Op-Ed: Bellevue's Wilburton Housing Policy Actually Builds Housing
For decades, cities across Western Washington have repeated the same mantra: “Growth pays for growth.” It sounded fair and was easy politically, but no other philosophy is more at fault for the unattainable cost of housing in our region.
Requiring a new homeowner or apartment complex to pay the price for creating subsidized housing is quietly strangling the very thing it was supposed to deliver — housing — while at the same time asking renters to pay more to subsidize rent for others in the same building.
Bellevue is trying something different – and the early results speak for themselves.
Less than a year ago, the Bellevue City Council adopted a new development code for our downtown-adjacent Wilburton neighborhood, home to a new light rail station and one of the most consequential transit-oriented development opportunities on the Eastside.
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