Why are Seattle residents anti-growth? (mortgage, houses, employment)

[floridaboy92]

I'm noticing a lot of resentment coming from residents in the city of Seattle who are against the changes and the booming construction industry that is littering the metro.

What gives? Is development that out of control there? What will the future of Seattle be like?

[homesinseattle]

Floridaboy, (I'm a Florida boy too, born and raised Miami, living in Seattle 28 years).

Here are a couple reasons I can think of:

-realization that all of this (inevitable) development is increasing the cost of housing/living.
-sadness/anger that buildings that had character/personality are being knocked down.

[tickyul]

Many Seattle residents may have gripes about the current building-boom in Seattle. But come on, all the money and good employment in Seattle, a very nice and interesting city.

You can't hold back reality, the population is going to keep booming for a long time, ditto for construction, traffic, etc.

[mhays25]

Prices have risen because people are moving in. Development is the reaction...and our only real weapon to keep prices down. Supply has to stay ahead of demand and so far it's only barely hanging on.

[tickyul]

Originally Posted by mhays25

Prices have risen because people are moving in. Development is the reaction...and our only real weapon to keep prices down. Supply has to stay ahead of demand and so far it's only barely hanging on.

I don't want to pour water on your theory........but I am going to say you may be way off.

Seattle is beyond red-hot, building more homes would just add rocket-fuel to the fire, prices would go up faster and further.

[RustinginSeattle]

We don't have the roads or the transportation to hold everyone and their cars. And the cost of living is going through the roof.

Basically, it's just a different city now. For those who grew up here, this change is being forced on us. For those who are arriving, it is a choice they are making, so they're more likely to think it's a great idea. I totally understand that for some 20 year olds, this seems like good fun, but for some families and many seniors it's a lot harder. Try to think outside of your own box once in awhile.

After 3 generations of living here, my family is packing up and moving away. We don't enjoy the overcrowding.

[DutchessCottonPuff]

Originally Posted by tickyul

I don't want to pour water on your theory........but I am going to say you may be way off.

Seattle is beyond red-hot, building more homes would just add rocket-fuel to the fire, prices would go up faster and further.

Eventually they will hit a ceiling . Don't know when or how but there are not that many people that are going to fill all the new construction at those prices . People either cannot or won't . Eventually . Your everyday workers ( and I do not just mean fast food etc ) will have to leave , which as you can see here in some posts - they are . My husband commutes 66 miles because we have too- we have been pushed out that far very unwillingly- but are saving now to be gone by next July .

The fire has placed a damper on our plans to leave any sooner , we must reorganize .

[CrazyDonkey]

Primarily based on "Cloud" hiring booms, primarily by Amazon, but also Microsoft, Google, HP, Oracle, etc., plus a slue of startups. A good part of this employment growth is being imported from other tech centers and overseas. Of the two other major local employers, Boeing has been laying off and Microsoft has been laying off as many as they are hiring, as they pivot from the Desktop to the Cloud.

The critical question is whether this "gold rush" will ultimately "pan out" - the test will be whether the "Cloud" can produce returns to justify the costs, and thus real wealth, or will prove as chimerical as the Tech Boom, with one winner for every ten losers.

There is also a strong speculative element both in the SFH market and the funding of developers in the MFH market, with significant amounts of money from overseas, primarily China, involved in both. The stock market is also significantly overbought and showing signs of being in a speculative bubble: https://www.forbes.com/sites/investo.../#2f9bb8ae5017

Bubbles aren't generally acknowledged until it is sheep-shearing time:

[perigee]

I second Rusting, we didn't have the infrastructure before and no one is putting in extra roadway or freeway lanes, what is the timeline now for light rail across Lk Washington? Also, this is familiar to the state, we boom and eventually we'll bust, more then likely the big IT guys will eventually whittle down their workforce or be wooed away by another state.

More power to everyone making a buck off this latest boom, people cashing out equality from their homes, Realtors, construction workers, IT workers and everyone supporting them, but make sure you plan for an eventual downturn. I remember when the last bubble was forming and people were shouting from the rooftops that property values will keep increasing at the rate they were and thought, well that is unsustainable.

Are we in a bubble, I don't know, but I do know we can not sustain this level of growth, hopefully it slows down or starts to level off. You can point to LA or SFO, but they're different and have a more diverse economy then Seattle. What happens to the market when Amazon does a massive Microsoft/Boeing lay off, how are those people going to afford the mortgage on the houses being sold today?

Sorry, getting off topic, but yeah I like seeing construction, I like seeing property values increase, I don't want to live in some rust belt town that everyone is fleeing, but I am worried about the future. At least that is what I mutter to myself when I am stuck trying to get off of I5 and the line of cars in front of me keep increasing every year.

[Kayela]

I'm not anti-growth, but this city isn't handling the growth well. I arrived there 14 years ago, and even since then the population has exploded, the skyline is barely recognizable, and yet our roads are crumbling, bridges are ancient, and there is less parking than there was when we had fewer people - transit has not improved enough to make it worth it to be carless. Prices are going up and up, and I see the unique small business (and people who don't make 6 figures) being forced out of my neighborhood by rising rents. So yeah, I keep wondering how we can sustain this when a relative few seem to benefit, and many people who were formerly able to enjoy a reasonable cost of living are being forced out of the city. We're all paying more and more in taxes, and living in a crumbling city with an exploding homeless population and fewer and fewer services for the people who are pouring in.