Seattle for Everyone
Futurewise staffs the Seattle for Everyone coalition, a cross-sector effort of local employers, housing providers, and advocacy groups working for shared goals for increased housing in Seattle.
Since 2016, Futurewise has staffed Seattle for Everyone, a cross-sector coalition working to promote housing abundance and affordability in the city. Over the past 8 years, the Seattle for Everyone coalition has been successful in passing new city policies to increase density, promote housing affordability, and make it easier to build new housing.
- Reformed the design review process for affordable housing: In 2023, the Seattle City Council passed two new pieces of legislation, Council Bill 120591 and Council Bill 120581, that will remove barriers to affordable housing production in Seattle by streamlining the permitting process for new construction.
- Reform parking requirements to bring down construction costs: In 2018, Futurewise worked to change Seattle’s rules for off-street parking in new buildings. New legislation reduced how much parking a developer must construct in parts of the city served by frequent transit and required landlords to unbundle the cost of parking from rent, so those who don’t want to pay for a parking space won’t have to.
- Passed Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) legislation: Futurewise led the community outreach and advocacy in 2017 and 2018 in support of the MHA policy that paired increased zoning capacity in Seattle’s urban villages with new minimum standards for housing affordability.
Seattle Passes Design Review Reform to Streamline Construction of Affordable Housing
Office Building in Seattle’s International District, with the street car and a Metro bus in the foreground On July 5 2023, the Seattle City Council passed Council Bill 120591 and Council Bill 120581, two pieces of legislation that will remove barriers to affordable …
More Housing for People, Less for Cars
Futurewise and partners at the Seattle City Council hearing on parking legislation Imagine a policy that could help lower the cost of rent, relieve congestion, reduce our transportation emissions and air pollution, and also improve bicycle parking. By changing Seattle’s
Seattle for Everyone Update
For over a year, Futurewise has been leading the outreach work for the Seattle for Everyone Coalition’s support of the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA). Within the HALA are 65 distinct policy recommendations that work together to address the