Affordable, subsidized housing in Seattle is in crisis. Several months ago, the City of Seattle announced $14 million in one-time funding intended to stabilize affordable housing providers. The Office of Housing received 24 applications requesting roughly $22 million. These 24 housing providers own and manage 10,200 affordable housing units across the city, and a public records request for their applications reveals just how dire the future of affordable housing in Seattle is. Read More ›
Matthew Desmond 2023_National_Book_Festival_(53123258729) Wikimedia Commons
The academic who’s gained the biggest rewards for writing about homelessness is Harvard and Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond. Many reviewers loved the way Evicted reads like fiction. The comparisons with fiction raise crucial questions: How much of Evicted is fact and how much, if not exactly fiction, is interpretation? Read More ›
Last spring, a tenant named “Eucytus” fired at deputies while barricaded in the apartment and then died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Seattle detective David Easterly was critically injured by a gunshot wound during the incident. In a statement that feels grossly oversimplified, Housing Justice Project Attorney Edmund Witter said of the barricade-suicide-eviction, “Evictions for nonpayment of rent are preventable with more support and the right programs.” Read More ›
There is a dominant public perception that housing evictions are primarily driven by economic factors. As the narrative goes, a tenant is struggling financially, can’t pay rent, and is forced to leave their home. In fact, the analysis finds a negative, albeit weak, correlation between rates of poverty and homelessness. Read More ›
It’s not just the Supreme Court that thinks the CDC doesn’t have the authority to write laws. Biden and members of his administration said as much. Read More ›
