Read a recap of the 2023 Young Democrats of Washington Convention’s housing-focused panel, which brought together local and state leaders in Spokane for a conversation moderated by NPI’s Kamil Zaidi.
Category: Public Planning
Posted inPolicy Topics
Seattle voters love ST3’s Ballard and West Seattle light rail extensions, but will they love the alignment Sound Transit’s board picks?
81% of likely February 2023 special election voters in Seattle support light rail to Ballard and West Seattle, which is in design. Sound Transit would be wise to keep that in mind when making alignment decisions that our region will have to live with for decades.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Two-thirds of Seattle voters concerned about tree loss with housing density increasing
68% of 651 likely February 2023 special election voters interviewed from January 26th-30th for NPI by Change Research said they were concerned about tree and canopy loss, while 30% said they were not. Only 1% were not sure.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Seattle social housing initiative (I‑135) ahead in early returns with 21.23% turnout so far
A Seattle initiative that proposes to set up a public development authority to build publicly financed, publicly controlled housing projects is ahead in early returns, King County Elections’ initial February 2023 special election tabulation shows.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Amtrak will restore a second daily round trip between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.
Amtrak will restore a second daily round-trip train service between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., as of March 7th, and promises to boost daily trips between Seattle and Portland from four to six come fall, according to a letter sent to the transportation departments of Washington and Oregon.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Bellevue residents want more policies that encourage transit oriented development
Four promising ideas for catalyzing transit oriented development in the City of Bellevue enjoy broad and deep support among residents of Washington’s fifth largest city, a survey conducted a few weeks ago for the Northwest Progressive Institute and the Bellevue Housing Research Coalition has found.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Residents of Bellevue support changing city codes to provide more protection to renters
Average support for six ideas we asked about totaled 70.5%, or more than seven in ten Bellevue residents. Average opposition totaled a mere 22.5%. That’s striking, especially considering that most Bellevue residents we surveyed are homeowners.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Ideas to streamline permitting for housing in Bellevue have near unanimous support
The most popular of five ideas — removing unnecessary approvals and make the permitting process more straightforward — was endorsed by 85% of respondents, with the least popular idea — lowering permit fees for affordable housing projects — still got the support of 79% of respondents, or nearly eight in ten.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Bellevue residents enthusiastically back range of ideas for increasing housing attainability
These findings show that Bellevue residents are broadly in agreement on a number of ideas to tackle the city and region’s housing crisis, from creating additional homeownership assistance programs to allowing the construction of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) such as backyard cottages in every neighborhood to relaxing restrictions like building height limits for projects that preserve existing mature trees on the property rather than cutting them down.
Posted inPolicy Topics
New poll finds huge support for affordability-focused solutions to Bellevue’s housing crisis
NPI, Complete Streets Bellevue, the Sightline Institute, Eastside For All, and the Housing Development Consortium (HDC) teamed up in the summer of 2022 to ask Bellevue residents about their views on the housing market and housing policy. Read our initial findings from that groundbreaking survey.
Posted inPolicy Topics
There’s a better way to fight inflation, save jobs, and curb a recession: Create a Hamiltonian National Infrastructure Bank
This guest post from macro-economist Alphecca Muttardy discusses the need for legislation that could strengthen our economy and reduce our infrastructure deficit: H.R. 3339.
Posted inElections
Democratic State House hopeful Pastor Carey Anderson shot while out campaigning
Pastor Carey Anderson, a Democratic candidate for State Representative in the 30th Legislative District, was shot at close range by a BB gun Thursday evening.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Canada Day revelation: Amtrak Cascades to resume service to B.C. in September
Regularly scheduled train service between British Columbia and the rest of the Pacific Northwest will be resuming in the fall, rather than in the winter, the Washington and Oregon Departments of Transportation announced today.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Sound Transit Board unanimously hires Julie Timm as its new Chief Executive Officer
“I am profoundly grateful to join the Sound Transit team’s work to transform lives across the Puget Sound region for generations to come,” Timm said in a prepared statement.