IL – CHICAGO -- Affordable Housing Win in Woodlawn
Chicago Public Radio – 1/28/2009 --The fate of an affordable housing complex in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood is closer to a resolution. For years the subsidized Grove Parc Apartments sat in limbo. It failed a federal inspection and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development wanted to foreclose on the buildings and move the low-income tenants elsewhere. Now the agency has approved letting the Boston-based Preservation of Affordable housing, or POAH, own the apartments. The plan means current tenants can stay. Laura Lane is a community organizer in Woodlawn and worked for the former Grove Parc owner. LANE: One of the biggest things in terms of the overall affordable housing picture in Chicago is that we did not lose one dime of this subsidy. So we’ll be able to help 504 families who need the help. Tenants and activists had organized to preserve the apartments, which were built in the 1960s just south of the University of Chicago. POAH is planning upgrades of dilapidated units.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Alternate Views from Royer FYI
Note that Seattle writer Josh Feit has started a new blog, Publicola, focusing on Olympia and Washington, DC. Hope you all are weathering the recession and looking forward to a new administration and better times ahead. We will be monitoring the Legislature as it takes up issues we identified in the Workforce Housing Action Workshop last year.
http://publicola.horsesass.org
by Josh Feit, 01/20/2009, 2:23 PM
Rep. Sharon Nelson (D-34, West Seattle, Vashon) is introducing a bill in the Local Government Committee today that would require transit oriented development around mass transit hubs.
TOD rules include not holding developers to a minimum parking space requirement, upping net densities for allowable units per acre, and mandating mixed use development with affordability requirements.
This last requirement about affordable housing has reportedly turned Speaker of the House Rep. Frank Chopp (D-43, Wallingford , Capitol Hill, U-District) into a fan of Nelson’s bill. Chopp is strong supporter of low-income housing. His support this year is a win for environmentalists who are pushing the bill. When they pushed a similar bill last year, Chopp helped kill it (follow the tortured saga here) because his supporters in the Building Idustry Association of Washington (BIAW) didn’t like it (too many building regulations.) With Chopp potentially in their corner this time around, the bill has a much better chance.
Ironically, affordable housing issues may also doom the bill. Vocal low-income housing advocate John Fox of the Seattle Displacement Coalition doesn’t like the bill because he believes the density requirements lead directly to gentrification.
The local urban policy blog, HugeAssCity, strongly disagrees with Fox and pointed out that Fox overstated the impact of the proposed upzone by confusing net density (which measures units on developable land only) with gross density (which measures units over an entire area). By subbing in the higher net density number for a typically much-lower gross density number, Fox made it seem as if Seattle would become Brooklyn .
Rep. Nelson has three co-sponsors: Reps. Jamie Pedersen (D-43, Capitol Hill, Wallingford , U-District), Roger Goodman (D-45, Seattle Eastside Suburbs), and last year’s prime sponsor Geoff Simpson (D-47, Covington , Black Diamond). Sen. Chris Marr (D-6, Spokane ) is sponsoring a Senate version.
New Density Bill Coming to Vote!!!!
New density bill could force overcrowding in city
By John V. Fox and Carolee Colter
Outside City Hall
Although Seattle residents don't know it yet, a bill will be introduced in our state Legislature in January that could have a massive impact on the affordability and livability of our neighborhoods.
Proposed by the statewide land-use and environmental planning group Futurewise (formerly called 1,000 Friends of Washington), this bill would essentially force cities in the Puget Sound region to create Transit Oriented Development (TOD) areas at every transit station along a rail or bus rapid-transit route and upzone all the land within a half-mile radius of those stations.
Within these areas, cities would be required to accommodate densities greater than what now exists in our downtown (or anywhere else between here and San Francisco for that matter).
The Futurewise bill would have the most immediate impact on Southeast Seattle, especially along Martin Luther King Jr. Way, where several thousand low-income and minority households now live.
But over the long term, it also affects Capitol Hill, the University District, Roosevelt and Northgate, where rail extensions are planned.
WELL ABOVE MINIMUM DENSITY
In principle, adding some level of additional density around transit stations makes very good environmental sense. If not managed, urban sprawl eats up farmland, forests and other open space. Planning housing around public transit gives people realistic options to using cars for all their transportation needs.
