Futurewise partnered with S4E and Welcoming West Seattle to host a panel discussion for Affordable Housing Week 2018. The discussion was held at Southwest Youth and Family Services in West Seattle and covered the topics of transit oriented development and affordable housing – specifically, the role that the City of Seattle and Sound Transit can play to help facilitate affordable housing around future light rail stations in West Seattle and across the City.

We had an all-star group of panelists that gave a variety of perspectives, including: District 1 Councilmember Lisa Herbold, District 8 Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, Edward Butterfield of Sound Transit, Bill Rumpf of Mercy Housing, and Marijana Cvenček of Schemata Workgroup, Inc.

All of the questions asked were collected from community members; they probably have some of the same questions about transit oriented development and affordable housing as you! Questions ranged from how does Sound Transit incorporate transit oriented development and how can they discount property; what barriers do affordable housing developers have to build projects; all the way to how do we make sure that we have affordable commercial spaces for small local businesses to thrive.

The panel was moderated by Bryce Yadon, the State Policy Director for Futurewise, and Welcoming West Seattle’s Matt Hutchins, a West Seattle resident and architect. You can read in detail and watch the hour long discussion here.