Little boxes on the hillside.
Little boxes on the hillside. sandiegoa/getty

Something I missed this morning in that KUOW/KING 5 poll asking about the mayoral race and several local issues: They asked about single-family zoning!

The poll of 900 people (800 of them registered voters) asked respondents: "The city may rezone some parts of the city to allow multi-family homes in areas where only single-family homes are today permitted. Do you support this zoning change? Or oppose it?" Of those who took a stand, more supported the change than opposed it: 48 percent said they support the upzones and 29 percent said they oppose it. ("Opposition is strongest among senior citizens," reads the summary of results.) Another 22 percent said they were not sure.

Support was strongest among younger people, women, renters, Hispanic respondents, Republicans, and supporters of Mayor Ed Murray.

The city is currently in the process of upzoning some parts of the city and, in exchange for allowing taller buildings, requiring developers to set aside affordable apartments or fund affordable housing. But in 2015, amid feverish backlash from the Seattle Times, Murray and some city council members backed away from a recommendation to allow denser housing in single family zones. Currently, 65 percent of the city is zoned to only allow single family homes (57 percent if you don't count parks), compared to just 3 percent in Portland. As the mayor's Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda committee pointed out when it recommended changing single-family zoning in 2015, zoning restrictions are linked to racial inequities and segregation.

One more thing about that poll: When asked whether the city has enough affordable housing, 7 percent of respondents said Seattle has "too much" affordable housing. Hey, those people, fuck all the way off.