In Seattle, advocacy groups pitch ‘social housing’ as a climate solution

In 2023, Seattle voter Ear for the city to create a new organization To develop “social housing”, a type of affordable housing owned by the public that accommodates ten -income tenants. Now, as residents Prepare to vote on another polling initiative About whether local advocacy organizations and how to finance them, social housing as a climate.

“If we think in the long run, this is a transformative solution,” said Akiksha Chatge, the managing director of the local Camps in 350 Seattle.

The Chatterji group, which calls for climate and social justice as part of a fair transition away from fossil fuels, has made social housing an essential part of the call platform from the first days of the proposal. He was mobilized as a recent voting initiative to finance it through a new tax on wealthy companies, which voters will look on Tuesday. Sunrise Seattle, a branch of Sunrise National Youth Climate Organization, also has Hand in the Social Housing Initiative.

Seattle has already a few public housing developers, as well as Programs This requires new developments to include minimal units at reasonable prices, providing assistance to home buyers for the first time without a specific income, and granting tax exemptions in exchange for establishing low -rent apartments. But the city is still facing a residential crisis, as it is expected that the wider area will fall 140,000 short units Of the 640,000 new homes required to meet the expected demand by 2044.

The broad goal of social housing is to reduce this fairly Housing crisis By creating apartments and homes that are not subject to market speculation. Under the new developer model, the units will be owned by the audience and will remain uncommon. Other forms of affordable housing are often built by non -profit organizations with federal tax credits that expire and return to market prices after a period ranging between 15 and 30 years.

If the climatic activists are on their way on Tuesday, the Social Housing Developer in Seattle – the organization that was established by voters in 2023 – will serve people through a wide income range: Among those who achieve 60 percent of the average income of the region to those who get 120 per cent of them. (Average family income in the Seattle area is around 106,000 dollarsConsequently, social housing will be available to those who earn about $ 64,000 to 127,000 dollars year).Crossed class societiesIt also makes the easiest financing and maintenance of buildings.

Similar social housing experiences have proven successful in a handful of other places – the most famous, Montgomery County, MarylandAnd Vienna, Austria.

There are two widespread reasons that make Seattle advocates describe the social housing model as a climate friend. The more clear that the social housing developer in Seattle is required to build all the new construction in line with “Dowry“Energy efficiency standards. These standards include high -quality insulation, sealed seals, and other strategies to maintain heat, cold and humidity from entering buildings (or out).

“These requirements can provide a large amount of energy on heating and cooling – which means less emissions than the burning fossil fuel, said Michael Eliason, founder and director of the Architectural Engineering Company. This is the case, although Seattle has a fairly strict energy codes for all newly created buildings. It uses some of the recently built houses that have been built 30 to 35 percent less energy It is affordable housing designed for standard code requirements.

Passive houses construction are also adapted to climate disasters such as wildfires, thanks to strong air filtering systems that help maintain embers outside. In one of the Los Angeles neighborhood, which was recently destroyed by Palisades, The only house that remained standing One was built into the negative home standards. And for those who live in the direction of the wind from forest fires, a seductive ventilation It prevents smoke from entering the buildingsThis means less exposure to the subject of dangerous particles.

Another climatic argument for social housing is less clear, and applies to many affordable housing forms. Add more housing to the desired urban areas to allow more people to live near workplaces, schools, groceries and other amenities, and reduce the dependency of cars and Greenhouse Emissions Associated with it. According to one of the estimates, the doubling of the urban density-the amount of people and development in a specific square mile-can reduce carbon dioxide emissions associated with travel by travel by 35 percentAnd emissions of home energy are about half. (This is largely because residential buildings Usually more efficient energy use From the homes of one family.)

Some current public housing developers in Seattle, such as the housing of the roots Basic energy code requirements. Masson Cavill, Director of Real Estate Development in the ROOTS community, said that it was not clear “tools or additional benefits” that the Social Housing Developer in Seattle will obtain at its disposal “bypassing what the current industry can do” on these fronts.

Supporters say the answer depends on how to finance the developer. In the next poll in Seattle, voters will be asked whether the social housing developer in Seattle should be funded at all. The second question asks the voters to choose between two potential sources of financing.

The proposal 1A will create a new Excess salary tax compensation The advocates of social and environmental justice support. The tax will be applied to the companies that pay the executives more than a million dollars annually, and the supporters of the plan expect to generate it More than 50 million dollars annually To create 2000 new units over 10 years.

Julie Hao, a housing researcher at Washington University, said this revenue flow will allow the Social housing developer in Seattle with projects that are not attractive to housing developers at reasonable prices. More money may mean housing in smaller outlets closer to the current infrastructure of transit, instead of the cheapest sites that are more far.

The proposal 1 B will benefit from funding from The current tax on large companiesWhich are already shared by other affordable housing programs in the city.

Al -Levin, former Deputy Executive Director of the Housing Authority in Seattle, Prefer 1 b Because it reflects an approach to housing he had more time to prove his financial validity. He also asked whether the pros and cons of the negative house exceeds the negatives. He said: “It is clear that the negative home is a long -term building in the long run,” but it is believed that it may raise the cost of the building by 10 to 30 percent. “To make him work, what are the bites?” He added. “If you are spending more at the forefront, you should recover it for rent.”

Our neighbors, 350 Seattle and other defense groups include 1B financing mechanism because it will reduce the income ceiling on social housing population to only 80 percent of the average area, mainly change the program and provide lower financing. “He mainly compels social housing to the same low -income system in which developers operate at reasonable prices,” Haw said. “This does not give us the ability to be intelligence and flexibility.”

The vision of climate justice for social housing said more than just emissions from low energy use and ease of access to crossing. She said that a new tax on major companies will enhance shares, by making environmentally friendly construction features available to ordinary people.

She said: “You see a lot of wealthy people who make their homes great fire, or all of these facilities are only available to people who can withstand their costs.” “The challenges of the negative house and the social housing that it says,” No, these are all general goods, and they must be available to the public forever. “

In addition, she added that high -quality construction has enabled revenue from tennuals with mixed income, and it may mean a 1A tax for a longer period that does not need to be renewed or replaced frequently.

Tiffany McCoy, co -executive director of our neighbors, said that social housing should be paired with other urban policies such as increased transportation and division reform to cancel more emissions and make Seattle more fair. Washington has recently banned the division of one state at the state level, although some of the richest neighborhoods of Seattle Exempt.

Social housing advocates in Seattle says that the decisions made by their city now may affect other urban areas that compete with problems about housing and the ability to bear costs and climate flexibility. In New York City, which faces a severe residential crisis, Reforms dividing the last regions It is expected to be able to construct 82,000 homes for the next fifteen years. California also has Pass the repairs Allow home owners to divide their property into two pieces, and create opportunities for new housing. However, the country still has a reasonable housing gap 7.3 million unitsAccording to the low -income national housing coalition.

McCoy said that housing financing at reasonable prices with a source of progressive revenue, as suggested the proposal 1A, could isolate cities from the fluctuations of the federal government. President Donald Trump is also trying to reduce spending Climate and Social programsShe said she was “more wisdom and concerned with people at the local level to behave now … to ensure that we are still providing social services, environmental protection and environmental programs.”

Editor’s note: The author of this article was trained in 350 Seattle in 2021. He did not participate in the organization’s housing campaigns.