Seattle Magazine recently asked a number of people throughout the city to contribute big ideas to their annual Big Idea issue, including Seattle City Council. Below is my submission, which you can find online along with the other ideas submitted (part 1 and part 2). The prompt we were asked to respond to was: “If money were no object, what one thing would you do to fix Seattle?” Leave your own big ideas in the comments section!
Given a blank check, I would invest in affordable transit-oriented housing in Seattle. We would create safe and healthy housing while simultaneously increase density in the city. Housing would also be near healthy sources of food, as well as good schools and vibrant community centers. By placing the housing near transit, we would help minimize household transportation costs. Further, this would be take strides towards housing many homeless individuals in our city—while there are many systemic reasons that residents find themselves homeless, the plain fact that there isn’t enough affordable housing is one of the many reasons so many people sleep on the streets or in shelter at night. Finally, supporting the creation of more affordable housing near transit, would put a much-needed boost in our economy by creating green jobs for the countless number of unemployed residents in Seattle.