If you were unable to make the first meeting, there’s another public forum, this time on Capitol Hill and at an hour more amenable to those working a 9-5. It’s tonight, May 6, at 6PM. Details via Capitol Hill Seattle:
Micro-housing development discussion
Monday, May 6, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Seattle First Baptist Church
Fellowship Hall, 1111 Harvard Ave. (map)Attending:
Seattle City Councilmembers and Council staff
Representatives from communities and neighborhoods
Representatives of micro-housing developers
Share your thoughts!
PD
I don’t see renters or tenants’ advocates on the VIP list. Are we renters seen as lower than dirt, or what?
I’m going to go to this, and hopefully have the courage to speak up. I am a young professional that would appreciate rental housing like this, and I fear that my demographic is the one getting dragged in the dirt by the wealthier, older class, because we don’t find out and show up to meetings like this.
What about the Cottage communities dotted around King County?
It’s a different approach to microhousing that blends smaller, individual homes (1000 sq. ft.) with common areas.
http://www.cottagecompany.com/default.aspx
These cottages are considerably larger than things like apodments (and they’re complete ‘homes’ in the traditional sense). And you can’t stack them. This particular concept isn’t all that bad for, say, compacting medium density areas into smaller footprints, but it’s not a practical solution to increase stock in the built-up Seattle neighborhoods targeted for higher density.
But if implemented it would increase density right? I mean if the average home is 2200 sq. ft. and you zoned for 500 to 1000 sq. ft. cottages plus common areas, you’d double your units.
Thanks John and Brick for the discussion and mention of our pedestrian oriented cottage courtyard communities. We appreciate it!
Your discussion is a good one in bringing to light the need for more housing choices in our communities, including perhaps cottages.
One of the issues to consider is the number of housing units per acre of build able land and the units developed per different housing types.
Consider this:
Townhouses/apartments are developed at approx 24 – 36 homes per acre.
Cottages are developed at approx. 10 – 16 homes per acre.
A typical 5,000 SF lot neighborhood is developed at approx. 8 – 9 homes per acre.
Cottages are a ‘medium density’ housing choice that best belongs in SF neighborhoods, not more dense multifamily properties. Cottages do provide a slightly higher number of homes than single family, but much less than townhouses or apartments. And, they are more expensive as they are ground related and occupy more valuable land.
Our communities must become equipped with an entire ‘toolkit’ of housing choices. Cottages are one of the tools in the toolkit!