3 ms·

> we should've invested in low-income housing, and public transit infrastructure so that people could live elsewhere, and commute. Also, healthcare for folks wh

by xpe 4y ago

> we should've invested in low-income housing, and public transit infrastructure so that people could live elsewhere, and commute. Also, healthcare for folks who struggle with mental health. How far do you think Seattle can get on its own? What kind of assistance is needed from the county? ... Washington state? ... the federal government? P.S. I realize this is an easy question to ask but difficult to answer in any reasonable amount of space. I'd be happy to read recommended articles on case studies or data-oriented comparisons.

jahewson 4y ago
Honestly investing in just any reasonable amount of housing and transport would have helped but we had an entire generation just not bother and dump that cost onto us. Low-income housing is by necessity low-cost housing and that’s simply not achievable in an age of expensive land, expensive labor, and expensive materials.
xracy 4y ago
I will grant that Seattle is currently investing in public transit. And that in the next 10-15 years, they have the opportunity to improve that situation greatly (providing people good/consistent transit to downtown). There's a lot of the missing middle in Seattle for housing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCOdQsZa15o&ab_channel=NotJustBikes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCOdQsZa15o&ab_channel=NotJu... Which has been demonstrated to pay for itself (and support other businesses). Zoning for this would go a long way towards helping to alleviate the increasing cost of housing. (Also actively/readily) makes more money than it costs to maintain. I think there's also something to be said for getting rid of cars in Downtown Seattle (still need to provide good accessible options). I originally clicked on this article in hopes that was what people were doing. Tangent: Shuffling homeless people around with cement "eco" blocks (legitimately interested in the etymology of that name) turned out to be the sad waste of resources we were going for here... Mental Health feels a lot more difficult than this. Probably needs more of a national fix cause healthcare is too expensive and inaccessible in the US.

by xpe 4y ago

jahewson 4y ago

Honestly investing in just any reasonable amount of housing and transport would have helped but we had an entire generation just not bother and dump that cost onto us. Low-income housing is by necessity low-cost housing and that’s simply not achievable in an age of expensive land, expensive labor, and expensive materials.

xracy 4y ago

I will grant that Seattle is currently investing in public transit. And that in the next 10-15 years, they have the opportunity to improve that situation greatly (providing people good/consistent transit to downtown). There's a lot of the missing middle in Seattle for housing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCOdQsZa15o&ab_channel=NotJustBikes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCOdQsZa15o&ab_channel=NotJu... Which has been demonstrated to pay for itself (and support other businesses). Zoning for this would go a long way towards helping to alleviate the increasing cost of housing. (Also actively/readily) makes more money than it costs to maintain. I think there's also something to be said for getting rid of cars in Downtown Seattle (still need to provide good accessible options). I originally clicked on this article in hopes that was what people were doing. Tangent: Shuffling homeless people around with cement "eco" blocks (legitimately interested in the etymology of that name) turned out to be the sad waste of resources we were going for here... Mental Health feels a lot more difficult than this. Probably needs more of a national fix cause healthcare is too expensive and inaccessible in the US.