Modest apartment buildings like these used to be allowed all over the city, but now are confined to limited "urban villages" while the vast majority of residential land is set aside for single family homes. (Doug Trumm)

Seattle, like most American cities, is dominated by residential neighborhoods touting expensive, single-family homes with a few high density areas sprinkled in between. This wasn’t always the case.

Seattle YIMBY is hosting a walk on Saturday, March 16 through the beautiful Ballard neighborhood where we will discover surviving examples of mid-sized home options such as duplexes, triplexes and small apartment complexes, while learning what prompted their all but disappearance from residential neighborhoods. We will also discuss efforts to bring affordable housing options back, including a recently passed state-law and the city’s proposed implementation of it.

The walk will be led by guest speaker Markus Johnson, creator of the NW Seattle Missing Middle Mapping Project. Markus is an urbanist and urban planner who is passionate about creating environments and spaces that allow people to live and thrive. 

A poster for the event has the headline "Seattle's Forbidden Homes: explore Seattle's missing middle housing and history of downzoning." Includes a logo for Seattle YIMBY and a headshot for Markus Johnson, who is a Black man.
Homes that are now forbidden from being built and zoned out of existence lurk in nearly every neighborhood in Seattle, and the dirty secret is they fit in just fine! (Seattle YIMBY)

We will meet at 1:30pm at the intersection of NW 65th Street and 14th Ave NW, south of the Ballard High School Football Field.

The walk is about 1.5 miles long and will end in the Brewery district where we will have time to mingle and share ideas about how we can bring abundant and affordable housing (back) to Seattle. We look forward to seeing you there!

Please register here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/seattles-forbidden-homes-discover-missing-middle-housing-in-ballard.

Article Author

Seattle YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) is a local, volunteer-based organization that advocates for abundant housing and inclusive, sustainable development in Seattle and the Puget Sound region. We envision a Seattle where everyone has access to affordable homes in proximity to jobs, schools, parks and amenities.