Councilmember Sally J. Clark
TOWN HOMES—CAN THE PATIENT BE SAVED?
Councilmember Clark hosts events to encourage good design of multi-family housing
SEATTLE — Councilmember Sally J. Clark is hosting two events to encourage good design of new town homes in Seattle neighborhoods. Councilmember Clark, chair of the Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee, said, “These meetings will be a great chance to talk proactively about housing choices, affordability and neighborhood-friendly design.”
Up until the past dozen years or so Seattle didn’t have many town homes. Seattle was mostly single-family homes with yards and apartment buildings. Growth management, Seattle’s overall attractiveness as a place to live, and cheap financing changed that. Now, Seattle has lots of town homes—the City estimates that 8,000 town homes have been built in the last eight years.
While some new town homes blend into the neighborhood or, even better, stand out as well-designed additions, others are reviled by the neighbors for mediocrity, canyon-creating fences, asphalt wastelands, and impossible to navigate garage entries. The fault lies not just with imagination, but also with Seattle’s development rules. The City can do better. These upcoming forums are the start of Councilmember Clark’s effort to improve town homes’ design.
First Forum: Courtyard Housing in Portland, Oregon, Monday, June 2, 5 p.m., City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue in the Bertha Knight Landes Room on the First Floor.
Second Forum: Town Homes—Can the Patient be Saved?, Saturday, June 7, 10 a.m., Capitol Hill Arts Center, 1621 12th Ave
All events are free and open to the public. No need to RSVP.
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City Council
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