However, upzones that encourage still more market-rate development in already built-up communities threaten hundreds, if not thousands, of existing lower-priced housing units within those areas.
Such densities also threaten what remains of the tree canopy. Single-family neighborhoods contain far more trees than our public parks. But single-family housing and low-cost rentals within these TOD areas would become endangered species.
Currently, all of Southeast Seattle is at a density of about four units per acre. The Rainier Vista HOPE VI community located next to the Edmunds Street transit station is planned to contain 1,000 or so units on 65 acres; that's about 15 units per acre. Seattle's Belltown (the densest neighborhood in the state) contains about 25 units per acre.
Now consider that Futurewise's TOD bill would require cities to plan for a minimum density of 50 units per acre within a half-mile of the Othello, McClellan and Edmunds rail stations. Given that a circle with a half-mile radius contains 502 acres, at least 25,000 housing units would be required in each of those station areas.
At most, these areas now hold 3,000 units of lower-density apartments and single-family homes, most occupied by lower-income and minority households. Imagine multiplying densities in these areas by eight!
This bill is a bull in a china shop. It would lay waste to whole communities in the name of "sustainability." Futurewise wrote it as if the Rainier Valley were a tabla rasa - a blank slate for planners and wide-eyed naive enviros to play out what they just learned in class or at a conference on global warming.
ASSURANCES NEEDED
What could be done by urban counties and cities around the Puget Sound to reasonably plan for added densities, including along transit routes, and not jeopardize whole communities, the remaining green spaces and affordability?
If the state advances pro-density programs that jurisdictions are encouraged (or required) to use - such as incentive zoning, bonus programs, multi-family tax exemptions or creation of TOD areas - urban counties and cities must meet the following conditions:
•Create an inventory of existing rental-housing stock in the affected area that is still affordable to low-income renters - If upzones, transit overlays or other land-use measures are planned, they must be accompanied by a low-cost housing vulnerability assessment and tools to mitigate the losses that may result.
•Require one-for-one replacement - Developers who tear down existing low-cost housing to build within TOD areas and who take advantage of such programs must replace the low-cost rental units and at a comparable price.
•Plan for and require a mix of units tailored to the income needs and affordability levels of those communities where these added densities are encouraged - Define the required percentages of units priced at or below 30 percent of AMI (area median income), between 30 to 50 percent of AMI and between 50 and 80 percent of AMI.
•Establish a low-cost housing notification requirement - When rental properties containing low-cost rental units are put up for sale, the owners must notify the local jurisdiction. Nonprofit housing developers and housing authorities from that jurisdiction should be given a reasonable amount of time in which to bid on the property and match or exceed other offers - at least 120 days.
Often notification and time are all that is needed for housing authorities and nonprofits to assemble the resources they need to outbid speculators and preserve such housing.
•Add more state funding into the current "rapid response" fund and possibly into a homeowner equity fund, to facilitate acquisition of low-cost rental and homeowner units that may be vulnerable to redevelopment in these high growth areas, and to facilitate the notification measure we've proposed above.
•Add language to the bill to mitigate the effects of such growth on open space and trees within these TOD areas.
BEING AT THE TABLE
Above all, every plan to push more density in existing areas must begin by making sure that the voice of affected residents is heard and "at the table" when this bill or any other pro-density measure is drafted. It cannot be just a bunch of planners, developers and gung-ho enviros caucusing behind closed doors with no understanding of (or seemingly any care for) the existing social and physical fabric of our communities.
To its credit, Futurewise has voiced a willingness to sit down with affected communities and low-income housing advocates and discuss these concerns.
But it's too early to tell if they will scale back required densities within these TOD areas, or add the housing measures we and others have proposed. If these issues are not addressed, their bill can only be described as social engineering at its worst.
John V. Fox and Carolee Colter lead the Seattle Displacement Coalition. They can be reached at needitor@nwlink.com.
By John V. Fox and Carolee Colter
Outside City Hall
Although Seattle residents don't know it yet, a bill will be introduced in our state Legislature in January that could have a massive impact on the affordability and livability of our neighborhoods.
Proposed by the statewide land-use and environmental planning group Futurewise (formerly called 1,000 Friends of Washington), this bill would essentially force cities in the Puget Sound region to create Transit Oriented Development (TOD) areas at every transit station along a rail or bus rapid-transit route and upzone all the land within a half-mile radius of those stations.
