Equitable Transit Oriented Development

Join our Community Advisory Group

Are you passionate about working with your community to prevent displacement in communities with upcoming light rail construction?

We are seeking members for our Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (ETOD) Community Advisory Group (CAG) to shape how the City approaches anti-displacement efforts and to center community priorities around light rail investments.

The CAG will build an ETOD Strategy and Implementation Plan that will guide the City's approach to development by advancing community-driven outcomes in neighborhoods surrounding light rail stations. An ETOD Strategy and Implementation Plan is actionable and may include identifying policy and investment tools. The CAG will be responsible for issue identification, making proposals, and directing supporting staff on research tasks and evaluating potential tools and strategies. The vision of ETOD centers on community power, community land ownership, affordable housing and other community benefits, safe and efficient transportation, a healthy environment, and economic justice. See our Background section for more information.

Informational Session

We recently hosted a virtual information session on September 19, 2023. Watch a recording of the session below.

VIEW ON YOUTUBE

How to Apply

Applications are due Sunday, October 15. Visit our Apply section for more information.

Goals for the CAG:

• Build and support emerging community leaders to become stewards of equitable transit-oriented development.
• Healing and trust building between us and historically and currently underrepresented and underinvested communities.
• Develop an ETOD Strategy and Implementation Plan that will guide the City of Seattle’s approach to community-driven development.
• Support community self-determination through an implementation plan for community led and owned development.

Benefits of Participating in the CAG:

• Collaborate with the City on meeting the needs and vision of your community.
• Build connections with community advocates, place-based organizations, and city staff.
• Learn about the history of institutional racism in land use and planning and about ETOD efforts happening nationwide.
• Gain leadership experience with community planning and development and working with the City of Seattle.

Commitment and Compensation:

The group will meet twice a month starting in January 2024. Each meeting will last up to two hours. The group will meet for approximately one year, until a draft ETOD Strategy and Implementation Plan is created. The group will then meet as needed for the first half of 2025 to refine and give feedback on implementing the Plan.

These will be mostly virtual meetings at a time the group agrees on. The City of Seattle encourages everyone to participate in its programs and activities. For disability accommodations, materials in alternative formats, or accessibility information, contact Giulia Pasciuto at Giulia.Pasciuto@seattle.gov or (206) 386-1598.

Group members will be compensated $75/hour for their time and contributions.

Join our Community Advisory Group to help shape the future of your community!

We are seeking 10-20 people from communities who or are often left out of and harmed by the planning process, including:

• Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)
• Immigrants and refugees
• English language learners (we can provide interpreters, let us know your needs)
• LGBTQ+ people
• Youth (ages 18-24)
• Elders
• People living with disabilities or with accessibility needs (we can provide access services, let us know your needs)
• People with intersecting identities and multiple community ties

The CAG will meet twice a month starting in January 2024. Each meeting will last up to two hours. The group will meet for approximately one year until a draft ETOD Strategy and Implementation Plan is created. The group will then meet as needed for the first half of 2025 to refine and give feedback on implementing the Plan.

These will be mostly virtual meetings at a time the group agrees on. The City of Seattle encourages everyone to participate in its programs and activities. For disability accommodations, materials in alternative formats, or accessibility information, contact Giulia Pasciuto at Giulia.Pasciuto@seattle.gov or (206) 386-1598.

CAG members will be compensated $75 an hour for their time and contributions.

Desired Experience

We will prioritize emerging leaders from community-based organizations and institutions such as faith-based institutions, disability advocates, and non-profits. We are especially looking for organizations leading in equitable development or community ownership work.

• Policy, advocacy, or community organizing experience
• Prior involvement in community development or design projects
• People who have experienced being un‐housed
• Tenants, low-wage workers, people who are transit-dependent, small business owners

How to Apply

1. Review the Application Guide
2. Create an account on Submittable
3. Designate someone to complete a Letter of Support Form for you on Submittable
4. Fill out the application questions on Submittable
5. Submit the application questions and make sure the Letter of Support form was also completed through Submittable before October 15th, 2023 at 11:59 p.m.

ENTER APPLICATION PORTAL

Applications will be reviewed by OPCD staff and the Core Steering Group using an evaluation rubric (as seen in the Application Guide). The Core Steering Group will then decide who is selected. Decisions will be made by the end of November and the group will start meeting in January.

