Hey Eastside, learn from Seattle’s mistakes

Taken from Thursday’s edition of KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz Show.

The entire Western Washington region is undergoing phenomenal growth because of the economy.

Now some are noticing the problems that are coming with the growth, whether you’re in a small neighborhood or a bigger city. There are some neighborhoods that are starting to feel like they lost some of that small neighborhood vibe. We’re bringing in an influx of a different kind of resident, which is, generally speaking, some tech guy who’s moving to town because he wants to work in the tech industry.

Jack Miller, the owner of the Husky Deli in West Seattle, told KING TV, that at one point, he knew almost everyone.

“When people move in, I talk to them, I can usually tell who their neighbors are,” he said.

But recently, he’s noticed a little bit of a change.

“Yesterday, I went to Starbucks and I didn’t recognize a single soul in there,” Miller said.

Not a single soul because of the growth in West Seattle. It’s just like parts of Tacoma, Bellevue, and elsewhere in Western Washington. More apartments and condos are being built. What does that mean? It means more people are coming and small communities are getting bigger and more densely populated.

I suppose that can be a problem if that’s not exactly what you’re looking for. But with respect to Jack Miller, this is what happens to neighborhoods that are next to big cities. The further you move from big cities, the less likely you are to experience this type of growth. Maybe you should look at this as a way to meet more people and make more friends. It can be positive.

Now, there are some very legitimate concerns that deserve our attention, like infrastructure and business accommodation.

Miller told KING TV his grandfather, the founder of his deli, would be disappointed in the way the city has handled the growth, specifically with traffic.

“Oh, he’d have a hard time,” Miller said. “He’d have a hard time with this, especially with how quickly it’s gone up and how we haven’t really done anything about traffic yet. It’s like we’re doing things backwards. We build apartments and then deal with it.”

He’s absolutely right about that and the reason you’re seeing that, at least in the Seattle area, is because city leaders hate cars. They’re absolutely unwilling to adjust their plans because they don’t care. Traffic continues to get bad in the area and they like this. It motivates people to consider ditching their car.

Hamilton Gardiner, Chair for the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, spoke to the business concerns.

“It’s definitely the most growth that I’ve seen in my lifetime in West Seattle,” Gardiner said. “One of the things we’d like to see is office space. There’s a lot of residential units that are coming into play.”

There was a story in The Seattle Times that was all about how office space, specifically in Seattle, has some of the highest year-over-year increases in the entire country. The average rent for businesses is skyrocketing. The reason is really simple: supply and demand.

We have a huge demand for these office spaces because companies want to come to Seattle or West Seattle. It’s a hip place, the coffee is great, and it doesn’t rain as much as you think. Unfortunately, the supply is really low.

The city of Seattle makes it onerous, burdensome, and expensive to build apartments and businesses. They don’t let you build too high up. They don’t let you build too wide unless you want to pay some ridiculous fee. Rather than build new offices, which is incredibly hard to do, developers just end up charging way more for the office space.

It’s happening in Seattle, it’s something we’re starting to see in Bellevue. It’s undoubtedly going to happen more on the Eastside and Pierce County because Seattle policies are pushing people to those specific areas.

Seattle is too far gone, especially with current city leaders, but if you’re in Everett or Tacoma right now, understand that you can learn from the problems in Seattle. Do not let that happen.

Taken from Thursday’s edition of KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz Show.