Affordable Housing Week 2018 kicks off in just one week!

Join Rep. Nicole Macri and Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna as we kick-off our third annual Affordable Housing Week! Register to attend the kick-off on Monday, May 14th at noon at Seattle City Hall. Following a brief kick-off rally, we’ll march down the street to accept the King County Council’s proclamation.

No matter who you are or where you live in King County, there is something you can do for housing affordability in your neighborhood. Learn about what you can do and share ideas with others during an event-filled week! See the full calendar here.

#AHW2018 Theme Song Contest! 

If the thought of safe, healthy, affordable homes for all makes your heart sing, let the world know! Send us a video of you or your team breaking it down for affordable homes by Thursday, May 10th. We’ll announce the winner at our kick off rally on May 14th.

For inspiration, check out last year’s winner Weber Thompson performing their instant classic “Rad Row House.”

Other developments…

• Seattle Advocates: Three more public hearings on MHA remain! D2, you’re up next. Show up to ensure new growth in Seattle includes affordable homes.
• It’s National Call-in Day: Urge Congress to fully invest in Affordable Housing Programs! Join The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual Our Homes, Our Voices campaign by calling your congressional representatives about federal affordable housing investments today. View a sample script and dial (202) 224-3121.
• Every talking head is talking about the head tax As Amazon narrows its highly publicized search for HQ2, this week all eyes are on Seattle. The company halted a downtown project pending next week’s vote on an employee hours tax. Choice words from the headlines include “showdown,” “hardball,” “fury,” “fury” again, and “Seattle nice died.” Looking for an explainer? The Seattle Times examines how we got here, and Geekwire Podcasts audio-friendly version.
• Sound Transit’s Board is on board for affordability and equity around the county the agency codified internal language to meet 2015 direction from the Legislature. The policies prioritize surplus land for affordable housing, like this.
• Local leaders should be courageous when tackling homelessness and housing affordability, new research out of Seattle University School of Law says.
• Amidst soaring costs of living, case workers are ‘a paycheck away from being homeless themselves.’ Local agencies grappling with high turnover get a sympathetic ear from some Seattle City Councilmembers.
• King County & Seattle sign MOU to restructure regional homelessness response. The County and Seattle will develop recommendations on how to improve the governance structure by December 1st.
• Rainier Beach ready for REDI: Mt. Baker Housing announced plans for new affordable homes in the first Seattle project funded through Enterprise Community Partners’ REDI Fund.
• Affordable Housing a talking point for Eastside legislators at East King County Chamber of Commerce event. Representatives from every eastside district were present with ideas ranging from upzones to condominium legislation.
• Auburn is exploring incentivizing affordability or ‘attainability,’ as Mayor Backus calls it.
• Nearly 10,000 households live in mobile homes around the county, all of them at risk for redevelopment, says KCHA Executive Director Stephen Norman.
• 133 new affordable homes opened in the U-District today! Bellwether Housing held the grand opening ceremony for Arbora Court this morning.

Our Homes, Our Voices National Housing Week of Action kicks off May 1

Affordable housing advocates around the country will be calling for increased investments in affordable housing and community development May 1st – 8th as part of the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Our Homes, Our Voices Week of Action. This year, NLIHC and advocates are urging congress to reject HUD’s proposal to increase rent burdens and impose work requirements on those of us with the lowest incomes.

You can join in to their National Call-in Day on May 7th, tweetstorm on May 8th, and by signing their letter to Congress.

#AHW2018 Theme Song Contest! 

If the thought of safe, healthy, affordable homes for all makes your heart sing, let the world know! Send us a video of you or your team breaking it down for affordable homes by Thursday, May 10th. We’ll announce the winner at our kick off rally on May 14th.

For inspiration, check out last year’s winner Weber Thompson performing their instant classic “Rad Row House.”

