City Club of Tacoma Programs

Nov 6th - 6:00pm

The Invisible Crisis:

A Call to Action

on Middle-Income

Housing Affordability

Please join us

as we hear from former

Governor Christine Gregoire

speak about the middle-income housing affordability crisis

Purchase Tickets

"It is time for action. If we all work together, the future we imagine is within our reach."

~Chris Gregoire, CEO of Challenge Seattle

Year by year, middle-income residents are being priced out of more and more communities. In the last decade, home prices have risen nearly 60%, three times the national growth rate. Housing prices are seven times the median income in King County, and nearly 40% of middle-income households find themselves cost burdened by housing. Today, a middle-income household can no longer afford to rent, let alone buy, a home.

We must build more housing at the right price, of the right size, in the right locations. In this segment of the market, however, the economics of market-rate development don't pencil and few public financing tools are available. If we want to provide more options for middle-income households, it will take new sources of capital and land from the private sector, smart policy changes and public investments, and a community willing to embrace change and make room for new neighbors.

We lay out 15 recommendations that, if deployed in concert, can materially move the needle on housing affordability in our region.

Collectively, we have the tools and capabilities to address the middle-income affordability crisis. But it will take all of us. In our research of cities around the world, we found that success requires everyone doing their part -- the public sector, the private sector, and the community each have an important role to play and each must play that role.

Challenge Seattle is committed to action. We will lend our voice, data, expertise, and resources. We will encourage investment, and we will support the public-private partnership needed for success. If we all work together, we can ensure the future vitality of our region for generations to come.