Timeline

• October 15th, 2023 11:59 p.m.: Applications Due
• Late November 2023: Applicants Selected
• January 2024: Anticipated Launch of the CAG

Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (ETOD) is an opportunity to center community priorities and repair harm.

We know that institutional racism has and continues to create a painful legacy of public infrastructure projects that disproportionately impact low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. We’ve seen an increase in displacement pressures resulting from light rail investments in Rainier Valley. At the same time, we have seen neighborhood leaders reclaiming development to meet their needs and help their communities thrive in place.

ETOD centers communities as decision-makers in the planning process to support a vision for community led and owned development.

The City is leveraging a $1.75 million grant from the Federal Transportation Administration to support ETOD along the West Seattle Link Extension and the Ballard Link Extension corridors with implications for ETOD throughout the city. By centering communities who are most impacted by investments in public infrastructure in the process—Black, Indigenous, and people of color, immigrants and refugees, English language learners, LGBTQ people, youth, elders, and people living with disabilities—this approach attempts to address the root causes of displacement and deliver self-determination through community led and owned development. An ETOD Strategy and Implementation Plan is actionable and may include identifying opportunity sites and funding mechanisms for key locations.

In May of 2021, City staff recruited five core steering committee members to develop a framework and process for advancing the ETOD Strategy and Implementation Plan. They create a definition and vision for ETOD and a set of implementation and process values to continue guiding this work.

What ETOD can be:

1. Building community power through ownership and permanent stewardship of land, investing in organizing rooted in community vision and process and centered in systems change.
2. Starts with Land Ownership: Conversations about zoning, density, and transit supportive uses must be preceded by removing speculative pressures and banking land for community ownership early and at scale.
3. Holistic community benefits that include both rental and ownership housing that is affordable, but also incorporates other community identified uses such as childcare, cultural space, arts, healthy food, liveable wage jobs, healthcare, education, small businesses, open space and places to play, and more.
4. Results in mobility and access justice including fare affordability, universal design, connectivity and safety.
5. Promotes economic justice through the tools we develop to finance community projects, creating opportunities for community wealth building, and commercial ownership models.
6. A healthy environment that promotes a sense of belonging and includes strengthening mitigation and adaptation to climate change and community resiliency and health.

What is Equitable Transit-Oriented Development

We view Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (ETOD) as an opportunity to repair harm, build racial equity, and address community needs. ETOD means centering communities as decision-makers in the planning process to support a vision for community led and owned development in neighborhoods surrounding high-capacity transit. Equitable Transit-Oriented Development focuses on the process and outcomes of development, and might result in building affordable housing, child-care facilities, grocery stores, green spaces, or other types of development a community wants to see.

Our preliminary Core Steering Group of community members helped create the structure for this work and crafted a preliminary definition of ETOD below. The Community Advisory Group will refine this definition and make it their own.

• Community Power: Builds Community Power through community ownership and permanent stewardship of land, investing in community organizing, rooted in community vision and process, and centered in systems change.
• Starts with Land Ownership: Conversations about zoning, density, and transit supportive uses must be preceded by removing speculative pressures and banking land for community ownership early and at scale.
• Holistic Community Benefits: Includes both rental and ownership housing that is affordable, but also incorporates other community identified uses such as childcare, cultural space, arts, healthy food, good jobs, healthcare, education, small businesses, open space and places to play, etc.
• Results in Mobility and access justice including fare affordability, universal design, connectivity, safety.
• Promotes economic justice through the tools we develop to finance community projects, creating opportunities for community wealth building, and commercial ownership models.
• A healthy environment that promotes a sense of belonging and includes strengthening mitigation and adaptation to climate change and community resiliency and health.

What is the Community Advisory Group?

The Community Advisory Group (CAG) will consist of 10-20 community members that meet regularly to learn about ETOD and create an ETOD Strategy and Implementation Plan. This is an opportunity to shape how the City of Seattle approaches anti-displacement efforts through advancing community-driven outcomes in neighborhoods surrounding light rail stations.

The ETOD Strategy and Implementation Plan will be actionable and may include identifying policy and investment tools. The CAG is the main decision-making body and will be responsible for issue identification, making proposals, and directing supporting staff on research tasks and evaluating potential tools and strategies.

