affordable housing
City seeks balance: housing needs and forest benefits
Bellingham faces the challenge of building homes to meet housing needs while preserving trees for public and environmental health.
Expectations are high, questions remain as waterfront neighborhood takes shape
In early planning, Bellingham envisioned an urban village, public spaces, new jobs and low-income housing on the former GP property on Bellingham Bay. What’s actually in development?
Home Trust selected to build San Juan affordable housing
Lack of transparency dooms Favor 34 private financing proposal.
Can we prevent homelessness?
Commentary: There are many reasons people become homeless — can it be prevented? Unequivocally, yes, says one close observer. Housing and income play into the complex causes.
House-building is booming in Blaine
Who’s building, who’s buying and who’s left out as construction takes off?
By the numbers: wealth gap grows in the San Juan Islands
A shortage of affordable housing, increasing affluence and tourism, and loss of island culture top lists of negative trends reported in the San Juan Islands.
Review: Geography, zoning, economy play into the ‘why’ of homelessness
Review: Homelessness has stubbornly resisted efforts of cities and nonprofits to find solutions; a new book analyzes the reasons why.
Funds secured for affordable housing on Port waterfront
State funds have been secured for The Millworks, a multi-partner affordable housing project in Bellingham.
Affordable housing—however defined—is in short supply in Skagit County
Risk of homelessness high for many in the San Juan Islands
Unhoused individuals and families live in every county in Washington. In San Juan County, the problem is compounded by low-paying jobs in the service industry — among the lowest wages in the state — as well as the high cost of housing and a shortage of affordable rentals.
Winter shelter solutions lag behind need as unhoused number continues to grow
Whatcom County’s unhoused population has seen a steady rise over the past decade, making it hard to plan how to meet shelter and housing needs. But planning — a year or more in advance — is an important part of finding long-term solutions.
Housing pressures spark new look at inclusionary zoning
Inclusionary zoning policies that either incentivize or require developers to include some units in construction projects that qualify as affordable housing are being reexamined as a way to provide much-needed affordable housing in Bellingham.
Housing and growth issues surround Skagit County consideration of ‘fully contained community’ proposal
Mostly rural Skagit County — with a population density about half of Whatcom County to the north and one-sixth of Snohomish County to the south — has a big-county problem: housing. Planners are looking at solutions including a comp plan amendment to allow “fully contained communities,” or FCCs, to create urban villages in currently rural zones.
Election 2021: Candidates vie to drive the engine of Whatcom County’s economic development
Two of three commissioner positions for the Port of Bellingham — the county’s economic engine — are up for election on the Nov. 2 ballot. Along with speaking to the issues, candidates have found they need to explain the job’s impact whenever they knock on voters’ doors.
Caught in a web of causes: homelessness hits harder than ever
The growing presence of unhoused individuals and their expanding footprint into residential neighborhoods has shocked and bewildered others in the community, while the urgency of the problem threatens to distract from understanding the underlying realities perpetuating this crisis.
Doing the work of the people: legislation introduced by 40th and 42nd District legislators
A month into the 2021 state legislative session, it’s time to review the legislation introduced by our elected representatives as of this week.