Just as urbanists thought they had a deal to jumpstart stalled housing construction, it fell apart. We unpack the rise and fall of a proposed temporary break on Seattle's Mandatory Housing Affordability program, which taxes new development to fund affordable housing. Those tax dollars have all but dried up as building costs have soared and construction has stalled. Developers and density advocates argued a two-year partial fee pause could revive dozens of stalled projects while costing the city little to no affordable housing revenue.
But after weeks of backroom negotiating, Mayor Katie Wilson pulled the plug, siding with anti-displacement advocates on the left over the pro-development urbanist coalition. We ask what this reveals about Wilson's brand of urbanism, and whether "the Urbanist Mayor" label still fits.
Plus, Seattle and King County announced they're clawing back roughly $160 million in service contracts from the flailing King County Regional Homelessness Authority, effectively gutting the agency's core function. KCRHA was supposed to be the region's big fix for homelessness: one coordinated system instead of a patchwork of city and county programs. But KCRHA never delivered. We break down how years of leadership turnover, a structurally messy governance model, and a scathing forensic audit brought KCRHA to this point, and talk about what comes next.
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