By Emily Mandeville
Between 2010 and 2020, the city of Seattle saw an enormous population surge — more than 25% — fueled in part by the city’s booming tech industry. As a result, we’ve seen an influx of jobs, revenue, and opportunities. Simultaneously, we have watched levels of homelessness double over the last decade in direct correlation to Seattle’s almost 200% increase in rent prices over the same period. These shifts are also closely intertwined with the climate crisis, as displacement, urban sprawl, and building construction are large sources of carbon emissions.
We are seeing staggering levels of homelessness that undeniably require the development of more affordable housing to reverse. Given these challenges, Prop 1A provides a solution: long-term, reliable funding to the Seattle Social Housing Developer (SSHD) through a tax on the city’s wealthiest corporations. The SSHD was created in 2023 through I-135 after the legislation received 57% of votes in favor.
It would have been hard for anyone to fully imagine the way the quickly developing tech industry would sweep the city and transform its economic landscape. But this lack of foresight has had devastating results.
The Aftermath of the Boom
According to a report by GeekWire, between 2016 and 2020, the Seattle region added 48,300 new tech jobs, driven in part by the success of local mega-corporations like Amazon, Microsoft, T-Mobile, and Boeing. These new, highly paid employees could afford higher rent prices, slowly displacing lower-income, working-class residents. Seattle has a low unemployment rate yet disproportionately high rates of eviction and homelessness.
To worsen matters, Seattle has no legislation limiting rent increases, so the problem continues to grow. The Pew Charitable Trusts analyzed an overwhelming body of research indicating that “ housing costs explain far more of the difference in rates of homelessness than variables such as substance use disorder, mental health, weather, the strength of the social safety net, poverty, or economic conditions.”
Still, the homelessness crisis across the country remains a complex issue that will require a multifaceted approach. Factors such as addressing the mental health crisis and increasing access to social support resources will help ease the impact of homelessness on the city’s landscape while the community develops long-term solutions. One such solution is social housing.
Why Social Housing?
The Washington State Standard reported that the state has just over 155,000 subsidized housing units available to low—and middle-income families, with over 700,000 households falling into that range as of 2019. In short, that’s one affordable unit for every five households that need one.
Social housing exists not only to house the lowest earners in Seattle but to fill the gap for all the other Seattle residents “cost-burdened” by their housing situation — meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent. This encompasses about 50% of the city, including teachers, nurses, bus drivers, and other vital members of our community. Unlike traditional low-income housing, which can be returned to the traditional market after 30 years, social housing units will remain a public good in perpetuity, not an opportunity for profit and exploitation.
The 2023 initiative I-135 lays out specifics for the way the Seattle Social Housing Developer will approach the project, based on the four pillars of social housing: publicly owned, permanently affordable, mixed-income, and free from market speculation. No resident will pay more than 30% of their income, units will be awarded based on a low-barrier lottery system, and tenancy will not be revoked due to changes in income. New developments should include communal working spaces and kitchens, in addition to offering daycare. This legislation also creates pathways for public lands to be evaluated for potential social housing units before being sold to the private market.
It’s also important to note that social housing is a climate solution. At its core, social housing prioritizes low-carbon, green developments. All new units will follow the Passive House criteria, the world’s leading standard for energy-efficient housing. Prop 1A is a progressive solution to continue tackling the overlapping issues of housing and climate in Seattle.
Prop 1A: Housing and Climate Justice
Prop 1A, or I-137, proposes a funding structure for the SSHD. The legislation suggests a 5% payroll tax placed on employers for any employee compensation exceeding $1 million/person/year. Businesses with employees in this bracket are generally the same industrial giants that significantly contributed to the development of Seattle’s housing crisis over the last 15 years.
Prop 1A’s alternative, Prop 1B — introduced by the Chamber of Commerce and backed by Big Tech — suggests a much less comprehensive solution. It proposes reallocating a fixed $10 million from a pre-existing payroll tax, taking funding away from other affordable housing projects and social programs to support the SSHD. In the long run, this alternative would only provide 20% as much funding as Prop 1A and would conclude after five years. Passing Prop 1A will ensure funding intended for other social safety nets remains available, while also creating a progressive source of revenue to develop more social housing in the city.
Final Thoughts
As housing costs and emissions continue to grow, the stark truth is this: Seattle requires more affordable, green housing. Locally, the explosion of the tech industry exacerbated an issue already sweeping many cities across the nation. As big companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, and T-Mobile grew, they drew a huge influx of high-paid workers, and low- to mid-level earners have been increasingly displaced.
The development of social housing in Seattle is a step in the direction of creating sustainable change in the housing landscape of the city. Will you be a part of that change? Vote Yes on Prop 1A by February 11th to tax wealthy corporations so we can fund permanently affordable, green social housing!
For more information, stay up to date with some of Seattle’s other housing organizations: Tech 4 Housing, Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, and House Our Neighbors.