7 ms·

The suburbs are much cheaper than Seattle proper. Granted, there are a few small communities that are very expensive. Mostly suburbs (the Rentons, Tacomas, and

The suburbs are much cheaper than Seattle proper. Granted, there are a few small communities that are very expensive. Mostly suburbs (the Rentons, Tacomas, and Monroes of Puget Sound) are very inexpensive compared to Seattle proper.

spinach 8y ago
Are the suburbs much cheaper only in comparable housing? What if a family that would have lived in a house in the suburbs lived in an apartment in the city? Isn't there cheaper housing options in the city?
- electricEmu 8y ago
  You should look into Seattle’s housing problems, as there are many. Apartments are very expensive and most are not sized for families. The city is still zoned for single family homes, driving up the cost of the homes to near San Francisco levels. Some people are sleeping in parks, which is a cheaper option, granted.
- sbov 8y ago
  When I was house hunting, 4 bedroom condos in a city basically didn't exist. Most of the ones I saw were 5-10x the price of a suburban 4 bedroom home - and that's ignoring the HOA fee, which many single family residences don't have.
  - StudentStuff 8y ago
    Cities discourage or outright prohibit anything beyond 2 bedroom MDUs being constructed. Its a great way to keep families from putting down roots in an area, or expanding much beyond 2 to 3 members. Seattle isn't quite as bad as other cities in pushing this policy, but there isn't any extra push to incentivize construction of 3+ bedroom apartments & condos (eg: additional building height/width allowances). IIRC our auditor wrote a report that came to the conclusion that we had way too few 3+ bedroom units in the city. If we want affordable housing (not "Affordable" housing, with heavy subsidies), set back & step back requirements need to be loosened for construction that includes valuable 3 & 4 bedroom condos and apartments. Note: HOAs in Seattle proper are very rare outside of condos. Ditto outside the city limits, though some small single family home enclaves choose to kneecap themselves with a HOA.

spinach 8y ago

Are the suburbs much cheaper only in comparable housing? What if a family that would have lived in a house in the suburbs lived in an apartment in the city? Isn't there cheaper housing options in the city?

electricEmu 8y ago
You should look into Seattle’s housing problems, as there are many. Apartments are very expensive and most are not sized for families. The city is still zoned for single family homes, driving up the cost of the homes to near San Francisco levels. Some people are sleeping in parks, which is a cheaper option, granted.
sbov 8y ago
When I was house hunting, 4 bedroom condos in a city basically didn't exist. Most of the ones I saw were 5-10x the price of a suburban 4 bedroom home - and that's ignoring the HOA fee, which many single family residences don't have.
- StudentStuff 8y ago
  Cities discourage or outright prohibit anything beyond 2 bedroom MDUs being constructed. Its a great way to keep families from putting down roots in an area, or expanding much beyond 2 to 3 members. Seattle isn't quite as bad as other cities in pushing this policy, but there isn't any extra push to incentivize construction of 3+ bedroom apartments & condos (eg: additional building height/width allowances). IIRC our auditor wrote a report that came to the conclusion that we had way too few 3+ bedroom units in the city. If we want affordable housing (not "Affordable" housing, with heavy subsidies), set back & step back requirements need to be loosened for construction that includes valuable 3 & 4 bedroom condos and apartments. Note: HOAs in Seattle proper are very rare outside of condos. Ditto outside the city limits, though some small single family home enclaves choose to kneecap themselves with a HOA.