Every detail in these images tells a tragedy… The exhausted eyes, the pale faces, and the cracked lips caused by hunger and thirst. These children do not need pity… they need someone to stand with them now. 😭💔 tinyurl.com/moh-help

This chart tells a pretty incredible success story MHA funds are the smallest slice of this graph and yet MHA is the only funding source that directly hurts renters by blocking new homes from being built @mayorofseattle.bsky.social let's use this success to undo the damage from MHA!

Looking at this chart, can YIMBYs just retcon the voter approved housing levy as successfully funding MHA? The increase happened to be the nearly the exact amount MHA was

2 DADUs proposed for an LR3 lot. ADUs are now MHA free, so creates an incentive for this in LR3 zones

The East and North Link Connections KC Metro bus changes confuse me. Why are they not already implemented? Why is it so unclear when they will be? What's the barrier that has caused the busses not to be updated for over a year after Lynnwood Link opened?

Building permit issued for a 5-story 25-unit apartment at SE 31st and Belmont www.portlandmaps.com/detail/permi... The project has been in the works since 2020; I assume recent policy changes including fully-funded IZ and the SDC waiver have gotten this to the point where construction is imminent.

Amazing news. Seattle's biggest challenge isn't even upzoning a lot when rezonings occur, it's not having rezonings occur very often at all. Exactly what a mayor at the beginning of their term should look to do

One thing we can do to fix MHA is get rid of the confusing, arbitrary M,M1,M2 system. If two MR lots are identical with the same sized building on them, but one used to be NR while the other has always been MR, the formerly NR one pays nearly double the MHA fees!

There's some honesty from the SSHD op-ed, but it's still a bait and switch. The beginning paragraphs discuss a radical and unlike-anywhere-in-the-world system of publicly funded, privately governed social housing, unaccountable to the voters, but defend it by referencing Vienna, which is not that.

Regardless of if the retail mandate bill passes or fails, why can't Seattle just end retail mandates on it's own? Seem to be the most punishing in Seattle anyways

Still the case that developers are proposing underbuilding apartment zoned sites so that they can build townhomes This proposal is for 9 likely 3 story townhomes where the zoning allows for a 3.0 FAR 40' apartment building

Proposal for even more student housing in U-District, on The Ave, 6 stories. Replaces two low slung traditional 'The Ave' buildings. Wonder what the point of blocking skyscrapers on The Ave if this happens anyway 🤔

Wish we could do this in Seattle, but the purpose of MHA here is to pay non-profits, not generate affordable housing efficiently

I feel like you see a lot of work/live townhomes around Seattle that never realize the “work” part. In this little area of Mount Baker, there are several townhomes with businesses (yoga studio, acct biz, cafe, permanent makeup studio, spa). What’s the recipe to make it work?

Example of a Seattle area developer building far less density than allowed on a prime lot so they can build townhomes Shows the importance of allowing townhomes everywhere so demand for them doesn't get shoved to prime lots like this

Except if you are a renter, in which case you deserve no benefit. Huge homestead exemptions are one of the most regressive taxes out there, anything is better than this

In Tacoma you can apparently build a FAR exempt 900sqft garage in a DADU vs just 250ft in Seattle lol

Toshiko Hasegawa's very first line on her website's 'vision' for County Council's 2nd seat is NIMBYism, don't see that much nowadays.

WA bill HB 2228 to allow scissor stairs passed the House today, 95 - 0! Thank you Rep. Zahn! app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/...

Seattle has 3 low-rise zones, LR1-3. LR1 & 2 are now mostly identical to NR, so neither should exist But LR1 *really* shouldn't exist, these are all the LR1 areas added in the most recent upzoning proposal vs all the upzoned blocks. OPCD knows it's a useless zone and isn't bothering implementing it

Doesn’t Seattle already require relocation assistance in a bunch of situations? The city already has the most tenant protections in the PNW. What it doesn’t have is a robust market-rate construction pipeline. She should be cutting MHA, fixing MFTE, and boosting anemic zoning. Not adding new regs.

Sounds like Wilson is going to do backdoor rent control. Not great for encouraging investment in housing in Seattle

Instead of mandating retail, Seattle should fine developers who don’t build it like ~$50,000, to see how much of a tax it is on development

Because of the phased nature of Seattle's rezoning process, for the next few years, this middle area will be LR3, allowing for 5 story apartment buildings. While the areas south *and* north of it, both closer to the light rail stations and in Urban/Regional Centers, will be zoned LR1/2.

What's the purpose of creating a neighborhood center, to not rezone it? Is this because they're planning on studying a different Magnolia Neighborhood Center?