Other developments…

• This Thursday: Implementing Equity in Self, Staff, and Sector Staff at every level are invited to join HDC’s Recruiting Diversity Task Force on Thursday, May 3 from 9 am-12 pm at the Centilia Cultural Center for the Implementing Equity in Self, Staff, and Sector to share in a facilitated dialogue and to be in a gracious space. Register here.
• DON of a new era?​ Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan shook up the Department of Neighborhoods Friday. Current Director Kathy Nyland will shift to a senior advisory role in Parks effective 5/16. Taking Nyland’s place as acting director will be Andrés Mantilla. Meanwhile at HSD, concerns about oversight amidst homelessness efforts.
• A shelter for women and families on the Eastside is scheduled to break ground in 2019, literally and figuratively. The 24/7 shelter will be the first of its kind in East King County.
• “This is what homelessness looks like for my mom,” thousands of neighbors around King County live in their vehicles, Melody Clark’s mother was one.
• Rebooting the reboot? Amidst One Table conversations, All Home considers new ways, and potentially new structures, to coordinate homelessness responses around the county.
• Olympia’s approach to Seattle’s homelessness crisis is to focus on land & other long-term resources Speaker Chopp told the Capitol Hill Community Council last week.
• Eight finalists have been selected for Kent’s vacant council position.
• “Generational Friction” and other tensions in Seattle’s zoning debate got national spotlight in Politico last week.
• Redmond City councilmembers aren’t overlooking Overlake development, urging staff and one another to explore ways to lead on both housing and commercial affordability.
• Seattle Advocates: Three more public hearings on MHA remain! D2, you’re up next. Show up to ensure new growth in Seattle includes affordable homes.
• Join Rep. Macri and Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna at our Affordable Housing Week KICK OFF Rally May 14th! Register here.

 New Affordable Housing Week events: Parking Panel and a discussion with Attorney General Bob Ferguson!

The Official Affordable Housing Week 2018 Calendar went live last week, and we’ve already added some new events! Check out these two new opportunities:

• 50 Years of the Fair Housing Act: A Conversation with Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson 
  Tuesday, May 15th 1-2:30 pm at Seattle Central Library
  A discussion with Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson on the successes, challenges, and future of the Fair Housing Act in its 50th anniversary year. Moderated by Emily Alvarado, Manager of Policy & Equity in the City of Seattle’s Office of Housing.
• Panel: Right Sizing Parking around King County
  Friday, May 18th 12- 1:30 pm at Smart Buildings Center
  How do local parking requirements impact affordable housing development? Join Daniel Rowe from King County and staff from cities around the County for a panel discussion about parking requirements and how they are changing locally.​

No matter where you live in the county, there’s something to do near you- with more still yet to come! Which events catch your eye? Let us know using #AHW2018 on Facebook & Twitter.

You and your organization can join #AHW2018 on social media! View our Social Media Guide for details.

  #AHW2018 Theme Song Contest! 

If the thought of safe, healthy, affordable homes for all makes your heart sing, let the world know!Send us a video of you or your team breaking it down for affordable homes by Thursday, May 10th. We’ll announce the winner at our kick off rally on May 14th.

For inspiration, check out last year’s winner Weber Thompson performing their instant classic “Rad Row House.”

Other developments…

• HDC Members: Learn at Lunch with JLARC this Thursday, April 26th. Hear from JLARC about their ongoing housing development cost comparison study and share your experience in affordable housing development. Register here.
• Join us for our upcoming Implementing Equity symposium: staff at any level is invited to join HDC’s Recruiting Diversity Task Force on Thursday, May 3 from 9am-12pm at the Centilia Cultural Center for the Implementing Equity in Staff, Self, and Sector to share in a facilitated dialogue and to be in a gracious space. Event is open to  Register here.

• HDC is treating the Administrative Professional in your life to Happy Hour this Wednesday. Join us from 5-6:30 PM at Elephant & Castle, especially if the administrative professional in your life is you. RSVP requested.
• If you’re curious how many avocado toasts you’d need to give up to become a homeowner here, the answer is 33 per day.​ The Seattle Time’s Mike Rosenberg, who brought us that cutting-edge analysis, brought it back to basics last week; asking the question “why are Seattle-area home prices so high?”
• This year the state legislature voted to #voidSOID by expanding source of income discrimination protections to the whole state. Now King County and local cities are making sure their SOID policies align.
• Residents of an affordable multi-family development in Issaquah protested actions of their new management company.
• We’re going to hear a lot about property taxes this election year. Mona Das came out swinging on them as she announced her challenge to Senator Joe Fain (R-47th) for state senate.
• We’re one public hearing closer to $29 million for affordable housing in Seattle. 
• Sammamish will host an open house this Wednesday, April 25th on the city’s nascent housing strategy plan. More information is available here.
• “Fragmented” efforts on homelessness in King County frame conversations at All Home. The county’s coordinating body considers streamlining over two-day discussion.
• Reports from Seattle City Council staff estimate the employee hours tax could fund 2,000 new affordable homes in five years; the Downtown Seattle Association isn’t on board. Tangenitally related: An affordable housing tax on recreational marijuana might be more than a pipe dream in Denver, the Seattle of Colorado.
• West Seattle residents expressed interest in community land trust models for permanently affordable housing in the Morgan Junction Urban Village.
  
