Transit-oriented development

Allow More New Housing Within the Urban Core

Background

Transit-oriented development (TOD) has become a standard model for development. Wikipedia defines it as:

a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between dense, compact urban form and public transport use. In doing so, TOD aims to increase public transport ridership by reducing the use of private cars and by promoting sustainable urban growth.

A TOD typically includes a central transit stop (such as a train station, or light rail or bus stop) surrounded by a high-density mixed-use area, with lower-density areas spreading out from this center. A TOD is also typically designed to be more walkable than other built-up areas, through using smaller block sizes and reducing the land area dedicated to automobiles.[5][6]

Transit-oriented development is an important part of reducing greenhouse gas emissions because people who live in denser, more urban areas tend to have a smaller carbon footprint. This is because in cities jobs, housing, and services are closely colocated, so people in cities do not need to travel as far. When they do travel, they have more alternatives to automobile use, and are more likely to use public transit, walking and cycling instead. Also, in cities people tend to have less space, and therefore they have smaller homes, leading to lower emissions from heating and cooling. This is illustrated by a map of US Household Carbon Footprint by zip code included in this paper by Christopher Jones and Daniel M. Kammen that was published in Nature: Spatial Distribution of U.S. Household Carbon Footprints Reveals Suburbanization Undermines Greenhouse Gas Benefits of Urban Population Density:

Map of the Seattle/King County region. Bluer areas indicate lower carbon footprint, redder areas have higher carbon footprint. Urban and rural areas tend to have lower footprints, while surburban areas have the highest. 
Map of greater New York City, with the lowest carbon footprint areas in green (urban center and rural areas) and areas of higher footprint in red.

The City of Shoreline did some calculations as part of their rezoning for future SoundTransit stations, to see what impact the rezoning would have on greenhouse gas emissions. The chart on the right shows the difference it makes to have more housing near the light rail, rather than continuing with single family only zoning and allowing growth to sprawl out.

From Shoreline planning document and King County Climate Town Hall July 2021

Urban Villages

Seattle adopted transit-oriented development in the early 90's by designating core areas in certain neighborhoods as urban centers or urban villages. Downtown, First Hill, the University District and Northgate were designated regionally and in Seattle's Comprehensive Plan as major urban growth centers. They include high density commercial and residential development and are high priority for service by light rail, and bus rapid transit. 

Urban villages are generally zoned neighborhood commercial or low to mid- rise residential; they encourage moderate density and are prioritized for more frequent transit service. 

In the context of regional  growth management planning, increased growth in urban centers and villages was also a central strategy in the effort to reduce development outside the urban core, in order to preserve forests and farmland. This was part of the King County's response to Washington's passage of the Growth Management Act (GMA). The intention of policymakers was that there would be plenty of housing for everyone, but it would be concentrated in urban areas where people would have reduced travel to jobs, schools, and services while still being able to go outside the city to enjoy the natural bounty that makes the region such a special place to live. Under the GMA, cities are legally required to have a planning process, and to accommodate the expected level of population growth.

Seattle has added on to its urban villages over time, and the population has grown significantly since the urban village concept was initiated. We've grown by 25% just in the last 10 years. To the right is a map of Seattle's urban centers and villages. They make up 18% of the land area that permits residential development in the city, but in 2017 they accounted for 88% of the housing growth

Still, today compared to most peer cities, Seattle devotes more of its land area to single-family homes. And, compared to most peer cities, rents in Seattle are high: as of October 2021, median rent for a one bedroom apartment is $1726, or now about 2% higher than they were before the pandemic. In Bellevue and Everett, the median three bedroom home rented for $2927 in August of 2021.

From Seattle Office of Planning and community Development. Grey areas are for industrial use, no residential housing. White areas are single family zones. Colored areas are urban centers and villages.

