Council Study Reveals The Inherent Futility Of Incentive Zoning
Seattle City Council asked for a reality check on Incentive Zoning (IZ) and now they have their smoking gun: Since the Program’s inception in 2001, 62% of eligible development projects declined to participate. That outcome demonstrates that the IZ Program is not only fundamentally broken, but also has resulted in the loss of significant public […]
Incentive Zoning:Wrong Problem, Wrong Solution
There is abundant quantitative evidence that puts to rest the idea that there is a lack of “workforce” housing. The market is producing many new units of housing priced at 30 percent of he monthly income of people who earn 60 to 80 percent of Area Median Income (AMI). The City Council may have already […]
Innovation in Affordable Housing
Innovation happens in affordable housing, but progressive cities such as Seattle who have chosen to make it a priority could be doing more to encourage creativity in developing new models. City planners are on board with the value that mixed income living brings to neighborhoods, but regulators too easily think in terms of twisting the […]