How much influence will the CAG have?
CAG members will lead the group and decide what strategies they want to explore. The CAG will also draft the ETOD Strategy and Implementation Plan which means deciding what strategies, tools, and priorities go into it. This Implementation Plan is intended to guide the City’s approach to anti-displacement work and development around new light rail stations. Putting the plan into action will likely require policy changes and additional funding that City staff and community advocates will push for. The City of Seattle is in the very early stages of ETOD and the CAG will play a major role in shaping what that looks like.

How does this work relate to the light rail expansion plans?
While this work is partially in response to the light rail expansion, we will not address station locations, construction, or environmental analysis regarding the actual light rail expansion. We know there is a pattern of displacement after high-speed transit or other services and amenities are introduced to a neighborhood. ETOD is about anti-displacement work through community led and owned development in the neighborhoods surrounding new light rail stations. With ETOD, neighborhood development includes affordable housing, but also holistic community benefits like child-care facilities, grocery stores, community gathering spaces, safe access to transit, and other community needs.

How often will the group meet, when, and where?
The group will meet twice a month for up to two hours each meeting. This will happen over the course of 18 months until a draft ETOD Strategy and Implementation Plan is created. The last six months may be less intensive as the group will work to refine and give feedback on the final ETOD strategy and implementation plan.

These will be mostly virtual meetings at a time the group agrees on (other community groups tend to meet in the afternoon). The group may modify the meeting schedule depending on their needs (some groups decide to take a month off during the summer or to reschedule around holidays).

Will participants be compensated?
Yes! Group members will be compensated $75/hour for their time and contributions. However, if you are participating as part of your job and billing that time to your employer, we cannot offer additional compensation.

What kind of accessibility and language accommodations are there?
The City of Seattle encourages everyone to participate in its programs and activities and will strive to provide language interpretation and disability accommodations upon request. After consulting with language service providers, we have been advised that the best practice is to provide accommodations on a case-by-case basis.

If you need materials translated, language interpreters, disability accommodations, materials in alternative formats, or for other accessibility information, please contact PCD_ETOD@seattle.gov or Giulia Pasciuto at Giulia.Pasciuto@seattle.gov or (206) 386-1598.

Can I participate if I work for a public (government) agency?
On our end, all are eligible to apply. However, your place of work might have different restrictions and you should consult with your employer beforehand. If you participate in the CAG as part of your job, then we cannot offer additional compensation.

Will there be any kind of training?
Yes, we have dedicated several months of the group’s work to learning! We view this as a leadership development opportunity and value lived experience (not just professional), so people who do not know much about ETOD are also encouraged to apply.

We will offer training on the history of institutionalized racism in planning and explore examples of ETOD and systems change work across the country. We will also provide background on the light rail expansion and the planning process. After gaining this foundation, the group will dive into deeper research on strategies they are interested in, followed by building an ETOD Strategy and Implementation Plan.

One and a half years feels like a small amount of time for this kind of work. How are you going to set communities up for success and for this work to lead to real change?
Yes, it is a small amount of time. We wanted to make the time-commitment feasible for participants and to not have a long time-commitment be a barrier to participation. We also wanted to make sure we could compensate people for contributing and are funding this work through a grant which limits how long we can fund participants for.

We view this as an early step in a long process that will evolve in different ways. The group will have a say in how this work should move forward and that might include more leadership development and capacity building in communities. Another strategy might be acquiring land and holding onto it until a community has the capacity to decide how they want to develop it. Having this foundational work and an Implementation Plan will also help us be eligible for more funding in the future to continue doing this work with paid community participation. We view this as an iterative, emergent, and evolving process.

Is this timeline separate from Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan update?
Yes, whatever strategies come out of this might be made as amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, they also might be in line with some of the equity goals in the Plan.

Is community land ownership about publicly owned lands?
Some of the strategies we will explore are for publicly owned land and how to transfer it into community hands, but most of it will focus on privately owned land. Examples of community owned land that we have seen in Seattle and other cities doing ETOD include community-based organizations owning affordable housing developments, community land trusts, and land banking where the priority is on acquiring land that can be later distributed out to communities.