We should vote no on ST2 for three main reasons. The tax is the wrong kind - the legislature will give ST a more progressive tax. If we wait construction costs will be cheaper because labor and land acquisition will be cheaper (more unemployed), and materials will cost less (less building worldwide). We can lock those savings in by using a Design/Build contract. Finally, we need to see if it works and if we like it before deciding whether or not to agree to a 30-year tax hike. It isn't like ST has brought the first part on-line yet . . . .in the immortal words of Missourians: show me.

I just moved to the neighborhood, and appreciate your nailing, quite eloquently, the description of this part of town. Dodge Caravans is right!

Everybody knows we need it to save the polar bears.

(grin)

The affordability proposals from the mayor will largely be smoke and mirrors corporate welfare for private developers under the auspices of something like MFTE. Just like the 50 token units of affordable housing that Paul Allen built to diffuse criticism of the dozens more he demolished and the million dollar condos whose construction are going to accelerate displacement in the Cascade neighborhood.

Rents will dramatically increase in Rainier Valley. That's why SHA has used eminent domain to dispossess immigrant businesspeople of their land near light rail stations-- they aren't the people these plans are being made to benefit. Environmental sustainability platitudes are fronting for gentrification, a word that no one seems able to mention.

It doesn't have to be this way, density vs diversity. And you should report the alternatives. But that also requires a more critical eye, perhaps starting with the question of why the announcement was made in Mt. Baker. This is hardly a "bitter pill" for them. They have opposed affordable housing development in the valley for years.

Oh, and do you think that when light rail runs north of the U-District (underground instead of above ground, of course) that a similar upzone will take place? Maybe, so long as it's not in Wedgwood, Ravenna, Roosevelt, Maple Leaf, Green Lake, or other largely wealthy white neighborhoods. Maybe in places where the sidewalks end, like Lake City, or Northgate, or View Ridge.

Sure, but I believe the part they are talking about upzoning isn't on MLK at all (or not much) -- I think they mean the area around Rainier and McClellan, where the Mt Baker rail station will be. And, yes, it needs to be done. That is a horrifically pedestrian-unfriendly area.