Home in Tacoma Project
City of Tacoma's Affordable Housing Action Strategy
Home in Tacoma Project
Tacoma is facing a housing crisis. It is becoming more difficult to find housing we can afford, particularly for people with fixed or lower incomes. Growth in our region is driving prices up faster than incomes. The economic impacts of the pandemic mean more people are facing financial instability.
Housing meets our need for shelter and also connects us with family, friends, community, transportation, employment and more. For all those reasons, housing matters deeply to our wellbeing, health and prosperity.
As part of the response to Tacoma’s housing crisis, the City is revisiting the rules governing housing development. We need to hear from you about how Tacoma can make our City a place that everyone can call home.
Many of Tacoma’s most walkable and sought after neighborhoods were built before single-family zoning and minimum lot sizes existed. In 1953, Tacoma put a Zoning Code in place that set aside most of the City for single-family houses. The traditional neighborhood patterns were no longer allowed for new construction.
A lot has changed since then. Tacoma has little undeveloped space left for new housing construction. There is growing interest in housing options that work for extended family, aging-in-place, generating rental income and living in walkable urban settings.
For all these reasons, Tacoma is taking the opportunity to make sure our housing policies support the goals of our diverse community.

Home in Tacoma Project Goals
- Increase housing supply to meet current and future needs throughout the City’s neighborhoods
- Increase housing affordability reflecting the financial means of Tacoma residents
- Increase housing choice to meet household needs and preferences across Tacoma’s neighborhoods
Project Actions
While there are many actions needed, one critical step is to create more homes for more people. To do so, Tacoma is taking steps to:
1. Diversify housing types: Promote mid-scale housing types, such as two and three-family attached housing and low-scale multifamily, in more areas of the City.
2. Promote affordable housing: Encourage more affordable housing units in areas where growth is happening more quickly through use of City incentives and bonuses.
Goal 1: Increase housing supply
The Puget Sound region is growing—and so is Tacoma. To prepare, Tacoma is planning for about 60,000 new housing units by 2040. The City plans for most of that growth (about 80%) to be Downtown and in other Centers and Corridors and about 20% to be in other neighborhoods. Tacoma needs to take steps to plan for growth to serve our diverse community.
According to the Puget Sound Regional Council from 2010 to 2019, the region added 3 new residents for every 1 new housing unit.
What can the City do?
Tacoma’s space to build housing is limited. Through this effort, Tacoma will explore ways to support growth in our Centers, as well as accommodate more growth in residential neighborhoods through infill of Missing Middle Housing types.
The City doesn’t control housing construction, but City rules do control what housing types are allowed where. Under the current rules, most of Tacoma’s housing land supply is set aside for single-family detached housing, with room for large-scale multifamily housing in Centers and Corridors.
What’s missing is space where mid-scale housing types are encouraged. For that reason, mid-scale housing types are referred to as “Missing Middle” Housing.
Goal 2: Increase Housing Affordability
For most Tacomans, incomes are not keeping pace with rising housing costs. When new housing is built, prices are generally not affordable to most of us. As a result, housing affordable at Tacoma incomes is becoming harder to come by.
- About 40% of Tacomans pay more than they can afford in housing costs
- About one-third of Tacomans feel insecure in their housing
The ownership and rental markets have risen drastically over the past 10 years.
Incomes have not kept up with rising housing costs.
Housing affordability affects everyone, but particularly lower income households. In Tacoma today, because of lower average incomes, people of color are struggling disproportionately to find housing they can afford.
What can the City do?
The City can’t control the price of housing, but we can encourage developers to offer affordable units in larger projects by offering bonuses, such as allowing more units or reducing parking requirements.
Another action the City can take is to allow Missing Middle Housing types. Since they are more compact, the cost of land and infrastructure is shared across more units. While this doesn’t guarantee an affordable price, it generally brings down costs and creates relatively affordable housing choices.
Goal 3: Increase housing choice
Where we live is about more than just shelter. Our location connects us with family, friends, community, transportation, employment and more. When there are no housing options we can afford in the neighborhood we want to live in, we lose out on those opportunities.
Different households have different incomes, needs and preferences. Diversifying housing options is based on flexibility. It allows people to decide what makes the most sense financially and for their household needs.
Where we live matters
Unfortunately, opportunities are not equal across our city. In 2018, Tacoma developed the Equity Index which looks at accessibility, education, economy and livability across Tacoma. The lighter areas have less access to opportunity.
Equity and Housing Costs
Legend for Opportunity Index & Housing Cost
History of Redlining in Tacoma
Where we live today didn’t happen entirely by chance. Tacoma has a history of using policy tools that were unfair to people of color. Insurance redlining put in place in the 1930s meant that more than two-thirds of the city had limited or no access to funds for buying or building a home--particularly in areas where people of color lived. Racially restrictive covenants were also used to prevent people of color from owning homes.
