Building Smart: Affordable Housing with Purpose and Partnership
Affordable housing isn’t a buzzword—it’s a foundation for thriving communities and a shared regional responsibility. I’ve seen firsthand how fragmented housing programs can leave families behind, despite good intentions.
We need a smarter, more coordinated approach. That means building partnerships across cities, counties, and housing authorities to align zoning, funding, and land use. When we work together, we can create housing that reflects the real needs of our communities—housing for teachers, first responders, caregivers, and working families who deserve to live where they serve.
Financial responsibility matters. That’s why I support solutions that scale, last, and make the most of public investment. We must preserve existing affordable housing while exploring cost-effective new models—like manufactured homes, modular construction, and adaptive reuse of underutilized land and buildings.
I have several policy priorities to spark this innovative work:
Regional Housing Coordination – Align planning and funding across different cities, counties, and housing authorities.
Zoning Reform – A regional and centralized approach to permitting processes. This would work similar to how cities approach human services applications, collaborating on Sound Transit, and the regional housing coordination mentioned above.
Public Land for Housing – Repurposing surplus government/county-owned land for affordable housing development.
Mixed-Income Projects – Encouraging new developments that include both affordable and market-rate units.
Innovation - It’s time to move away from custom builds for every project, and instead use prefab homes and modular homes, built offsite at lower cost.
Balancing fiscal stewardship with social impact is a must. Every neighborhood deserves a future where families can grow, workers can live nearby, and communities remain strong.