Mayor Durkan Announces Housing Seattle Now
Mayor Durkan announced her Housing Seattle Now initiative outlining various strategies and policies to address housing and homelessness. This initiative rebrands the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda, which AIA Seattle previously endorsed. Durkan outlined four priorities for Housing Seattle Now:
- Build true educational and economic opportunity
- Address displacement and help residents stay in their current housing
- Build more housing for our neighbors experiencing homelessness, for low-income earners, and middle-income earners like teachers, nurses, and construction workers
- Secure new tools and resources the City can use to address the housing crisis
Initial steps include proposed legislation to: 1) invest $50 million in housing for people experiencing homelessness through a state mechanism that allows local jurisdictions to retain their sales tax revenue for affordable housing; and 2) renew and improve the city’s Multi-Family Tax Exemption program
