Daily Plan It Office of Planning & Community Development

The Daily Plan It Blog

A OPCD Blog

Dream, Build, Play Workshop Helps Residents Reimagine A New South Park

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Workshop participants at the South Park Neighborhood Center. Photo courtesy of Place It!

On April 29, James Rojas, an urban planner and artist, held a “Dream, Build, Play” design workshop for South Park residents at the South Park Neighborhood Center. The goal was to use various objects to build and describe their hopes for the neighborhood. Families and neighbors from all backgrounds attended and provided feedback based on the facilitator’s prompts. Below is a few examples of what was heard and created.

Prompt #1: Build your favorite childhood memory.

I remember my home in Chicago as a child. The houses were close together, I remember the street with a small 7Eleven store, the bus station and convenience store.

Maria

Playing in the forest and finding a place I thought was haunted and had ghosts in it, later finding out it was a chicken coop. Now whenever i’m scared I remember it is just a chicken coop.

Brice

Love of nature, the place I grew up was very green.

Esperanza

Prompt #2: Build an ideal city with your team.

Team 1, “The Sunny City”: The city is centered by a park. There are houses surrounding the park so everyone has access, there is a train system, water and a river flowing through it and the Sun and a slide that Santa likes to ride on.

Team 2, “The Carless Neighborhood”: There are no cars in the neighborhood, a plaza, trees and water, houses, community built preserving the history, cattle, chicken, a small farm, safe for kids to play, ride bikes, forests where people come together to create.

Watch this video to see a breakdown of the workshop and the processes behind each team project. Turn on YouTube subtitles for English language.

For more information about Reconnect South Park, visit reconnectsouthpark.org.

To learn more about our efforts to support this project, visit https://www.seattle.gov/opcd/ongoing-initiatives/reconnect-south-park.

Learn more about James Rojas by visiting Place It!

See more photos from the workshop on Flickr.

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Mayor Harrell Announces $13.5 Million to Community Organizations Through the Equitable Development Initiative  

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Today, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced $13,550,000 in awards through the Equitable Development Initiative (EDI), part of the City’s effort to support property ownership among Seattle’s diverse cultural communities in high displacement risk neighborhoods. The City awarded funds to community organizations for site acquisition and major capital projects, as well as capacity-building support to organizations that are still developing their plans for permanent spaces in Seattle.   

The EDI fund, administered by the Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD), was created to respond to the needs of marginalized populations, reduce disparities, and support access to opportunity in healthy, vibrant communities. The initiative is championed by community organizations concerned about displacement pressures and historical lack of investment that has occurred in communities of color in Seattle.   

“Seattle is investing in tangible efforts to support cultural organizations that are working in our historically underserved neighborhoods to fight displacement pressures so they can continue to increase access to opportunity and strengthen our communities,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell. “The Equitable Development Initiative makes real our One Seattle vision – supporting organizations that serve diverse communities in planting and reinforcing permanent roots in our city. From new affordable housing developments to space for youth programming, these projects are generational investments that will help us foster vibrant, thriving communities throughout our city.” 

[Read more…]
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Converting Downtown Offices to Housing

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City of Seattle Announces Call for Ideas

The Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) is sponsoring a competitive Call for Ideas to convert Seattle Downtown commercial office spaces to residential use. Building owner/architect teams are invited to share innovative solutions that will identify obstacles to conversion and lead to potential policy and regulatory changes. The deadline for entries is Friday, May 12, 2023.

All qualified entries will be on display at the Seattle Convention Center in late May. 

Mayor Bruce Harrell announced the Call for Ideas in his State of the City speech in February. “Our long-term plans center downtown as a laboratory for the future. The possibilities are endless,” said Mayor Harrell in his address.

“We seek visions for Downtown that celebrate the intersection between residential, business, and civic activities,” said Rico Quirindongo, Acting Director of OPCD. “We will foster ideas that expand the concept of Downtown as a vibrant residential neighborhood, in addition to its history as a place of commerce, entertainment and tourism. Together we can foster a bright future for Downtown residents and a neighborhood welcoming to all.”

OPCD will offer recognition to the top three scoring submissions with honorariums in the following amounts: highest scoring submittal will receive $10,000 and the two second place entries will receive $7,500.

Every submittal meeting the minimum required contents will receive a nominal honorarium in recognition of the time and expertise. Determination of amounts will be made after the submission deadline and is subject to number of submissions and budget availability. 

