The only public hearing on the big UDistrict rezone is tonight at 5:30pm at the Hotel Deca (4507 Brooklyn Ave NE). If you believe abundant housing near transit is an unequivocal social good, please attend tonight and make your voice heard.
Since we last covered the rezone in September, the scope has been whittled away somewhat, including elimination of mid-rise zoning north of NE 50th St, a 25% height reduction south of NE 43rd St (from 320′ to 240′), and a contraction of the tallest zoning to just a few blocks northwest of UDistrict Station. Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) fees are also higher than first envisioned for commercial development.
Despite the late compromises, the substance of the rezone has survived the process so far, and it needs your voice tonight. Anti-growth groups will surely turn out in large numbers, especially since the Seattle Displacement Coalition is headquarted in the UDistrict. Pro-growth urbanists will be represented by the Sierra Club, Seattle for Everyone, the brand new group Seattle Tech Workers for Housing, and more.
What does the jump from LR3 to MR buy you in height and density?
Check out the city’s HALA website, they have some good pdfs breaking down the zones and incremental adds
http://www.seattle.gov/hala/focus-groups#MHA%20Development%20Examples
Low rise 3 Stories to Muiti-use Residential
Interesting and ironic this meeting time will be at the height (no pun) of rush hour where 45th and at times 50th are blocked in gridlock from UW/15th to the freeway. Density won’t bring thousands more cars though because – transit right?
Density won’t bring thousands more cars unless we do the stupid thing and allow a bunch of additional parking along with it…
I’m glad there are still low-density places free of traffic woes, like Joint Base Lewis McChord, I-405 from Kirkland to Lynnwood, and Fife.
” I-405 from Kirkland to Lynnwood”
Only in the morning if you’re coming from Kirkland and only in the afternoon and evenings if you’re leaving Lynwood going to Kirkland and sometimes there’s a bottleneck at 522 or any accident which immediately causes grid lock.
Also it backs up right at downtown Bellevue going southbound any time after 3 PM now. Arterials in Kirkland, Bothell, Kenmore, and Lynnwood that parallel 405 will also back up in the same direction as the peak flow. This is caused by people trying to avoid the freeway. So not free of traffic woes. This is why I know that the people who we’re anti ST3 who created all those signs are mostly all retired so it’s not their problem in their minds. Except it slowly is becoming a problem if they can’t even get a store between the hours 8 AM – 10 AM and 4 PM – 6 PM.
I’m pretty sure Zach was being sarcastic.
Traffic through JBLM is terrible most of the time – even on weekends.
Lakewood is a mass of parking and low density sprawl, but rush hour sees it turn into a terrible tangle.
I’ve been stuck in huge rush hour backups in Enumclaw because traffic keeps heading further east to get away from congested bottlenecks. With 167 a terrible mess now, 169 is now becoming difficult to use.
So, the lack of density hardly guarantees good traffic.
Your sarcasm is cute Zach, but you are comparing major freeways routes to small city streets. Barely apples and even oranges.
I don’t understand why it is legitimate to judge opinion about changes like this at a meeting while a lot of people are still working or have families to go home to. There should be online and mail in feedback taken into consideration.
The fact that groups are trying to control the agenda does not seem to indicate that this meeting really reflects individual opinions.
I cry foul play! The city’s own webpage doesn’t have tonight’s meeting posted! WTF? http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/cityplanning/completeprojectslist/universitydistrict/documents/
Nice catch! Crafting a mail to Johnson and the project managers as well as the reporters covering this. A simple oversight or by design? I think the answer is clear there. You also can’t find meeting details by searching on any of the major search engines. Search attempts simply direct you to the page that states there are no meetings.
Yes, I cry foul that I only hear about these things on the day of the event. I am so thankful for STB and that these things get all the visibility they do, but I was unable to change my plans for Wednesday night.
It’s under the “Get Involved” tab: http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/cityplanning/completeprojectslist/universitydistrict/getinvolved/default.htm
Thank you BB! I wrote to Dave and Janet (listed as contacts on the Seattle DPD webpage )
BTW Here’s another “calendar of events” that missed tonight’s meeting! http://udistrictpartnership.org/events/month/
Big turnout for Seattle for Everyone and HALA supporters but jesus that was painful that packed audience with very angry NIMBYS and straight up crackpots. After the anger and divisiveness of the last week and seeing adequate pro-housing support, I had enough and left early.
There was a lot of jeers, booing and yelling from the John Fox camp in the first 30 minutes, but they did calm down eventually.
Also, I couldn’t believe I saw people cheering the incoherent ravings of Alex Zimmerman at this event.
It seems like some folks will cheer for anyone so long as they are against the city.
It was well-covered in Wallyhood, which tends to be anti-density (and includes many who believe the parking on their street literally belongs to them).bb