affordable housing

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?

Lack of transparency dooms Favor 34 private financing proposal.

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.

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: Homelessness has stubbornly resisted efforts of cities and nonprofits to find solutions; a new book analyzes the reasons why.

State funds have been secured for The Millworks, a multi-partner affordable housing project in Bellingham.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A month into the 2021 state legislative session, it’s time to review the legislation introduced by our elected representatives as of this week.