Competition details and submittal criteria are available here:
https://www.seattle.gov/opcd/office-to-residential.

For more information, contact:  
Lyle Bicknell, Principal Urban Designer
Office of Planning and Community Development
lyle.bicknell@seattle.gov 

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Duwamish Valley Program Update

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“Implementing a One Seattle Approach in
the Duwamish Valley”
Check out the Duwamish Valley Program 2022 Annual Update

If 2022 reminded us of anything, it’s that centering community leadership is imperative for successful, long-term environmental justice work in the Duwamish Valley. For example, the King Tide flooding in late December 2022 demonstrated the power of community to distribute resources as first responders and to lead government to manage the devastating impacts of environmental injustice and climate change. We are grateful to community leaders and our partners at Seattle Public Utilities, the Office of Emergency Management, the Human Services Department, and the Office of Housing (among many others) for providing relief and assistance to families and businesses in South Park as they recover from the floods.

At the same time, these flood events underscore an important shift in our work. As we continue to hold fast to community priorities, we are moving from short-term responsive planning to long-term proactive implementation.

The last few years have seen increases in investments in the Duwamish Valley. Many of these investments help fulfill our mid-term objectives in the Duwamish Valley Action Plan. In 2022 alone, the Duwamish Valley Program secured nearly $9 million of investments from our partners across the Duwamish Valley Action Team (DAT), which represents 18 City departments. City staff from these departments lead this work, drawing on existing community partnerships, and building new ones. Many of these investments we outline here in our Annual Update.

To learn more about all the great work that the Duwamish Valley Program and our partner departments have accomplished in 2022, check out our Annual Update report! As you will see, the Duwamish Valley Program has continued to adapt to a dynamic landscape of community priorities and ensure that we honor our mandate to advance environmental justice and equitable development in the Duwamish Valley.

A photo of Grant Gutierrez.
Grant Gutierrez, Duwamish Valley Program Coordinator.

As our work has grown, we have added staff to support our work. In Fall 2022, the Duwamish Valley Program welcomed Grant Gutierrez as the Duwamish Valley Program Coordinator. In this new role, Grant will help lead community engagement and ensure our accountability to community priorities while implementing certain projects that advance the Duwamish Valley Action Plan.  You’ll likely see Grant out in the community at events and at community meetings in South Park and Georgetown. Please join us in welcoming Grant to the Duwamish Valley family!

Growing our staff capacity was essential to help us focus on an exciting new initiative: the Duwamish Valley Resilience District. The Resilience District grows from the Action Plan’s long-term strategy to develop and implement a geographic strategy to mitigate and adapt to flood risk and other climate change impacts (page 83). It is a holistic approach to climate change adaptation that includes priorities like affordable housing, alongside mitigating flood risks and sea-level rise adaptation, to bolster the ability of community to thrive in place. The Resilience District reflects the spirit of the Mayor’s One Seattle approach to help us fulfill many of the commitments in the Duwamish Valley Action Plan in strong collaboration with departments across the city, community organizations and industrial business leaders. This work will be led by the Resilience District Advisory Group, which has just been selected! There will be many more opportunities for community to shape this work. Stay tuned!

Thank you all for your continued partnership. Be sure to check out the website for the full 2022 updates, and stay tuned for more to come from our team and beyond.

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Read Our One Seattle Plan Community Meetings Report

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From November 2022 – January 2023, we held five in-person community meetings (plus one online meeting) to discuss our Comprehensive Plan update and to gather feedback to help shape the plan. We thank all those who attended the meetings and participated in the discussion groups.

Our report shares what we heard during these engagement events. 

Like all comments and feedback posted and received on the One Seattle Plan Engagement Hub, this input will be used to shape the Draft Comprehensive Plan Update, to be released later this Spring.

These meetings took place in neighborhoods across Seattle:  

  • Monday, November 14: New Holly Gathering Hall  
  • Thursday, December 1: Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute 
  • Thursday, December 8: South Seattle College, Brockey Center  
  • Monday, December 12: Loyal Heights Community Center  
  • Tuesday, January 10: Meadowbrook Community Center 
  • Monday, January 30: Virtual Citywide Meeting

Visit our Instagram page to view meeting photos and video.

For more information:
One Seattle Plan project page
One Seattle Plan Engagement Hub

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Take our South Delridge Action Plan Survey!

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A map defining the boundaries of South Delridge and its surrounding neighborhoods.