These areas were defined in 1929 to provide lenders with a reason to refuse to give home loans to interested parties. The explicitly racist practice was based on assumptions that people of color and foreign-born whites were bad financial risks.
The Mapping Inequality project documents how redlining worked in Tacoma and across the nation.
https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining
Areas by Grade
A “Best” (Green)
Areas were described as a "hot spot"... where good mortgage lenders with available funds are willing to make their maximum loans.
“Inhabitants – Infiltration of [non-white families]: No Threat”
B “Still Desirable” (Blue)
Areas were "still good" but not as "hot" as A Areas. "They are neighborhoods where good mortgage lenders will have a tendency to hold commitments 10-15% under the [lending] limit."
“Favorable Influences: Homogeneous population and development.”
C “Definitely Declining” (Yellow)
Area were characterized by "obsolescence [and] infiltration of lower grade population." "Good mortgage lenders are more conservative in Third grade."
“There is, however, a distinct threat of Negroes and native born Italians.”
D “Hazardous” (Red)
Areas were "characterized by detrimental influences in a pronounced degree, underdesirable population or an infiltration of it." They recommended lenders "refuse to make loans in these areas [or] only on a conservative basis."
“There are several Negro families (three known) who own property and live in this area. This constitutes a sufficient hazard to justify a 4th grade rating.”
Enduring impacts
These racists practices limited people of color from building family wealth through homeownership and access to education and employment. As a result, Tacoma residents of color today have lower incomes and are less likely to be homeowners.
Redlining and restrictive covenants are gone, but our neighborhoods still reflect the patterns they reinforced. Areas not redlined have some of the highest prices in the city. Conversely, those that were redlined and lacked private investment are worth less.
Median Income and Affordable Rent by Race and Ethnicity
Tacoma is one of the most racially diverse cities in Washington State—nearly 40 percent of our residents are people of color. Yet Tacoma residents of color are more likely today to live in areas with fewer opportunities, while high opportunity areas are disproportionately white. These patterns of wealth, opportunity and race correlate with Tacoma’s historic exclusions of non-white families from high opportunity neighborhoods.
What can the City do?
Commitment to antiracism: Tacoma is working to transform all institutions, systems, policies, practices and contracts impacted by systematic racism. An important step is to address existing disparities by fostering access to opportunities through our City. Helping people access housing that meets our needs is one of the most important actions the City can take.
Tacoma’s current housing growth strategy
The One Tacoma Plan – Urban Form Element is Tacoma’s blueprint for growth. Tacoma’s official growth targets call for about 60,000 new housing units between 2010 and 2040. The City plans for most of that growth (about 80 percent) to be built in to Tacoma’s Centers (including Downtown). About 20 percent (approximately 9,300 new dwellings) would be in other neighborhoods.
Single-Family Residential Designations
In Tacoma’s single-family areas, the primary housing type permitted is detached single-family houses. One Accessory Dwelling Unit is also allowed for each house. This is about 75 percent of Tacoma’s housing land supply.
Large-lot single family house
House with an Accessory Dwelling Unit
Multi-Family Housing (Low Density)
In low-density multi-family areas, two-family, three-family and small-scale multi-family are also permitted, in addition to single-family houses.
Two-family
Townhouses
Small-scale multi-family
Multi-Family Housing (High Density)
In these areas, the same housing types are allowed, with the addition of multi-family buildings up to 150 feet.
High-rise Multi-family housing
Mixed Use Centers
In Tacoma’s Downtown and Mixed-Use Centers, most housing types are permitted, including, mixed-use and live-work housing.
Mixed-use
Mid-rise multi-family
High-rise multi-family is allowed Downtown and in the Tacoma Mall Neighborhood
What housing types are missing?
Tacoma’s got plenty of room for single-family houses, and room for large-scale multi-family. What’s missing is space for all the housing types in between—the Missing Middle.
Why Missing Middle Housing?
Diverse housing types are nothing new – many older Tacoma neighborhoods offer a mix of housing types today. However, in the 1950s Tacoma put in place zoning that set aside the majority of residential land for single-family housing exclusively. Our current housing growth strategy was put in place decades ago when housing needs and preferences were different.
- There is growing interest in compact homes, walkable neighborhoods, the ability to generate rental income, shared living, aging-in-place and caregiving at home.
- A strong economy needs adequate workforce housing.
- Housing in walkable, transit-oriented areas helps reduce cost burdens and promotes health, sustainability and access to opportunities.
- Meeting housing needs is fundamental to Tacoma’s vision to be a great place to live for our diverse community.
- Tacoma has a high quality of life and great opportunities to share with more neighbors.
Get Involved
Through early 2021 the Planning Commission is asking the community to join in a discussion about housing needs, development trends and neighborhood change. Using community ideas and feedback, the Commission will make recommendations to the City Council for planning, zoning and other actions to meet our community’s housing needs. With thoughtful planning, Tacoma can take steps to ensure that new housing benefits everyone and compliments the unique character of our neighborhoods.