• If you missed last week’s public hearing on MHA, Capitol Hill blog has this very thorough recap. Tip of the cap to every advocate who showed up to ensure new growth in Seattle includes affordable homes- see if your picture made the article! D2, you’re up next.

It’s here! The Official Affordable Housing Week 2018 Calendar is live today. No matter where you live in the county, there’s something to do near you- with more still yet to come! Which events catch your eye? Let us know using #AHW2018 on Facebook & Twitter.

Thank you to the many organizations who are sponsoring or hosting an event this year. It would be Affordable Housing Week without you!

More #AHW2018 events are yet to come! Check out our Affordable Housing Week website for updates.

You and your organization can join #AHW2018 on social media! View our Social Media Guide for details. Download PDF Social Media Guide

#AHW2018 Theme Song Contest! 

If the thought of safe, healthy, affordable homes for all makes your heart sing, let the world know! Send us a video of you or your team breaking it down for affordable homes by Thursday, May 10th. We’ll announce the winner at our kick off rally on May 14th.

For inspiration, check out last year’s winner Weber Thompson performing their instant classic “Rad Row House.”

Other developments…

• HDC Members: Learn at Lunch with JLARC next Thursday, April 26th. Hear from JLARC about their ongoing cost comparison study and share your experience in affordable housing development. Register here.
• Join us for our upcoming Implementing Equity symposium: staff at any level is invitied to join HDC’s Recruiting Diversity Task Force on Thursday, May 3 from 9am-12pm at the Centilia Cultural Center for the Implementing Equity in Staff, Self, and Sector to share in a facilitated dialogue and to be in a gracious space. Event is open to  Register here.
• Lessons for Amazon’s second headquarters city. Most critical? The region’s ability to accommodate new growth.
• As new apartments come online around Seattle, is relief in sight for renters? 
• Kent Advocates: how about running for city council? Apply by this Friday April 20th to keep housing issues moving in the city.
• One Table’s draft recommendations underwhelmed critics, who wanted more homes and revenue sources.
• King County Housing Authority is selling $162.5 million in bonds, in case you’re looking to invest. 
• Bellevue’s upcoming Neighborhood Conference has some interesting-looking sessions on affordable housing, the eastside rail corridor, and more. It’s next Saturday, April 21st. Register here.
• Sammamish will host an open house next Wednesday, April 25th on the city’s nascent housing strategy plan. More information is available here.
• Mercer Island City Councilmember Wendy Weiker is running for state legislature Weiker’s aiming for the 41st LD representative spot open after Rep. Judy Clibborn retired..
• Ignite Project Homeless wants to hear your homelessness story, especially if you can tell it in twenty fifteen-second slides.
• Public Benefits 101 Training for Case Managers: The Coalition on Homelessness is offering this training next Tuesday, April 24th. More details and registration are available here.
• Tonight! Seattle’s public hearings on mandatory housing affordability continue with a public hearing for districts 3 and 7. Planning on attending? Would you like talking points? Contact [email protected].

Save the date for our third annual Affordable Housing Week, beginning one month from tomorrow. The official event calendar and more exciting news are coming next week. 

