Dan Bertolet

1 month ago | sightline.org | Dan Bertolet

There’s a healthy competition brewing between states that are taking action for housing abundance. But as of May 2025, Washington leads the pack. Its legislature just passed best-in-the-US bills on both parking and transit-oriented development, along with a half-dozen other policies that address the state’s housing shortage and resulting affordability crisis in several critical ways.

Feb 13, 2025 | sightline.org | John Callery |Dan Bertolet

Washingtonians from Spokane to Sequim, Washougal to Wenatchee, are struggling to afford homes and rents in their communities due to a deep housing shortage. While recent years’ laudable legislative actions have begun to relegalize more homes, in all shapes and sizes, it will take years of dedicated effort to make up for decades of stunted homebuilding in cities and towns.

Oct 28, 2024 | sightline.org | Dan Bertolet

The funded IZ opportunity for Washington state Washington authorizes IZ in what state law calls “affordable housing incentive programs.” Cities must grant offsets, but the law does not require them to fully compensate for the cost of the affordability mandate. Notably, the list of sanctioned offset types does not include property tax abatements. State law enabled Shoreline to impose IZ in its light rail station areas because it was also adopting upzones, an approved offset type.

Jul 19, 2024 | sightline.org | Dan Bertolet

To dig out of the state’s deep shortage of homes and control the crisis of high prices and rents, Washington legislators have passed a slew of bills in the past two years to boost housing production, including the re-legalization of accessory dwellings, middle housing, and co-living homes.

Apr 18, 2024 | sightline.org | Dan Bertolet

Find audio versions of Sightline articles on any of your favorite podcast platforms, including Spotify, Google, and Apple. Editor’s note: Have your say as Seattle leaders collect community input. We’ve drafted a note for you to edit to your liking, and the Seattle Office of Planning Community Development is accepting comments until May 6 at [email protected].