Proposed Tree Legislation Awaits its Turn to Add to Seattle’s Housing Woes

[David Neiman]

 

Friday, March 31, 2023

Proposed Tree Legislation Awaits its Turn to Add to Seattle’s Housing Woes

I have an editorial in the Urbanist today that outlines my objections to Seattle's new proposed tree legislation and frames it within the context of the recent collapse in housing starts caused by over-regulation. The numbers are pretty shocking: Townhouses down 50%, losing 940 homes per year, and apartments down 67%, a loss of over 8000 homes per year. 

You can read the editorial here. Due to the complexity of land use regulation and the limited space available for an Op-Ed (even in a generous publication like The Urbanist), the article isn't able to fully explore legislation in detail. For land use and policy wonks only, you can read more here.