A small tremor rippled through Seattle last month and social justice activists cheered. It was the decision by the Seattle City Council to raise the fee on high-rise condo development to pay for affordable housing. This surcharge, increased from $10 to nearly $19 a square foot, is expected to raise $107 million and finance nearly 2,700 units of housing in the next two decades.
For a city dominated these days by an inflated real estate market and high-density development, the move helps correct an imbalance in the city's growth and planning. The movement behind the surcharge hit its stride this year with a massive public campaign, including shirts stating: "Developers stole my city and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."
It's a blunt message, but it reminds us that a city belongs to all of its residents, not just the ones with a large bankroll to move dirt.
Now, City Commissioner Erik Sten is bringing about a similar inititative in Portland. Sten, with the support of Commissioner Sam Adams, wants the city to dedicate up to 30 percent of tax increment revenue to increase affordable rental and homeownership options in urban renewal areas throughout the city. This new allocation would help provide the needed ongoing funding for safe and stable housing for low-income working families, seniors and people with disabilities.
The thrust of this proposal is Sten's Schools, Families and Housing Initiative aimed at retaining and attracting families with children in public schools, and to stabilize families who move frequently from school to school – often a symptom of poverty. Families experiencing unstable or temporary working conditions, low wages, rising living expenses, and evictions are statistically shown to relocate more frequently, undermining children's education as they readjust to new schools.
Schools, along with parks, planning and other city operations, are at the center of what Sten is calling a neighborhood-based model for keeping families and working people living in the city.
The connection between healthy public schools and affordable housing is obvious, Sten says. Portland Public Schools are losing 300 to 500 students a year, straining the district financially. A survey of those families who left the district mid-year showed that 68 percent said the lack of affordable housing as the central reason for their departure.
To correct this, Sten is calling on a collaboration of schools, developers, businesses, community organizations, real estate agents, and city bureaus to focus their efforts on retaining families in the district.
Portland isn't Seattle, but we are sister cities of unparalleled popularity in this nation. We have what a lot of people want, but it shouldn't just go to the highest bidder or exclusive interests. Balanced development is at the crux of a healthy community for all walks of life. That's not just a utopian dream that cities are for everyone, but an economic realty that cities require a balance of professions, skill sets, interests and pursuits. Now is the time for the city to align itself, inside and out, in a concerted effort to preserve affordable family living – now, before it's too late. Yesterday would have been even better, but tomorrow, Seattle awaits.