Within these areas, cities would be required to accommodate densities greater than what now exists in our downtown (or anywhere else between here and San Francisco for that matter).
The Futurewise bill would have the most immediate impact on Southeast Seattle, especially along Martin Luther King Jr. Way, where several thousand low-income and minority households now live.
But over the long term, it also affects Capitol Hill, the University District, Roosevelt and Northgate, where rail extensions are planned.
WELL ABOVE MINIMUM DENSITY
In principle, adding some level of additional density around transit stations makes very good environmental sense. If not managed, urban sprawl eats up farmland, forests and other open space. Planning housing around public transit gives people realistic options to using cars for all their transportation needs.
However, upzones that encourage still more market-rate development in already built-up communities threaten hundreds, if not thousands, of existing lower-priced housing units within those areas.
Such densities also threaten what remains of the tree canopy. Single-family neighborhoods contain far more trees than our public parks. But single-family housing and low-cost rentals within these TOD areas would become endangered species.
Currently, all of Southeast Seattle is at a density of about four units per acre. The Rainier Vista HOPE VI community located next to the Edmunds Street transit station is planned to contain 1,000 or so units on 65 acres; that's about 15 units per acre. Seattle's Belltown (the densest neighborhood in the state) contains about 25 units per acre.
Now consider that Futurewise's TOD bill would require cities to plan for a minimum density of 50 units per acre within a half-mile of the Othello, McClellan and Edmunds rail stations. Given that a circle with a half-mile radius contains 502 acres, at least 25,000 housing units would be required in each of those station areas.
At most, these areas now hold 3,000 units of lower-density apartments and single-family homes, most occupied by lower-income and minority households. Imagine multiplying densities in these areas by eight!
This bill is a bull in a china shop. It would lay waste to whole communities in the name of "sustainability." Futurewise wrote it as if the Rainier Valley were a tabla rasa - a blank slate for planners and wide-eyed naive enviros to play out what they just learned in class or at a conference on global warming.
ASSURANCES NEEDED
What could be done by urban counties and cities around the Puget Sound to reasonably plan for added densities, including along transit routes, and not jeopardize whole communities, the remaining green spaces and affordability?
If the state advances pro-density programs that jurisdictions are encouraged (or required) to use - such as incentive zoning, bonus programs, multi-family tax exemptions or creation of TOD areas - urban counties and cities must meet the following conditions:
•Create an inventory of existing rental-housing stock in the affected area that is still affordable to low-income renters - If upzones, transit overlays or other land-use measures are planned, they must be accompanied by a low-cost housing vulnerability assessment and tools to mitigate the losses that may result.
•Require one-for-one replacement - Developers who tear down existing low-cost housing to build within TOD areas and who take advantage of such programs must replace the low-cost rental units and at a comparable price.
•Plan for and require a mix of units tailored to the income needs and affordability levels of those communities where these added densities are encouraged - Define the required percentages of units priced at or below 30 percent of AMI (area median income), between 30 to 50 percent of AMI and between 50 and 80 percent of AMI.
•Establish a low-cost housing notification requirement - When rental properties containing low-cost rental units are put up for sale, the owners must notify the local jurisdiction. Nonprofit housing developers and housing authorities from that jurisdiction should be given a reasonable amount of time in which to bid on the property and match or exceed other offers - at least 120 days.
Often notification and time are all that is needed for housing authorities and nonprofits to assemble the resources they need to outbid speculators and preserve such housing.
•Add more state funding into the current "rapid response" fund and possibly into a homeowner equity fund, to facilitate acquisition of low-cost rental and homeowner units that may be vulnerable to redevelopment in these high growth areas, and to facilitate the notification measure we've proposed above.
•Add language to the bill to mitigate the effects of such growth on open space and trees within these TOD areas.
BEING AT THE TABLE
Above all, every plan to push more density in existing areas must begin by making sure that the voice of affected residents is heard and "at the table" when this bill or any other pro-density measure is drafted. It cannot be just a bunch of planners, developers and gung-ho enviros caucusing behind closed doors with no understanding of (or seemingly any care for) the existing social and physical fabric of our communities.
To its credit, Futurewise has voiced a willingness to sit down with affected communities and low-income housing advocates and discuss these concerns.
But it's too early to tell if they will scale back required densities within these TOD areas, or add the housing measures we and others have proposed. If these issues are not addressed, their bill can only be described as social engineering at its worst.
