Affordable and accessible housing: Let it be!
Just yesterday, after lots of handwringing, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed legislation allowing “micro-units” of housing. But the same day, just around the corner, I visited Alturra the latest of Seattle’s Apodments. The Alturra now houses 55 people where there once was a decrepit old craftsman style home. The property manager said the units filled up in a week.
Seattle is way ahead here, and here’s hoping that we see more apodments springing up like mushrooms in the fall rain. A potential tenant was impressed at the price when I visited, $750 all inclusive. These aren’t quite the the rooming houses Alan Durning wrote about recently at Sightline’s blog, but they are close. The kitchen is down the hall and shared among clusters of tenants.
This kind of housing is a critical part of increasing supply, and despite protestations of some local neighbors, there is a strong demand for them. The other bright spot is that this is one place where Seattle is already ahead of other cities, or at least San Francisco, in allowing this option. Let’s hope the City Council follows my early advice: Let it be!
Seattle's Land Use Code 
Apodments applied for at 8512 20th Ave NE near Lake City Way, on the edge of Ravenna/Wedgwood/Maple Leaf neighborhoods. The present site is a former grocery store building, to be demolished.
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