Nobody pretends that missing middle zoning alone will address the housing affordability crisis just about every town and city across Washington is experiencing. But there’s hope it will have some positive impact. “The good news to me is we’re building about 28,000 housing units a year in the Puget Sound region, most of which is…

read more

The new law specifies numbers of units, not housing types, meaning developers could build a wide variety of housing including townhomes, small apartment complexes, cottage housing with multiple small single-unit homes clustered on a single lot, and stacked flats where a multi-unit apartment or condo building has just one unit per floor. But, there’s broad…

read more

Because there are so many factors at play for what gets developed and where, it’s hard to estimate exactly how much housing will get built. A high-level analysis from the Puget Sound Regional Council provides a rough estimate of what’s coming regionwide, at least. PSRC found that the new zoning could build between 75,000 and 150,000 units…

read more

House Bill 1110 was one of the marquee accomplishments of the Legislature’s “Year of Housing.” Sponsored by Jessica Bateman, D-Olympia, the law allows towns and cities to build two- to six-unit homes in zones previously restricted to single-family houses. Cities with fewer than 25,000 residents can build duplexes everywhere. Those with 25,000-75,000 residents can build duplexes…

read more

For years, Seattle’s job and population growth have outpaced the building of new housing. Though there’s been a seemingly uninterrupted stream of new apartment construction, the city still needs to add at least 112,000 new units of market-rate and subsidized housing by 2044 to meet demand. And while apartments will continue to be a key…

read more

Three high-profile Democratic governors are struggling to stabilize their states’ retirement programs due to a falling stock market and may have difficulties paying out benefits in the coming years, according to Politico. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, all of whom are considered potential candidates for the 2024…

read more