Seattle studied dozens of sites for housing growth. These 24 got picked

[homesinseattle]

Article link here: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...24-got-picked/

"Changes may be coming to Wedgwood. That’s a lot of what hairstylist Kayla Gowell hears as she snips, sprays, primps and blow-dries.

Some of Gowell’s older clients are worried about longtime businesses closing, while some of her younger clients are excited for their Northeast Seattle neighborhood to become more dynamic, she said. Near her salon, a low-slung strip of stores is slated to be replaced by mid-rise apartments.

“I’m up on all the gossip,” Gowell said last week, laughing about the various opinions that swirl through her door on 35th Avenue Northeast. “Most people want more restaurants, more stores … more options.”

Those opinions could affect how Wedgwood and other Seattle areas grow, because the city is collecting input right now about a major update of its Comprehensive Plan — its road map for the next 20 years. Among other things in his draft plan, Mayor Bruce Harrell is proposing 24 locations for new “neighborhood centers” with denser housing close to shops and services. That’s after considering more than twice as many possible locations.

By allowing apartments of three to six stories to be built within a couple blocks of key intersections, the new nodes would supplement Seattle’s longstanding “urban centers” and “urban villages” — the mini-downtowns in areas like Ballard and Columbia City where the city has directed growth on a larger scale since the 1990s.

The proposal is partly about zoning for more “15-minute” neighborhoods, where people can meet their basic needs by walking or biking no more than 15 minutes from home. It’s also about spreading housing to pricey areas where not much development has occurred in recent decades.

It could stir resistance in areas like Wedgwood that have at times opposed density. But Harrell’s proposal would target spots where some apartments or stores already exist, so the development wouldn’t be coming out of nowhere. In fact, a number of housing advocates are urging Harrell to be bolder.

[jabogitlu]

This is a pretty disappointing outcome. I attended 2 of the comp plan meetings and pretty much every voice I heard was calling for maximum potential growth in all locations in the city. Based on reporting by the Urbanist, it sounds like the planning department paid attention to the public's input, but the mayor's office stepped in and massively restricted growth options.

If we don't get folks like Harrell out of the way soon, we will have housing prices like California in the next 10-20 years. As it is, most of us can't afford to buy here anyway due to artificially constricted supply.

[margaretBartle]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

If we don't get folks like Harrell out of the way soon, we will have housing prices like California in the next 10-20 years. As it is, most of us can't afford to buy here anyway due to artificially constricted supply.

I've never understood how getting rid of $2000/mo 2-bedroom duplex and replacing them with $3000/mo 1 bedroom apartments is lowering housing costs.

If they want to increase housing stock, it makes more sense to go to the parts of town with good transit, and tear down the low-density housing and replce it with 6 or 8 story buildings that have hundreds of units, and put in grocery stores and restaurants and stuff.

Most of south Seattle is low density, yet NONE of the neighborhood centers are planned for south Seattle, even though that is where most of the transit will be, and is a food dessert, with few grocery stores or other amenities. (https://www.seattle.gov/documents/De...ftPlan2024.pdf - go to page 26 to see where they are putting inthe neighborhood centers)

There is definitely a hidden agenda here. They are not being straight with us.

[mhays25]

We should be allowing density in FAR more areas.

I would note, though, that the 24 don't include the existing urban villages, which will also expand, and anything near a Link station is already in one.