Other developments…

• “Jurisdictions have to have a plan for affordable housing, because the market won’t take care of it.” said one participant at an affordable housing round table hosted by Rep. DelBene in Kirkland last week.
• NLIHC Day of Thanks tomorrow, April 10th: Use social media to thank Congressional champions who rejected federal budget cuts, instead increasing investment in affordable housing and community development.
• “If we wait and try for a perfect solution, we’ll never make progress,” one neighbor says as new tiny homes for women go up in Whittier Heights. The village, operated by LIHI, will shelter about 20 women experiencing homelessness. Some tiny homes are coming from the faith community on Mercer Island.
• Seattle has a new website to help people with low incomes navigate the services available to them. So far, seven of the site’s 103 resources are dedicated to housing, with a new one launching later this month. 
• Speaking of resource guides, have you seen this new, comprehensive, 132-pager from Real Change? The Emerald City Resource Guide is designed for people who  are experiencing homelessness or are close to it. 
• Kent Advocates: how about running for city council? Apply by April 20th to keep housing issues (and other developments) moving in the city by filling a spot to be vacated by Councilmember Budell, who has accepted a new job out of state. 
• Mixed-income housing for older adults in a new mixed-used building in Auburn is coming… one day. The author may be editorializing when he uses the word “labyrinthine,” to describe the development process, but what a great word it is.
• U-District’s M goes before DRB: The first post-rezone high rise in the University District will go before the design review board today. 
• The CD will likely get its own DRB, pending today’s council vote. The Central Area Design Review District and Board will aim to “support equitable and inclusive community engagement and process, specific for those most impacted by displacement.” 
• For their 30th birthday, SHAG debuts a new meaning for their familiar acronym. 
• Last week, Seattle got some major parking reform that exempts new affordable developments in certain areas from parking requirements. Curbed brings you this explainer of the reforms, and FYI Guy Gene Balk has all the data you need to impress your friends.
• Sammamish is collecting input to update the city’s housing strategy plan. Good people of Sammamish, your feedback is requested here by tomorrow, April 10th.
• Changes in store for Issaquah Highlands & Talus areas? The city’s Planning Policy Commission will consider FAR & structured parking.
• “A pressure cooker situation” is one way to describe the $43k jump in median home price Seattle experienced last month. Home prices have risen fastest in south Seattle, where a man called Moose has some insight into what’s going on.
• What impact, if any, does the Rental Assistance Demonstration have on children living in public housing? Yumiko Aratani of Columbia University explores this question at the West Coast Poverty Center’s seminar Monday, April 16th. 
• Ignite Project Homeless wants to hear your homelessness story, especially if you can tell it in twenty fifteen-second slides. 
• Matthew Desmond, the author of a true must-read for housing advocates Evicted, & Princeton today launched a new mapping tool to understand eviction. 
• Next Monday: Seattle’s public hearings on mandatory housing affordability continue with a public hearing for districts 3 and 7. Planning on attending? Would you like talking points? Contact [email protected].

Seattle City Council Might End Mandatory Parking Minimums for Affordable Housing Today

ICYMI at our Learn at Lunch last Friday, Seattle City Council may vote as soon as today on off-street parking reforms with a big impact on housing affordability in the city. The proposed legislation includes some notable changes for local housers, including:

• Landlords of certain new developments must unbundle parking from rent, so that tenants who don’t have a car aren’t required to pay to store one.
• No mandatory parking minimums on housing affordable to households earning 80% AMI or below.
• Increased requirements for bike parking.

Seattle’s current off-street parking policy is out of line with demand in a time of unparalleled need for urban space, say reform advocates. They note that current requirements are higher than actual demand, leaving about a third of private parking spots in the city unused according to a recent study conducted by the city. At about $50k a piece, those are some expensive vacant stalls. The proposed legislation would allow those spots to be available to the public.

Today’s public hearing begins at 2. If you can’t be there and would like to support the bill, you can send an email.

Other developments…

• HDC Members: This Friday is the deadline to submit an event for Affordable Housing Week! Check out the website for ideas from last year and use this form to submit yours.
• Do you know who ‘Kenny’ is? A man who called the streets of the U-District home for over 25 years needs help getting medical services and housing, but can’t access those services because he doesn’t know his name. Do you?
• King County felt the brunt of property tax increases at the state level, and some homeowners say ‘enough is enough.’ 
• A judge struck down Seattle’s first-in-time law, but the city is likely to appeal. 
• Rep. Joan McBride of the 48th Legislative District announced herretirement. Current Kirkland Mayor Amy Walen will campaign for the spot. HDC thanks Rep. McBride for being a champion for housing during not only her time in the legislature, but throughout her entire career.
• No decision yet in Firs Mobile Home Park appeal. Residents continue to wait as a judge works through the case’s “voluminous record.”
• “The Central District is a place whose geography is familiar, but whose people and features are increasingly strange and unrelated to who I am.” Artist and CD homeowner Inye Wokoma’s story brings into sharp relief the impact of systemic racism on housing and wealth building for families of color to this day.
• Sammamish has begun collecting input to update the city’s housing strategy plan. Good people of Sammamish, your feedback is requested here by April 10th.
• The Washington State Convention Center expansion comes with a lot of community benefits- including $29 million for affordable housing. One council member wants more, but the negotiators aren’t so sure. 
• Your next Seattle apartment is being built in Boise. 
• Seattle’s public hearings on mandatory housing affordability continue with a public hearing for districts 3 and 7 is on April 16th.