We are partnering with community and other City departments to develop a vision for the future of South Delridge, which includes parts of neighborhoods such as Westwood, Roxhill, Highland Park, Delridge, and White Center. These partnerships will help the City support community and focus investments in the near future.

Your participation in our survey will help identify what issues to address through South Delridge Action Plan, as well as what you think the future of the South Delridge neighborhoods should look like! We will use feedback from this survey (along with feedback gathered at various community meetings) to identify community priorities, and strategies to address issues these. 

Our survey closes on Sunday, February 19. This survey will take approximately 8 minutes to complete. Your input is important and will help make South Delridge a great place to live and work.

English: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SouthDelridge1

Spanish: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SouthDelridge1_es

Vietnamese: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SouthDelridge1_vi

Somali: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SouthDelridge1_so

For more information about the South Delridge Action Plan, visit:
https://www.seattle.gov/opcd/ongoing-initiatives/south-delridge-action-plan.

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Downtown Subarea Planning Seeks Proposals

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Our designated Urban Centers – Downtown, Uptown, South Lake Union, Capitol Hill/First Hill, University District, and Northgate – are home to a significant share of Seattle’s residents and workers. We are beginning the process of planning for each of our centers toward becoming more equitable, vital, and resilient places in the future, beginning with Downtown. 

Downtown’s urban center includes many neighborhoods: Chinatown, Japantown, Filipino Town, Little Saigon, Pioneer Square, Belltown, Denny Triangle, and Commercial Core—each home to many communities, businesses, and identities. These centers will continue to play a critical role in accommodating growth over the next 20 years. 

We have issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for consultant services for the engagement, policy and plan development of these centers. The specific objective of this contract is to conduct community engagement emphasizing racial equity to develop vision and policies and ultimately produce a Downtown Subarea Plan. 

The engagement process would focus on those most often underrepresented in decision-making processes, including Black, Indigenous, and people of color, people with low English language proficiency, youth, people with low access to technology, and those who have experienced displacement. 

This work will be conducted in collaboration with a technical team. The vision and goals developed through this contract will inform the technical studies and evaluation methods. In turn, the results of the technical studies will allow for an informed engagement process. 

The submission deadline is January 18, 2023. For more information, email Magda Hogness: magda.hogness@seattle.gov. 

The full RFP and associated documents can be viewed and downloaded here. 

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City begins analysis of One Seattle Plan alternatives

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Public invited to events to learn more, provide feedback

Contact: Jason.W.Kelly@seattle.gov

After gathering public input over the summer on several growth concepts, the Seattle Office of Planning and Development (OPCD) is launching a detailed environmental analysis to support the One Seattle Plan. Today, OPCD released a report summarizing recent public input and detailing options for how the city could encourage additional housing choices, support housing affordability across the city, create more complete and resilient neighborhoods, and reduce displacement pressures on current residents. The public is invited to attend a series of in-person community meetings to learn more and share their input as we work together to shape the future of our city. 

About once a decade, the City updates its Comprehensive Plan, the guide for where we want to encourage new housing and jobs, and how we will invest to support quality of life in our community. The City is currently conducting an Environmental Impact Statement for the One Seattle Plan that will shape the city over the next 20 years. The plan will include policy guidance informing how the City responds to climate change, supports cultural and artistic expression, advances environmental justice, and invests in equitable outcomes for communities of color. 

A key element of the plan is the growth strategy: where we encourage new homes and jobs in our city to enhance affordability and create opportunity. OPCD will study five alternative growth strategies in the environmental analysis: 

  • Our current urban village growth strategy that focuses housing around frequent transit hubs 
  • Creating new focused areas of housing around walkable shopping districts 
  • Allowing additional types of housing in all neighborhood residential areas 
  • Encouraging more homes along frequent transit corridors and near large parks 
  • A layered combination of all the strategies 

Each of these alternatives were shaped by the public input received over the summer. During a 60-day public comment period, OPCD received more than 1,000 public comments and letters from 36 organizations on a set of draft concepts. Commenters suggested numerous items to be included in the study:  

  • More family-sized and ownership housing options in all neighborhoods across the city  
  • New incentives or requirements for more income-restricted affordable housing 
  • Options for additional transit service, biking and walking facilities, and other transportation amenities 
  • New green space and strengthening of tree regulations 
  • Additional strategies to respond to displacement pressures faced by current residents 

The draft Environmental Impact Statement, which will be available for public review and comment in the Spring, will set the bookends for what will be included in the final plan. The mayor’s proposed plan may include elements drawn from all alternatives studied and is likely to be a hybrid approach. The City Council is scheduled to review, amend, and approve the plan in 2024.  