John V. Fox and Carolee Colter lead the Seattle Displacement Coalition. They can be reached at needitor@nwlink.com.
Seattle Planners Network Activation Time
Good Evening Folks! I know it has been a while since we last spoke, however the time has come to rally and develop a PLAN. There are a few of us who are sitting this quarter out and attending to things on the "street", the next few days will be busy in terms of information traffic and announcements of upcoming meetings and legislative sessions will be coming quickly. I hope that the momentum of the elections, swearing -in, and getting to work by the new administration is stimulating your interest again in the PN Seattle.
So.....let's get to it!
In a series of articles and announcements on State and local legislation the Planners Network - Seattle Chapter will begin to discuss and interact (through presentations, testimony, etc.) with the community.
I am currently sitting on the Neighborhood Planning Advisory Committee (NPAC) representing the Southeast District of Seattle as an Ad Hoc member. I am also, as many of you know working at Yesler Terrace and with SHA (Seattle Housing Authority) on their site development programs.
With that there is HOT news running and issues of social and economic justice are hitting the table. I am calling on folks to jump in when you are ready, willing, and able.
With that, I know that there are other issues to deal with in the region and locally, so bring it on! Let's talk about them and develop a game plan!
Peace
Eddie
So.....let's get to it!
In a series of articles and announcements on State and local legislation the Planners Network - Seattle Chapter will begin to discuss and interact (through presentations, testimony, etc.) with the community.
I am currently sitting on the Neighborhood Planning Advisory Committee (NPAC) representing the Southeast District of Seattle as an Ad Hoc member. I am also, as many of you know working at Yesler Terrace and with SHA (Seattle Housing Authority) on their site development programs.
With that there is HOT news running and issues of social and economic justice are hitting the table. I am calling on folks to jump in when you are ready, willing, and able.
With that, I know that there are other issues to deal with in the region and locally, so bring it on! Let's talk about them and develop a game plan!
Peace
Eddie
Monday, January 19, 2009
Othello Neighborhood Association Mtg. Jan. 27th
Hello, At this on Tuesday (January 27th, 2009) meeting we will:
We will have coffee and cookies...hope to see you there! Agenda is attached.
- Learn about design plans for Rainier Avenue to implement smooth traffic flow. They would like suggestions and feedback from residents.
- Review and make suggestions for parking restriction plans around the Othello station (last chance for feedback!)
- Hear about newly proposed state legislation that mandates high density in neighborhoods like ours (light rail = average 50 units/acre min!!)
- Discuss the impact of Safeway selling their property and restricting the deed of trust to not allow any replacement grocery, pharmacy or fuel stores.
- Get a new executive committee for the 2009 year (Jan-Dec, w/ 10 months of meetings)
We will have coffee and cookies...hope to see you there! Agenda is attached.
AGENDA
- Welcome, introductions and review and approval of November minutes – 5 mins.
- Neighborhood News & Announcements – 5 mins.
- ONA Executive Committee Elections
|
| Nominations |
|
| Chair – Jenna Walden |
|
| Vice-Chair – Nancy Wagner |
|
| Secretary / Treasurer – Patricia Pascha |
4. Rainier Avenue Transit Speed and Reliability Project; Briefing & Q/A – Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), Jonathon Dong – 20 mins.
Project is currently designing improvements for Rainier Avenue between Jackson and Henderson to improve the travel time and reliability of transit on Rainier Avenue. This includes transit traffic signal on certain intersections, implementing "bus bulbs" at selected stops, and other suggestions to improve bus timeliness and driver irritation!
- Residential Parking Zones for Othello Station; Briefing & Q/A – Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), Sara Robertson – 20 mins.
Effective parking plans around Othello Station can only be made with the input from residents of the neighborhood. Learn about parking regulations, permits, time restrictions and load zones around our neighborhood and commercial streets
- Transit-Oriented Communities (TOC) Legislation: Briefing & Q/A – Ron Momoda – 20 mins. This is a proposed state bill which requires neighborhoods with a major transit station (light rail or rapid-bus station) to have average 50-unit/acre density requirements. This legislation puts property rights in question and quality of life questions. It also raises questions about appropriate policy and policy execution of worthy environmental and sustainable objectives.
