Like conservative Richard Nixon opening ties with a distinctly Red China, progressive City Council Member Judy Nicastro may be the only politician who could pass a pro-big-development measure in Seattle--a measure that our city desperately needs. Last week, Nicastro returned from a visit to her native New York City inspired and reminded what a real big-city core looks like: a dense, thriving, 24-hour metropolis where tall buildings crowd out the sky. "Nobody has a right to a view. I don't care how much you paid for your condo," Nicastro says. "Downtown should be one massive highrise."
And now, thanks to a downtown corridor revamp being proposed by Mayor Paul Schell, Nicastro has an opportunity to force the issue. After getting nowhere with the mayor's office, Nicastro is offering up a resolution of her own that could expand the mayor's proposal. She'll be unveiling the resolution this summer.
To be fair, Mayor Schell's proposal is certainly well intentioned. The mayor's idea is this: By tweaking two long-standing city programs--the transfer of development rights and public benefit features--he thinks the city can nudge developers into creating more low-income housing. The original programs, created in 1985, offered incentives to developers (hungry to build downtown) by loosening square-footage guidelines in exchange for requiring builders to provide public benefits. The laundry list of public benefit possibilities included public atriums, open spaces, movie theaters, parks, child care, and low-income housing. Schell would amend the program to prioritize low-income housing--which hasn't blossomed under the existing equation. Unfortunately, Schell's proposal doesn't offer up the most important ingredient for creating low-income housing in Seattle: density.
Density = more housing stock. More housing stock = lower rents. To get more density, Nicastro is pitching the unthinkable in NIMBY Seattle: She wants to extend the 1985 program to neighborhoods near downtown (First Hill, South Lake Union, the International District, and Beacon Hill). "You need more supply to reduce costs," Nicastro says. "It's a great opportunity because urban growth is inevitable. If you're going to grow, grow right. And when you have density, you have a 24-hour vibrant core."
A draft version of Nicastro's resolution makes her Gotham City sympathies clear: "WHEREAS, extending portions of that program to neighborhoods ringing Seattle's downtown... could foster more density, allow greater opportunity for much needed low-income housing, and create a vibrant community.... The [mayor] is directed to undertake analysis of extending the downtown... program outside the zones in which it has historically operated."
Nicastro's natural allies (Nick Licata and Peter Steinbrueck) aren't likely to vote for such a "neighborhood-endangering amendment." But with pro-developer votes like Jan Drago and smart-growth environmental votes like Heidi Wills on the council, Nicastro should be able to split the difference and get the five votes she needs.