“I have been encouraged by the comments and input we have received from the public so far,” said Rico Quirindongo, director of OPCD. “We will need your continued involvement to complete the final plan. Together we can imagine and realize our vision for a more equitable Seattle, where all communities can thrive.” 

OPCD has announced a series of public meetings, beginning on Nov 14 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the New Holly Gathering Hall, to share more about the One Seattle Plan. All meeting materials, including translations, will be available at www.seattle.gov/opcd. More information and other opportunities to provide feedback are available on our engagement hub at engage.oneseattleplan.com. 

OPCD is committed to lifting up voices of BIPOC and underrepresented community members and others who have too often borne the burdens of growth and development without experiencing the full benefits. In the One Seattle Plan, OPCD is working with five BIPOC-led community-based organizations to design and implement public engagement strategies that encourage these communities to provide significant input in the plan’s development. 

Preliminary analysis suggests that the current Comprehensive Plan and its urban village growth strategy has succeeded in focusing growth. Over the past decade, 83% of new homes in the city—mostly small apartments—have been built in compact, walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods linked by transit. Since the last Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 2016, more than 56,000 homes have been built in Seattle.  

However, many neighborhoods outside urban villages have few affordable housing options and costs have risen dramatically throughout the city. These limitations on growth have contributed to the reality that family-size and ownership options are out of reach for many.  

A Racial Equity Analysis conducted by the City recently found that the Urban Village Strategy perpetuates a historical pattern of exclusion and increases displacement pressures on communities of color. Our new Plan will learn from these lessons, advance strategies proven to make a difference, and chart a course for a more equitable and affordable Seattle we can all call home. Add your voice by participating in our Racial Equity Outcomes survey. 

Residents are also encouraged to share their opinions by sending a comment via email to OneSeattleCompPlan@seattle.gov, attend a community meeting, and sign up on our website for newsletter updates.

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Open Positions at OPCD!

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We ensure that City departments are aligned and coordinated in planning and advancing equitable development for Seattle’s future. Urban planning and community development must reflect the experiences and identities of people affected by development decisions and outcomes, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Immigrants, Refugees, People with Disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people. We strongly encourage people with these identities or from other marginalized communities to apply. Come join us!

Equitable Development Initiative (EDI)
EDI supports communities identified as highest risk of displacement in Seattle, supporting community-led projects and strategies to resist “loss of place” through gentrification and to promote access to opportunity. Both the staffing and the budget for this program have increased in recent years as the City has identified permanent and ongoing funding sources for this work.

Graphic Designer
We are also seeking a new graphic designer who can manage our brand and visual identity for all our projects. This person will develop our publications, social media graphics, video and photo portfolio, charts and graphs, PowerPoint presentations, and a range of other design needs. We also want to augment our public engagement capabilities as we conduct more in-person community meetings and open houses. This person plays a key role in facilitating translation and interpretation services, as well as ADA accessibility. We are seeking someone who is values-driven, supports our equitable community engagement ethos, and has experience working with community-based organizations here in Seattle.  

Seattle Design Commission
The Seattle Design Commission is recruiting to fill three upcoming vacancies on the Seattle Design Commission – a Licensed Architect, a Landscape Architect, and a Transportation Planner. All positions will start their two-year terms in March 2023.

Established in 1968, the Seattle Design Commission advises City officials on design excellence in City-funded capital improvement projects, in the City right-of-way, or constructed with City funds. The Commission also advises the Mayor, City Council, and City departments on projects or policies that impact Seattle’s public realm.  To be considered, please send a letter of interest and resume by November 29 to michael.jenkins@seattle.gov. 





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Community Partner Highlight:
Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association

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As part of our One Seattle Plan – the City’s policy plan for how to invest in communities over the next 20 years – we have partnered with five community-based organizations to co-create and carry out engagement in the BIPOC communities they serve. Among them is the Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association (DVSA).

As part of their engagement plan, DVSA youth leaders have chosen to pilot a new engagement technology, the Urban Belonging app, to document and analyze the conditions in their community as a way to provide feedback for what their community wants to see addressed in the One Seattle Plan.

Watch our video highlighting DVSA’s work on the One Seattle Plan!

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