Cantwell-Hatch Provisions in Omnibus Bill Bring Unexpected Good News for Affordable Housing

Late last week Congress and the president approved the omnibus spending bill, averting a government shut down and- somewhat surprisingly– bringing good news to the affordable housing community. That’s because the spending bill includes a four-year, 12.5% increase in housing tax credit allocations and allows income-averaging at LIHTC-financed properties. Both provisions come from theAffordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, a 2016 bill by our own Senator Maria Cantwell and Utah’s Senator Orrin Hatch. Since its introduction, the bill has had wide-spread bipartisan support.

The income averaging provision, which is permanent, means that households earning up to 80% of area median income can live in LIHTC-financed properties so long as the average income of all residents remains at 60%. The 12.5% increase will not fully make up for projected reduction in development caused by the tax reform bill, but it is an important first step. The ACTION campaign reports it will support the development or rehabilitation of 29,000 new affordable rental homes nationwide.

Senator Cantwell will hold a press event tomorrow to celebrate, and all are welcome. Join at Patrick Place Apartments, 4251 Aurora Avenue N, Seattle, WA 98103 beginning at 11:15 pm. RSVP to [email protected] or call 202-579-6002.

Other developments…

• HDC Members: Got questions about parking requirements and reforms? Join us this Friday for a Learn at Lunch on Parking. Register here and bring your lunch!.
• City of Kent unanimously adopted a proactive rental licensing and inspections program! The new program protects renters from sub-standard living conditions and takes some of the burden of reporting them off of renters, though they still have that option. Kent residents, send your council a thank you here.
• Seattle is tied with Denver for lowest housing inventory in the nation, as homeowners delay selling out of fear they couldn’t buy in the market.
• The King County Council wants to see innovative responses to housing demand and Vashon looks to deliver. A development in planning stageswould bring 40 new, affordable, and green homes to the island.
• Land transfers can make affordable housing development a reality and the state just made it easier for some agencies do them. Real Change explores land transfers here.
• Speaking of land transfers, here’s a great story that begins in a refugee camp and ends at Nhon’s Place, but it probably doesn’t go the way you think it does.
• Sammamish has begun collecting input to update the city’s housing strategy plan. Good people of Sammamish, your feedback is requested here by April 10th.
• “What is it going to take to keep you and your family housed right now?”New data from King County shows that question led to solutions for 4,000 people who were able to keep themselves housed with help from the Best Starts for Kids initiative.
• A vision of affordable housing surrounded by immigrant-run shops in downtown Tukwila, made possible with help from a land trust, detailed here.
• Seattle’s open houses on mandatory housing affordability continue with districts 3 and 7 this Thursday. The public hearing for these districts is on April 16th.

Did we miss something? Let us know!

With Your Help, Kent Can Get Proactive About Healthy Homes

Tomorrow Kent City Councilmembers will vote on a proactive Rental Licensing Inspection Program to protect and improve the health of rental housing in the city! This is great news because it means that buildings will be regularly inspected without tenants having to complain first.

Send in your emails NOW and help to create the third proactive municipal rental inspections program in King County! Help make this great program a reality by urging the Council to vote YES tomorrow.
Send an email here >>

Other developments…

• HDC Members: Got questions about parking requirements and reforms? Join us for next Friday’s Learn at Lunch on Parking Register here.
• “12th Ave Arts took 13 years and four mayors” Turns out, affordable housing development isn’t easy. Real Change explores some of the reasons why.
• Housing insecurity is of increasing concern to older adults. A social worker at a Seattle senior center says requests for housing assistance went from rare to weekly in just the last four years.
• Kenmore’s getting denser and more urban, according to this new profile in Crosscut and the city wants to hear from residents about a new Economic Development Strategy.
• NLIHC released it’s 2018 Housing Gap Report last week. In Washington, there are only 29 affordable homes for every 100 households with 30% or less of area median income.
• More moratorium for City of Sammamish, though Mayor Malchow doesn’t expect the moratorium to last the full six months for which it has been enacted.
• A bill to increase relocation assistance for tenants of mobile homes failed to pass this legislative session, but Rep. Ryu holds out hope for next session.
• “You’re a paycheck away.” The Housing For All Coalition hosted a House Partyat Cafe Red last week where Seattleites shared their housing stories and ideas for solutions.
• Folks working at the intersection of climate, equity, and social justice might want to check out this training hosted by King County GreenTools, Northwest EcoBuilding Guild, and Built Green
• Seattle may place a moratorium on rent-bidding websites following the lead of The Associated Students of UW.