Urban Villages impact on Racial Equity

Seattle recently released the Racial Equity Analysis of Seattle 2035 and Urban Village Strategy, which concludes that the Urban Village strategy that governs our current Comprehensive Plan has a disparate impact on Seattle residents, and leads to signifcantly decreased access to housing and economic opportunity for BIPOC communities. The report recommends the following:

Recent Zoning Changes

Mandatory Housing Affordability

In spring of 2019, Seattle adopted Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) that requires new development in core zones to either include affordable homes, or contribute to a City fund for affordable housing.

Backyard Cottages and Basement Units

In the summer of 2019, Seattle voted to allow detached accessory dwelling units (cottages or DADUs), and attached accessory dwelling units (basement units or AADUs) to provide more housing options. Backyard cottages and basement units can now be added to most lots in single family zoned areas. This allows for more housing in single family zones, but the impact is relatively modest: the Environmental Impact Statement projects 2300 units built over 10 years.

New Comprehensive Plan

Seattle has begun work on a new Comprehensive Plan, which will update Urban Growth Zones, and incorporate changes in zoning and associated changes in services, parks, schools, transit. The City has been directed by Council to include Climate as an element in its Comp Plan, and to include a plan for reducing GHG emissions and vehicle miles travelled, and providing for environmental justice and climate adaptation. One big question is how it will accommodate new growth; will it continue the policy of keeping most of Seattle's residential land zoned as single family or will it allow multi-family buildings? Portland recently completed a rezone which allows 4-unit apartment buildings in all previously single family zones, or up to 6 units if two of them are affordable units. 

One big issue from previous years was whether to allow apodments; what is the smallest size we should allow for new apartments? Many people who live alone would rather have a small unit in the city than a larger one that requires long commute times; other people who already live in these neighborhoods are concerned about increased density and parking. One issue that may be more pressing now is the "missing middle" for family sized housing. Now that we have a large number of people who are getting to the age where they want to settle down and raise families, is there going to be a place for them to do that in the city, or will they have to move further towards the outskirts where they can afford more space, but may need to live a more car-dependent lifestyle?

Like Seattle, King County is also updating its Comprehensive Plan, and trying to allocate growth among all of its cities and towns and unincorporated areas. 

Seattle and King County should give climate a very high priority when updating their Comprehensive Plans. They need to come up with a plan that will make it easier for us to reduce emissions and housing costs and one that will factor in increased needs for resilience in the face of flooding, wildfires, and climate refugees.

Update: This is an overview of the EIS Scoping, showing the 5 alternatives currently being considered. Here is the full draft Scoping Plan

Why is urban infill a climate policy?

Many people might agree (or not) with all of this from a planning or a quality of life point of view, but would argue that this is a housing issue, not a climate issue. So, what makes it a climate policy?

Could we reach our greenhouse gas reduction goals without any urban infill? Clearly it would be much much more expensive, which in turn makes it much less likely. 

Allowing More Density: Point & Counterpoint

Will rezoning raise or lower property values?

Home prices in Seattle have seen dramatic increases in the last few decades, as the land within the urban growth boundaries has been built up, and the population continues to grow, increasing competition for a fixed number of available homes. For people that have a substantial proportion of their wealth invested in their house, what effect rezoning would have on their savings is an important question. While that effect is difficult to calculate in advance, here are some ways to think about it.

A rezone would allow more people to live on the same lot, which leaves each person paying less for their share of the land, but the overall price of the land could go up as a result because a group of people can afford to pay more than one person alone. Moreover, with increased density are likely to come increased amenities: stores, coffeeshops, restaurants in the vicinity,  that will make the neighborhood more desirable. Some homeowners worry that their land value would go down, because if their house is sharing the neighborhood with apartment buildings, with more people and less parking  it will be less desirable.

Will rezoning raise property taxes for current owners of single family houses?

Washington State has a budget-based approach to property tax, which means that each locality figures out how much overall revenue it needs (the levy amount), and then divides that amount amongst property owners based on their accessed value. The levy amount can be increased a maximum of the lessor of 1% per year, or inflation. What this means is that your property tax increases when the rate increases, or when the value of your real estate appreciates relative to the value of other homes in the state, county, or city.

