We definitely have to look at gentrification as a major cause of climate change. People who live in places where everything is at least 30 to 40 minutes away do not get to choose how much car exhaust they are spewing into the atmosphere. Affordable housing in town is an environmental issue.

It is ironic that the City of Seattle is gearing up to actively promote increased residential and commercial densities in two of Seattle's poorest and most polluted neighborhoods--Georgetown and South Park. Seattle recognizes that these areas are vulnerable to future flooding, but recently stated that such risks can be mitigated with levees, pumps, drainage canals, etc. to prevent flooding from a combination of sea sea level rise backwatering up the Duwamish River from Elliott Bay, and superstorms, which will convey massive amounts of runoff from the headwaters of the Green-Duwamish watershed. In the future it is highly probable that runoff volumes will eventually exceed Howard Hanson Dam's modest flood storage capacity, which approximately corresponds to the 140 year storm event. This flood frequency is based on the historic hydroperiod, not the probably future hydroperiod under climate change that will bring warmer, wetter winters to our region. The old "100 year storm event" is inexorably becoming much more frequent, and record storms and floods have caused extensive damage in many cities worldwide in recent years including the current almost statewide flood in Louisiana, the floods this winter and last winter in the north and south of Britain, and the large urban floods in Calgary and Nashville.

As this report notes, many existing residents of Georgetown and South Park are already being displaced to suburban cities, and this trend will only intensify when these neighborhoods are upzoned. In addition, it is extremely irresponsible for Seattle not to disclose existing, not to mention future flood risks that will impact neighborhoods that lie only a few feet above sea level. Developers are nonetheless salivating over opportunities to build lots of new, mostly expensive housing and commercial buildings in these neighborhoods. Engineering consulting firms would love to design flood control infrastructure, and construction corporations would love to build it. Who will pay? Not developers, because Seattle doesn't charge impact fees for these kinds of projects. All of Seattle's taxpayers will pay including renters whose rent will go up when property taxes rise to fund these projects.