It's insane that we accept these kinds of timelines. Other cities in Washington don't do this level of staggering, no one is making us take a decade to go through a zoning cycle. This is just for the Regional Centers, Urban Centers won't be upzoned until Katie Wilson's term is over

Good to see there's been no bills looking to strengthen rent control/landlord-tenant regs this year in WA. Shows good legislative discipline and gives more regulatory certainty.

Interesting the lengths developers are going to preserve the existing home. This home is a teardown if I've ever seen one, and yet the proposal is to retain it and build 5 sfhs around it. Why? some regulatory advantage? or maybe they've already remodeled it?

Haven't seen too many middle housing proposals in Seattle that absolutely maxing out density & FAR, this one gets the closest 6 unit proposal using the 3ft setbacks for small lots near transit at ~1.45 FAR.

Proposal for 2 1,200 sqft DADUs, legal thanks to AMR’s ADU amendments

The SSHD has been a disaster because McCoy pushed for an ungovernable board structure, a shame to see her elevated despite the failures so far

To celebrate the possibility that SB 6026 will end mandates for apartment buildings to have commercial uses on their ground floors, here's a bunch of pics of empty retail spaces in Seattle's Capitol Hill, the most densely populated neighborhood in WA. app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/...

I think Redmond is the only puget sound city that ended up putting IZ on one unit developments in the new middle housing updates. Building 2 1,000sqft ADUs costs $60,000 in Redmond. Will be interested to see if this policy basically ends up meaning Redmond opted out of HB1110/1337

New council predictions for the YIMBY-NIMBY spectrum Mega-YIMBY: AMR YIMBY: Lin Likely YIMBY: Foster, Strauss Swing votes: Kettle, Juarez Likely NIMBY: Hollingsworth, Saka NIMBY: Rivera

Does Seattle have any zones where commercial is allowed but residential isn't? Based on the zoning map I can't find any So the only affect of the 'residential in commercial areas' bill would be to eliminate Seattle's retail requirements seattlecitygis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappv...

Unlike Houston's minimum lot size system, Seattle has a parent lot minimum lot size of 5,000sqft and a Unit Lot Subdivision minimum lot size of 1,250. So a homeowner can't, for example, sell their backyard as a separate 2,500sqft lot and be done with it.

First stacked flats proposal under the new code? Taking advantage of the 3ft side setbacks on lots less than 5,000sqft near transit. Extremely tight fit

I don't believe parking minimums are binding on any kind of development in Seattle, so removing them is a question of a. if the city council realizes this b. do they or don't they want the official elimination of them on their record I'm not sure which is more the case

NEW POST While cities across North America struggle with housing shortages, Edmonton is proving that zoning reform works. In 2025, for the first time in history, the number of homes permitted in 5-8 unit rowhomes surpassed detached homes. 🧵 #yeg #yegcc #yimby www.jacobdawang.com/blog/2026/zb...

MFTE is literally a transfer from every taxing authority outside the city of Seattle to Seattle. If it isn’t being used for every project you’re leaving money on the table for generations

Seattle has a uniparty consensus that we should bankrupt non-profit housing providers to maintain an arbitrary set of landlord-tenant laws. Also a uniparty consensus that we need MHA to fund non-profit developers because there’s so politically powerful

Bad pre-filed bill. It would give cities more zoning control over unincorporated areas near them Since Snohomish and King counties are both more YIMBY than the cities in each, this would kill a lot of housing

One thing rarely brought up about MHA is that it’s like a reverse impact fee program We tax housing the most in the parts of the city where housing is the most fiscally sustainable and tax it the least where car usage is higher, fewer sidewalks, longer commutes, etc

The greater the car dependency, the greater the benefits of congestion pricing! This got lost bc NYC did it first, but metros like Houston, Dallas and Orlando only function with their level of car dependence bc of pricing roads

MHA is just a really small part of office of housing funds. It wouldn’t be a big deal to get rid of it entirely.

Great news. Scissor stairs is useful for both high-rise and mid-rise buildings. Tons of small lots zoned for 5+ stories could use this

One fix to the comp plan that would actually generate more housing (i.e. not stacked flat related) would be to uncap number of ADUs per lot, or allow 3 ADUs per lot. ADUs have a bunch of regulatory and financial advantages in both NR and low-rise zones, so allowing more per lot would be helpful

With the end of the interim code here's a map of most middle housing projects, including SFHs, ADUs, DADUs, since May will be interesting to see if the makeup of the types changes with the permanent code aidanthornsberry.github.io/seattle-hous...

Project proposal using the 3ft setback on lots less than 5,000sqft near frequent transit amendment from AMR

Middle housing project proposal that’s just slightly over the mayor’s proposal at ~1.25 FAR vs mayors 1.2, 6,000 sqft lot