What Should the ‘Next Seattle’ Look Like?

“The reality of cities is that they are alive,” writes Natalie Bicknell Argerious in The Urbanist. “Cities, and the neighborhoods within them, are not fixed to a single moment in time or population of people. They grow and change as the waves of people who inhabit them age, move, take root, and die.” On the heels of a New York Times article asking a similar question about that city, Bicknell Argerious asks of Seattleites, “What do we want this city to be? And who do we want it to belong to?”

Based on a presentation Bicknell Argerious saw put on by University of Washington architecture graduate students, the answer, for those students, was simple: “They wanted the next Seattle to be a city they — a generation currently priced out — could choose to lead a quality life.” Bicknell Argerious notes that the student suggestions fell into four main categories: “increasing affordable housing choices, creating intentional community, maximizing access to green space, and finding creative ways to fill in the gaps in neighborhoods.” The article details the proposals students had for building affordable, mixed-use development that accommodate a variety of household types, businesses, and income levels. 

As the city gears up to update its Comprehensive Plan, the author writes, now is the time for Seattleites to make their voice heard on issues of housing, zoning, land use, and their general vision for the future of their city.