‘Way too much traffic’: Black Diamond, Sultan lead Puget Sound-area growth as Seattle affordability pushes residents outward

Seattle is no longer leading regional population growth, with four of the top five fastest-growing cities in the Puget Sound area in north Snohomish County.

Black Diamond and Sultan both posted the fastest growth of any city in the region, up 45% over the past six years. Additionally, Stanwood grew 21%, with Lake Stevens and Arlington close behind.

KIRO host Ursula Reutin pointed to remote work as a factor behind Black Diamond’s growth, noting 25% of employed residents there work from home, while KIRO host Gee Scott said the trend reflects a tradeoff Seattle-area workers are increasingly willing to make.

“People still want the Pacific Northwest. They still love the beauty here. But the biggest thing people want is they want that paycheck,” Gee said on “The Gee and Ursula Show.” “That paycheck here in the Seattle area, in this state, it is hard to go and find other places, being able to get that paycheck and then not having to live in Seattle. The median home prices are $900,000 in Seattle, and if you do go and buy in Seattle, unless it’s already close to $900,000 or a million dollars, sometimes you still got to do updates to the house, ’cause there’s a lot of old homes in Seattle.”

Gee and Ursula discuss Seattle’s parking and driveway shortage

Limited parking is a recurring frustration for Seattle homeowners, even those who can afford homes near the million-dollar range.

“How you got this real X amount of money for a house, close to a million dollars, and you’re on this street, and everybody’s bunched up,” Gee said.

Ursula said the shortage often comes down to household car counts outpacing garage space, and noted many Seattle garages have been converted into living space, leaving residents reliant on street parking. Gee added that the tradeoff is part of why cities farther from Seattle are appealing to remote workers.

“Going down south, you got parking, you got space, you got land,” Gee said. “There’s still untapped areas in which to go and buy. So for the bang for your buck, if you have the opportunity to work from home, and your life, you want to go ahead and re-establish down there, boom.”

Listener in Black Diamond claims growth is straining local infrastructure

One listener to “The Gee and Ursula Show,” Kevin in Black Diamond, shared his thoughts on the city’s rapid growth.

“Black Diamond used to be a great little town,” Kevin wrote in, which Ursula then read on-air. “The Ten Trails development is completely changing everything. Way too much traffic, and the roads just can’t handle it.”

Ursula said she suspects continued unaffordability in Seattle will keep pushing residents to outlying areas in search of better value.

According to Gee, Seattle has increasingly become a city accessible mainly to those who bought property years ago or inherited a home in the family, adding that low mortgage interest rates are also keeping some homeowners in place even if they’d otherwise consider moving.

“Some of you got that interest rate — some of you at 2.8%, some of you in the 3%,” Gee said. “So you don’t want to leave those areas, your house, because you got that interest rate. So being able, having to buy out in Sultan, Black Diamond, on the fringes, yes, those are going to continue to grow.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.