‘I hope it works’: Curley’s skeptical but rooting for Seattle’s $60M Social Housing project

Seattle’s first Social Housing project raised $130 million in its first year, with the funding used to purchase a $60 million, 150-unit apartment building near Pike Place Market.

Through a lottery system, people can apply for one of the 60 affordable units for those earning less than 50% of the area’s median income, with the remaining units being given to high-income earners.

John Curley, host of “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio, discussed the nature of the mixed-income housing plan, in which some residents may earn no income at all yet live alongside some of Seattle’s higher-income earners.

“You can have no money at all, zero. You don’t make any money, and the apartment costs per unit about $406,000,” Curley said. “The people that are in there right now, they’re saying, listen, ‘If you stay, we will freeze your rent for two years.’ The question becomes, are the people all going to be happy living in that building? There are two different studies and data, one that says no, the people who make a lot of money don’t want to live next to people who don’t make a lot of money.

“Why? Their habits, their lifestyles don’t always jive well together, and then people who make a whole lot of money don’t like living next to somebody who doesn’t make any money, because there’s a particular lifestyle that that person might have that doesn’t fit in with the other people who are really enjoying a charcuterie board and avocado toast. This will be interesting,” Curley continued.

‘They have the ability to move somewhere else’: Why Curley doubts the plan will work

Curley explained how the entire plan could unravel simply because those currently living in the building have the resources and luxury to move away if they see fit, leaving a 90-unit gap in the building.

“When it comes to public housing, it fails. Why does it fail? Because the rich people don’t pick a building, they pick a neighborhood, they pick their neighbors,” Curley said. “They have the ability to move somewhere else, and they will move somewhere else if they can. So, will the people who are in there right now, will they stay, and will they be happy living next to people that are, you know, sort of struggling in life?

“Listen, I hope it works for a number of reasons,” Curley continued. “If the study that I had seen from a couple of years ago showed that people will assimilate to better behavior, that’s great. When you have money in something, you want it to work; that’s why the free market always beats the government markets that are being created, and in this case, it is a government market, which is the apartment unit. Hopefully, it’s well-maintained, and hopefully they do a good job, since it’s a lottery system.”

KIRO producer Joe Wallace forecasted that he doesn’t see the plan working simply because of the lottery system available to applicants, and the bare minimum asking price on income required to join.

“Yeah, I just don’t see them taking just a crazy drug addict who’s been on fentanyl for three years and lives in a tent,” said KIRO producer Joe Wallace. “I don’t think they’re going to make that work. And if somebody’s working a very low-paying job, but at least they’re working, you know.”

Correction: The story has been edited to accurately reflect the amount of money Seattle’s first Social Housing project raised in its first year

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