7. Discuss & Votes; ONA membership and attendees summarize and make conclusions on topics presented:
- New Business; attendees bring matters up they'd like to discuss
Community Events: Urban Wilderness Project
Urban Wilderness Project presents
R U An Endangered
Species?™: Find Out Attend the R U an Endangered Species?™ 4- Part Series
©,
2008, Jourdan I Keith
PART ONE
Human Estuaries: Our Polluted Streams
Thursday, January 8, 2009, 5:00 pm to 8 pm
PART TWO: Strange Fruit: Race, Violence, and Environment
Thursday, February 12, 2009, 5:00 pm to 8 pm
PART THREE: Saving Limbs: Green Spaces and Women’s Lives
Thursday, March 12, 2009, 5:00 pm to 8 pm
PART FOUR: Does Homophobia Have a Carbon Count?: Gender Perception and Safety
Thursday, April 9, 2009,5:00 pm to 8 pm
Pritchard Beach Bathhouse,
8400 55th Avenue S., Seattle , WA
ABOUT URBAN WILDERNESS PROJECT
Mission
The Urban Wilderness Project works to restore and encourage positive
communities by providing culturally and environmentally based service-learning
projects for youth and adult participants.
Vision
To empower and mobilize individuals in their communities to remove the
psychological, social, racial, gender, disabilities, and sexual orientation
barriers associated with current land and water use attitudes, practices and
policies. To provide programs and trainings which reveal acknowledge and
address the global, historical and persistent traumas associated with
environmentalism as defined by dominant culture.
URBAN WILDERNESS PROJECT
"Restoring communities, culture, and the environment." TM
Jourdan Imani Keith
Founder and Director
P.O. Box 18874
Seattle, WA 98118
206-579-5848
www.urbanwildernessproject.org
URBAN WILDERNESS PROJECT
"Restoring communities, culture, and the environment." TM
Jourdan Imani Keith
Founder and Director
P.O. Box 18874
Seattle, WA 98118
206-579-5848
www.urbanwildernessproject.org
R U An Endangered
Species?™: Find Out Attend the R U an Endangered Species?™ 4- Part Series
©,
2008, Jourdan I Keith
PART ONE
Human Estuaries: Our Polluted Streams
Thursday, January 8, 2009, 5:00 pm to 8 pm
PART TWO: Strange Fruit: Race, Violence, and Environment
Thursday, February 12, 2009, 5:00 pm to 8 pm
PART THREE: Saving Limbs: Green Spaces and Women’s Lives
Thursday, March 12, 2009, 5:00 pm to 8 pm
PART FOUR: Does Homophobia Have a Carbon Count?: Gender Perception and Safety
Thursday, April 9, 2009,5:00 pm to 8 pm
Pritchard Beach Bathhouse,
8400 55th Avenue S., Seattle , WA
ABOUT URBAN WILDERNESS PROJECT
Mission
The Urban Wilderness Project works to restore and encourage positive
communities by providing culturally and environmentally based service-learning
projects for youth and adult participants.
Vision
To empower and mobilize individuals in their communities to remove the
psychological, social, racial, gender, disabilities, and sexual orientation
barriers associated with current land and water use attitudes, practices and
policies. To provide programs and trainings which reveal acknowledge and
address the global, historical and persistent traumas associated with
environmentalism as defined by dominant culture.
URBAN WILDERNESS PROJECT
"Restoring communities, culture, and the environment." TM
Jourdan Imani Keith
Founder and Director
P.O. Box 18874
Seattle, WA 98118
206-579-5848
www.urbanwildernessproject.org
URBAN WILDERNESS PROJECT
"Restoring communities, culture, and the environment." TM
Jourdan Imani Keith
Founder and Director
P.O. Box 18874
Seattle, WA 98118
206-579-5848
www.urbanwildernessproject.org
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Youth Planning Programs Nationwide
Connections for the programs around youth and planning:
Stuart Foundation
Planners Network
Center for Cities & Schools at UC Berkeley
Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment
Academy of Urban Planning
DUMBO Improvement District
Communities in Schools - New Orleans (CISNO)
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP)
Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership
PLANetizen
Stuart Foundation
Planners Network
Center for Cities & Schools at UC Berkeley
Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment
Academy of Urban Planning
DUMBO Improvement District
Communities in Schools - New Orleans (CISNO)
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP)
Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership
PLANetizen
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