allow more housing units to be built in areas that already have the infrastructure and can handle the growth instead of bulldozing our forests and farmlands to build McMansions that require new infrastructure and that can only be serviced by Single Occupancy Vehicles.

true, its like the international district/chinatown here. im an american born chinese, and going to other chinatowns that had more history, they allow building to go high. over here its only 6 or 7 stories high, so it really limits people. its super dead here, there is not much people walking around compared to the chinatowns in nyc, boston, san fran, etc. I think that every link light rail staiton should have really high buildings, so people can actually take the light rail to work, instead of asking people to walk/bike hilly terrain in the rain and be car free.

on the other hand, like i said, if black diamond and many other suburbs keep on overbuilding, it really helps the average seattle person afford a home and raise a family. as for myself and many others, we cant afford anything in seattle, we have to live 35 minutes away to get anything decent, and once the crappy traffic gets into play, it will take 2 hours of commute each way.

[Ira500]

Black Diamond is a cool little town, with a great bakery, a place that sells in home smoked meats, a great used bookstore, a pizza place. Quadrupling the population by building a bunch of cheap cookie cutter homes will do nobody any good. The town will get screwed up, and traffic will get way worse. It will have no impact on Seattle city home prices. Black Diamond's got history, and has some cool old buildings. I also think it's so far away from where people work that they'll have a hard time selling them.

[civic94]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Black Diamond is a cool little town, with a great bakery, a place that sells in home smoked meats, a great used bookstore, a pizza place. Quadrupling the population by building a bunch of cheap cookie cutter homes will do nobody any good. The town will get screwed up, and traffic will get way worse. It will have no impact on Seattle city home prices. Black Diamond's got history, and has some cool old buildings. I also think it's so far away from where people work that they'll have a hard time selling them.

I agree, but there are parts of it that I dont (in the nicest way). having lived in boston, philly, and also haveing a close friend living in nyc, people will take a huge commute to justify for sq. footage. building a ton of cookie cutter homes in black diamond will have a tiny effect on seattle area's housing prices, as some people who for example, live in covington and works in kent will justify spending an extra 20 minutes commuting for cheaper sq footage, and once they leave covington, another family from renton/kent will justify living in covington, like a domino effect. If it gets to that point where homes are too expensive, this kind of measure will take effect, Ive seen it in the other places where I lived. My friend in boston lives 40 miles from his job because he can afford it there. its either paying 2 million dollars for a 2500 sf home of live far away and pay 190k for it.

when I lived in philly, I took a meagbus to school for a month, bus leaves at 6:30 and arrives at nyc at 8:50, and on the bus, its the same people every single day dressed up nicely for their jobs. I asked a few of them, and they told me that if they lived in nyc or new jersey they cant afford it, so their commute times are 2.5 hours each way (at least they get to sleep on the bus).

for myself, If im retired or can only afford a 120k 3 bedroom house to start a family, I would live an hour away w/o traffic to justify, because at that point, its either pay 120k for a 1 bedrrom condo in seattle, 2 bedroom condo in renton, 3 bedroom shack in covington, or 3 bedroom decent house in black diamond. so far the whole seattle area, its worth it to rent, but buying is just outrageous.

These are just all examples