Thread by @TheUrbanAce

Alright, quick thread since I'd rather write a long-form article at some point when I can get the will and mental space to do so, but let's talk about Design Review in Seattle:

1/x

#housing #seattle #urbanism #design #architecture

Today, city council passed an emergency resolution tied to Design Review and COVID. The current system requires most developments in the city to have public meetings. Given that option is currently impossible, the system has been edited (temporarily)

2/x

Projects that normally have to go through full design review will go through administrative design review, and affordable (aka publicly subsidized) housing projects will be exempt from the process. This will be for six months, or until online meetings are able to be held...

3/x

...with the exception of the Chinatown-International District Special Review District. There will be no reviews of projects in this area until in-person meetings can be held again. Here is why this resolution is good:

4/x

1) we were already in a housing crisis before COVID (to the tune of hundreds of thousands of units). This change means that projects going through the system can continue on, and while demand related to in-migration and jobs has slowed we can #CloseTheGap on needs

5/x

2) exempting affordable housing projects means that these projects can continue moving forward and have more certainty related to both their timeline as well as permit fees. What does that mean in the end? Lower cost for the project and lower rents for new units. And...

6/x

3) Until there is a vaccine, which best case scenario is 12-18 months, the safest solution and most preventative to stop the spread of COVID is sheltering in place. A new housing project can be built and opened in that time period.

7/x

3.1) In addition, providing more housing at all levels of income relieves pressure on the system which was already breaking. If we don't see improvements in employment before moratoriums are lifted, we are guaranteed to see a massive wave of evictions. This can be reduced.

8/x

3.2) plus, if we are able to get more people who currently work in the city but do not live in the city the opportunity to do so, then not only do we reduce commuting times for those people, that means they reduce exposure to the virus!

So now let's talk future:

9/x

The conversation today and last Monday at council brought up a number of arguments that have been happening over and over at design review meetings in the past, each one acting as a battle in a much larger war. Those battles can be summed up as follows:

10/x

- Old-School Environmentalism vs. Nu Environmentalism
- Town Mindset vs. International City Mindset
- Gentrification / Displacement vs Neoliberal Mindsets
- NIMBYs vs. PHIMBYs vs. YIMBYs vs. Everyone Else

In essence, the groups that have power versus those who don't.

11/x

The most important discussion I saw developing, however, was one related to a new council member that expressed the need to continue Design Review as a system because it allows community members to have a voice in processes that they currently don't. To which I say:

12/x

Continuing a system steeped in racism and that covers up systematic disenfranchisement is not true community empowerment.

And this is something I will make time and effort to explain, having privilege as a licensed professional but also lacking privilege as a poor AF QPOC.

13/x

To quickly start: on the Design Review level, many of the conversations occurring require:
1) you to have a strong grasp of the English language
2) a high level of knowledge related to design and real estate
3) the freedom of movement to attend a weeknight two hour meeting
14/x

Moving up from that, if you are designing a project that only has one unit, you are not required to go through design review. New builds in the city typically are now valued at close to a million dollars, or a number most POC could only dream of. A "pay to play."

15/x

Does your project have more than four units? Design review.
But what about if it's 100% affordable? Design review.
Even at under 30% AMI? Still, design review.
What about zero-energy? Yes.
A living building? Yes, still design review.

16/x

So even the thought of truly affordable public housing (for many families) in Seattle that would be built by and for marginalized communities would have to go through a process that takes longer and costs more than one wealthy white homeowner's pet project.

17/x

And stepping up in scale from design review requirements, the land in Seattle zoned for multifamily and mixed use development, which is what is truly causing the displacement happening through concentrated injections of capital...

18/x

..., is predominantly in historically black and brown communities.

This, we already know: seattletimes.com/business/real-…

19/x

This was already existing in the zoning and only exacerbated through Mandatory Housing Affordability. Which, as much as MHA has created more subsidized housing, it means the cost of developing a project is higher and it is less like local/QT/POC developers can do it.

20/x

So, what needs to happen? Well, #1 end Design Review.*

(*for areas not at risk of gentrification and displacement)

21/x

The process increases the cost of projects, no one is happy with the outcome, and no one likes the exteriors created through the process.

What about streetscapes? You may ask. Well...

22/x

Streetscapes, including sidewalks and all ROW improvements are things that the city should be planning on a much larger level. Require that new development either build out an existing plan or pay a few. Straightforward and can be accounted for.

23/x

So when can Design Review be completely abolished?

1) when zoning in the city ensures that every neighborhood provides opportunities for more housing in a manner that does not spot zone, allows for a mix of uses and variety of housing options

and

24/x

2) a new comprehensive plan is created that truly empowers the historically marginalized in our neighborhoods to lead, to engage, and have their voices heard in the process, and aligns with all tenants of the Green New Deal, but most importantly a just transition for all.

25/x

So how do we get #2 to happen in Seattle? Easy! Money.

- Build capacity for people to not just survive but thrive throughout and after this crisis
- Set up educational systems on the Green New Deal and neighborhood design in many styles of media and multiple languages

26/x

- pay community members to serve as block captains in a way similar to census workers
- develop data systems that account for the existing stock of all housing / flora / fauna / and built environment
- extensive outreach
- and even more outreach after that

27/x

- and many more things that I cannot think of at this moment in time

It all boils down to this: we have to completely rebuild the city's planning system in order to escape the current (very racist) one.

28/x

and through this last Seattle process let us have every single battle we have been having all at once, so that future development will be predictable in its impact but that the built result will be left to the creative imagination.

And with that, I cede the keyboard.

29/29