While the 2024 budget plan invests in housing and social programs, city leaders warn the city will face a shortfall of almost $250 million in 2025.
A post on the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog outlines the city of Seattle’s ‘largest-ever investment into affordable housing,’ which the city passed as part of its 2024 budget, which allocates $600 million over a period of two years to housing efforts. “The administration’s 2024 spending plan also emphasized affordable housing plus a boost for treatment and diversion to join a crackdown on public drug use while also including spending for the city’s existing first responders at Seattle Police and the Seattle Fire Department to be maintained at status quo levels.”
Much of the revenue comes from the city’s JumpStart tax on the largest employers. However, the 2025 budget may be a harder fight as the gap between revenue and expenditures is expected to grow to over $247 million with no new funding sources planned yet. According to a report on the 2024 plan, “Our city values do not align with a budget that assumes this level of coming austerity. The future of our city and the sustainability of our community is too important to gamble on.”
Seattle social housing agency can now issue bonds
The new Seattle Social Housing Developer funds affordable housing through a tax on the city's highest-paying companies.
NYC mayor announces plan to repair, restore and build new public housing
Roughly 300,000 New Yorkers live in the city's public housing system.
New Washington State Law Lets Cities Give Social Housing Developers City-owned Land
In its current form, HB 1687, which authorizes local governments to assist social housing agencies with land or other resources, only applies to Seattle.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association