The assessed value has two parts: the value of the land itself, and the value of the improvements (the house and any other buildings on the land). The assessed value is calculated based on the sales values of other comparable properties in the neighborhood. If, for example, you lived in a neighborhood with very low turnover, and then your neighbor sold their house for significantly more, you could see your tax go up the next year in response.  We don't know what affect a rezoning would have on sales prices (see the question above), but let's suppose the rezoning was applied uniformly, and the property values changed uniformly across the areas affected. The levy amount would be the same, and your share of it would be the same too, because the value of your property hasn't changed relative to other properties, so it is paying the same share. By contrast, rezoning only one particular neighborhood would change property taxes in that area. If a rezone is applied in Neighborhood A, causing its property values to rise, then Neighborhood A will, over time as accessed values change pay a larger share of the levy, and properties in other neighborhoods would pay a smaller share of the levy.

Will rezoning reduce our urban tree canopy cover?

When houses are removed and new buildings added, it is common for trees to be removed in the process, including our oldest, largest trees. This is a problem for a number of reasons: trees promote liveability, improve our mental health, reduce the heat island effect, sequester carbon, and trees around buildings even provide an insulating effect in colder weather. We already have this problem as small houses are replaced with larger houses, and most of our current tree loss is from our single family zones, but we could expect more loss from increased development after a rezoning if we don't take steps to protect the trees.

There are a number of things we could do. We can give property owners an incentive to preserve their trees by charging them a fee for every tree that is removed. This fee could be on a sliding scale so that larger trees require much larger payments; this only makes sense as they are providing much more value. Additionally, we can require property owners that remove trees to replace them with trees that will grow to a comparable size. Lastly, we could exact a developer fee whose proceeds will go to planting and maintaining trees in the city, possibility including trees in new traffic calming as is already done in some neighborhoods (e.g. Capitol Hill).

Lastly, consider that a ban on development in order to protect trees would have a disproportionately negative effect on forests outside the city. A modest sized apartment building in an urban location can prevent acres of sprawl and tree removal on the outer edge of the city.

Tree Policy

We are slowly losing our urban tree cover, and this is really unfortunate for a number of reasons: tree make the city more pleasant and more livable, trees promote better mental health, trees keep us cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, trees are good for the other plants and animals in the city. But we have long had a tension between density and trees: laws to protect urban forests have been used to block development, but when development does come, it often takes trees with it. However, when development in the urban core is blocked, we get sprawl, and lose many more trees on the outskirts. So how do we have both trees and development while fostering equity? 

One proposal I have seen suggested is 3-30-300

Here are some ideas from a panel discussion in Portland.

Articles on Tree Policies:

Parking Policy

Many people will drive, even when they know they’ll be stuck in traffic they will drive. They won't drive if they know they won't have a place to park. That shows you the power of parking. –  Brent Toderian

Parking policy also falls under land use. Most American cities have many more parking spaces than they have vehicles, and many would argue that these spaces could be put to better use. Moreover, more parking enables more car use in urban areas, which we are trying to reduce. By using space for parking, instead for buildings, we are putting buildings further apart, which makes neighborhoods less walkable. Urban planners have suggested these three rules for parking:

Since the pandemic, Seattle has vastly decreased the amount it charges for street parking. The maximum fee was $5, and is now $2/hr. Seattle does have a parking tax, which commercial parking lots must pay, but does not tax businesses which provide free parking to their employees or customers, which it could choose to do.

Zoning Reforms Elsewhere

 to boost housing, as he put in, “inside the box...People are probably familiar with monster houses ... maybe it’s six, seven thousand square feet,” he said. “We think, inside that box, you could have three or four units as an alternative ... You would carve it up differently, and actually be able to house a greater diversity of people.”

Other local resources