Advocacy Update – April 2024
Seattle News
AIA Seattle Members – Get Active for a Livable City
AIA Seattle members envisions the City of Seattle as a livable city with a variety of housing near many types of amenities, retail cores, and transit that appeals to and is accessible to everyone, where everything residents need can be reached within 15 minutes by walking, rolling, or public transit.
AIA Seattle members have a valued voice in our city’s future, and they can get active now to impact the evolution of both the One Seattle Draft Comprehensive Plan and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Members have expressed great disappointment in the lack of vision and limited pathways for growth in the current draft versions of these plans. It’s time to make sure we come together to move the needle in the direction of the 15-minute city!
Here’s How to Advocate for a Livable City of Seattle
Your voice matters, and whether you have just a few minutes, or a few hours, you can take action to express to elected officials and municipal staff the urgent need for a livable city. Share information to help your colleagues get active! You can use AIA Seattle’s Talking Points as a tool to support your engagement.
Attend an upcoming Open House in the next few days
Join an Open House event for the City of Seattle’s Draft Comprehensive Plan to advocate for livable communities. Join a pre-open house coffee organized by our fellow advocates with Complete Communities Coalition to meet like-minded folks and attend the Open House together!
Share written comments in OPCD’s Engagement Hub before May 6th
The format for OPCD collecting comments through the hub is not straightforward. Stay with it! You can place comments in specific areas of the plan, and read and comment on the comments other folks make. You will first be required to share some information about yourself and then can engage most easily by choosing ‘elements’ from the plan.
Reach out to your City Council Representative or the Mayor’s Office.
You can find City Council email addresses and send a message to the Mayor or his team.
Repost calls to action to encourage your colleagues to get active!
Share posts from AIA Seattle’s LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook
AIA Seattle Draft Comp Plan and Draft EIS Positions Developed from Member Input
Thanks to the dozens of AIA Seattle members who engaged in the April 2nd Charrette for the One Seattle Draft Comprehensive Plan offered by the Urban Design Forum and AIA Seattle Comprehensive Plan Workgroup. The charrette was an engaging opportunity to identify areas of alignment and recommendations for improvement in the draft plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
Supreme Court Heard Case Monday with Implications for People Experiencing Homelessness
On Monday, the Supreme Court heard arguments that will determine how people experiencing homelessness are treated under local laws. The case, City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, will significantly impact whether cities can criminalize people sleeping outside and what actions cities can take under the Eighth Amendment, which protects individuals from status-based crimes.
The AIA Seattle Committee on Homelessness shared concerns about this case in a February letter to the City of Seattle’s City Attorney, Mayor, and City Council and urged the city to focus on solutions to our community’s urgent housing crisis rather than disregard the rights of people experiencing homelessness. AIA Seattle believes the City should adopt a comprehensive plan that reevaluates Seattle’s growth strategy to end exclusionary zoning and add housing capacity everywhere; speeds up housing production by addressing process bottlenecks and supporting more housing types; and addresses city design challenges by lessening code requirements which prohibit development.
The Supreme Court’s decision will most likely be delivered in June.
We’d love to hear from you! For more information on advocacy topics, please contact:
Melissa K. Neher | Executive Director, AIA Seattle