 5 Bills in 1 Session= Better Housing Outcomes for WA!

Well done, advocates! The 2018 legislative session has come to an end, and it was historically good.

To everyone who advocated, we say thank you. Your outreach and persistence led to the passage of 5 bills this session, each with a meaningful and positive impact for affordable housing:

• Document Recording Fee- generated funding for housing and homelessness services has increased and been made permanent with the passage of HB 1570
• A tax on short-term rentals like AirBnBs will fund affordable housing with the passage of HB 2015
• Publicly-owned surplus land will be prioritized for affordable housing development with the passage of HB 2382
• Renters across the state across the state who use publicly administered funds, like Section 8 vouchers or Social Security benefits, received legal protection from source of income discrimination with the passage of HB 2578
• Non-profit affordable housers will not be assessed real estate excise taxes with the passage of HB 2444

You advocated, and your lawmakers listened. Thank them today! 
Send a Thank You

Other developments…

• EVEN MORE THANK YOUs to everyone who joined us for our 30th Anniversary Celebration luncheon! It’s an honor to share space with you year after year. Couldn’t attend? You can still support our work here.
• TONIGHT: City of Kent might get proactive about keeping their housing healthy by adopting a proactive rental licensing inspection program. Let them know it’s a great idea!
• City of Seattle’s public hearings on Citywide- Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) continue with Districts 5 & 6 tonight. Interested in supporting MHA? Connect with Seattle For Everyone for details.
• Seattle’s Progressive Revenue Task Force released its final recommendations on an employee hours tax (EHT) after City Council narrowly rejected the first EHT proposal last November.
• City of Bellevue approved $1.8 million to ARCH last week. The funding will support four affordable housing and shelter developments around east King County!
• City of Renton is weighing a rental licensing and inspection program similar to those already in use in Tacoma and Bremerton.
• Residents of the Firs in SeaTac, who have been fighting the sale and pending redevelopment of their mobile home park, got some help from the state budget, but it will be about $8 million short unless other resources come into play.
• Nexus Youth & Families opened a new 24-hour shelter for youth in Auburn. The shelter is reopening after a four-year closure due to lack of funds.
• A new 24/7 shelter for families is coming to Kirkland. The City and its partners in the project hope it will open in 2019.

State Legislative Update: 3 days remain!

Three days remain until “Sine Die”- the last day of this year’s historic state legislative session. Housing Advocates have had some truly incredible wins, but we don’t get to celebrate just yet. Two bills need our support to make it through these few short days. Help get these bills over the finish line:

HB 2437: to raise up to $500 million for investment in affordable housing statewide
HB 2444: to ensure non-profit affordable housing providers aren’t assessed real estate excise tax

Keep your lawmaker’s attention on these issues and urge their support with a quick email.

Other developments…

• Tomorrow is HDC’s 30th Anniversary Celebration! It’s SOLD OUT! But you can still support our work here.
• 130 “truly affordable” homes coming to the east side! Imagine Housing’s work at Esterra aims to make it easier for people who work in Redmond to live there, too.
• A court ruling may offer new protections for people living in their vehicles. A King County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of a man who lived in his truck until it was ticket, towed, and impounded.
• We need more housing, sure, but we also need higher incomes writes the Time’s Jon Talton in this deep-dive into economic drivers of the affordable housing crisis.
• Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus addressed affordable housing in her State of the City speech, calling for regional solutions to the ‘ripple effects’ stressing Auburn and the entire Puget Sound region.
• Woohoo! Renton City Council will expand source of income discrimination protections to cover social security, unemployment, retirement, child support, and other non-profit or government administered income! We’re looking forward to seeing the whole state join Renton in passing these protections before the end of legislative session!
• Sammamish students will host HopeFest later this month. The event is an opportunity for people in need to receive food, clothing, toiletries, etc., and enjoy entertainment.
• King County provides space for two organizations fighting homelessness.The Block Project and Humble Design have new space to work on Harbor Island.
• Crosscut’s Knute Berger has a thought piece that begins with affordable housing, makes a pit stop on Vashon Island, and ends in “Cascadiatopolis.” 
• City of Seattle’s public hearings on Citywide- Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) continue with Districts 5 & 6 next week. Interested in supporting MHA? Connect with Seattle For Everyone for details.
• City of Kent might get proactive about keeping their housing healthy by adopting a proactive rental licensing inspection program. Let them know it’s a great idea!