One Seattle 2024 Comp Plan Update: Community Meetings

If you know  Futurewise , then you probably already know that we believe firmly in the importance of comprehensive planning—particularly for  major metropolitan centers like Seattle  and especially right now as cities throughout the Puget Sound region take on their major, once-every-ten-years comp plan updates.

Beginning in November 2022, the Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) began a series of five in-person community meetings held in neighborhoods across Seattle. These meetings are an opportunity to learn about the Seattle's comprehensive plan, to talk directly with City staff, and to work together advocate for critical changes to the city's growth strategy.

Futurewise staff and volunteers will attend each meeting in the series. To help encourage others to join us, we pulled together some general info and advocacy tips tailored to this community meeting series. The more voices we can bring together, the better chance we have at pushing the City of Seattle to plan for significant housing and jobs growth over the coming twenty years.

Our ability to solve the housing and climate crisis depends on the plans we set in place today. Please join Futurewise and our allies at one of the upcoming community meetings!

Here is some general information about the community meetings:

• Open house (informal conversations with OPCD staff)
• Brief presentation by OPCD staff
• Breakout Group Discussion 1: Housing
• Breakout Group Discussion 2: Complete Neighborhoods * Note: breakout groups are small group discussions around a table

• Monday, November 14:  New Holly Gathering Hall, 6:00-8:00 p.m. 
• Thursday, December 1:  Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, 6:00-8:00 p.m. 
• Thursday, December 8:  South Seattle College, 6:00-8:00 p.m. 
• Monday, December 12:  Loyal Heights Community Center, 6:00-8:00 p.m.  
• Tuesday, January 10:  Meadowbrook Community Center, 6:00-8:00 p.m. 

Here are a few suggestions for preparing for a community meeting:

1. Make a list of 3–5 points you want to make This is not a public hearing, so you don't need to rehearse a 2-minute speech. However, it might still be helpful to make some notes about what points you want to make to the City. Create a list of up to five ideas/values/experiences that you want to share. Use the discussion topics (Housing and Complete Neighborhoods) as a guide for creating this list—but don't feel like you have to stick to those two topics.
2. Bring a friend This type of event can be a bit intimidating, especially if you are new to the discussion around housing and land use. Bringing a friend to the meeting can help reduce the awkwardness of talking with a group of strangers. You and your buddy can also back each other up!
3. You don't need to "win" the discussion The breakout group discussions are open-ended and everyone gets many turns to speak. Some people may share opinions that you do not agree with and that is ok. You don't need to "win" the discussion. However, it is important that you speak up if you disagree with something—as long as you feel comfortable doing so.
4. Tell your story Use your personal experience to ground your points about the type of housing and complete neighborhoods Seattle needs. For example, you might say that you want to see more apartment buildings with shared open spaces and then tell a story about how you once became friends with your neighbors in a courtyard apartment complex. Pairing your values with a personal anecdote makes your points more compelling and memorable.
5. Eat beforehand While the City provides some snacks and drinks, they do not provide a full dinner. Eating an early dinner is a good idea. If that isn't an option for you, bring some snacks that you know you'll enjoy.

Here are a few talking points to reference as you prepare for a community meeting:

• We cannot end the housing crisis without increasing housing density UW Professors Gregg Colburn and Rick Mohler wrote an opinion editorial in the Seattle Times arguing that increasing housing density across the city is necessary (but, by itself, insufficient) to address Seattle's housing crisis. Read their article  here .
• The 1994 Urban Village growth strategy has created "two Seattles": one that changes, and other that does not Focusing growth into the urban villages while preventing it from occurring in the rest of city has had many negative consequences. It perpetuates the racially disparate impacts of exclusionary zoning, it increases displacement pressure on BIPOC communities, it drives up housing costs beyond the reach of many, and it has restricted home ownership opportunities to all but the most wealthy Seattle residents. Learn more about the racial equity critique of the Urban Villages strategy here:  Racial Equity Analysis - Community Engagement Summary (2021)   Racial Equity Analysis - PolicyLink Recommendations (2021) 
• Alternative 5: Combined is the only growth strategy that can meet our city's housing needs The City needs to take a "yes and..." approach when it comes to encouraging housing development. This means increasing the number of "urban village" areas where high-density housing is allowed and allowing middle housing in all residential areas. See the joint comment letter led by Housing Development Consortium for more details on why the new growth strategy should be like Alternative 5:  HDC Comment Letter on Seattle EIS Scoping (August 2022) 

Futurewise is building a  grassroots campaign to change housing and land use policy statewide .

We need cities like Seattle to show leadership on these issues so that statewide bills can get passed.

Advocating for bold changes to the Seattle Comprehensive Plan will help support our state-level work during the 2023 Legislative Session.

If you would like to be a part of this movement, please get in touch with our State Organizer,  Marcella Buser , by joining our For Our Future Campaign  email list  or filling out our Google Form (click on the button below).

Here are a couple of useful resources for learning about the One Seattle 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update:

•  One Seattle Plan Project Documents  This webpage lists all official documents created during the 2024 update of the Seattle Comprehensive Plan. This is the place to begin your search for any reports, presentations, or outreach materials created by the City of Seattle and its consultant team.
•  EIS Scoping Report (pdf)  This report explains what the City plans to study during the EIS. It also mentions some of the feedback that the City received during the EIS Scoping comment period and how that feedback shaped the final scope.

To help us all better understand the impacts of this comprehensive plan update, Futurewise has taken the conceptual growth strategy maps from the City's  October 2022 Scoping Report  and converted them into interactive web maps.

Below you'll find a description of each of the five growth strategy alternatives paired with an interactive map.

We hope this tool can help you explore and critique the different strategies at a city-, neighborhood-, and even city block-scale.