Every jurisdiction in Washington State must take a hard look at their comprehensive plan and recognize its potential to address housing shortages.

by Girmay Zahilay

If you’re a resident of King County, chances are you’ve experienced the housing crisis in deeply personal ways. Perhaps you’ve felt the strain of rising rents, the frustration of searching for an affordable home to purchase in a market with dwindling inventory, or even the despair of facing homelessness. In the day-to-day struggle to secure stable housing, it can be easy to overlook the broader forces of public policy shaping our experiences.

Yet, when we examine the numbers and the policy decisions, the reasons behind our housing woes become clearer.

Washington State currently holds the unenviable title of having the fewest number of housing units per capita in the entire nation. This is, in large part, because the zoning and land use codes of cities, towns, and counties across the state restrict the number and types of homes that can be built. Apartments and more modest multi-family homes are banned in many residential areas throughout the state. These bans create a housing scarcity that drives up competition for available units, leading to skyrocketing prices. As our state’s population and job market continue to grow, the gap between housing supply and demand widens, exacerbating the affordability crisis for countless individuals and families.

There is, however, a glimmer of hope. Across the state, there is a growing movement among advocates and policymakers pushing for a solution: building more housing of all types in more places. House Bill 1220, recently passed by the State Legislature, requires cities and counties to update their comprehensive plans to ensure they “plan for and accommodate housing affordable to all economic segments of the population.” The previous iteration of the Growth Management Act required that localities only “encourage the availability of affordable housing” rather than actively planning for and accommodating it. This is a crucial step in the right direction, forcing local governments to actively address our housing shortage.

But the State Legislature isn’t the only government taking action. Look to Spokane. In 2022, their city council made a bold move, eliminating single-family zoning and allowing the construction of modest multi-family homes throughout the city. The results have been remarkable. In the short period since the ordinance took effect, Spokane has seen a surge in housing permits. In 2023, the city allowed 225% more homes than it did in 2022, 218% more than in 2021, and 241% more than 2020. This is a powerful testament to the power of removing bureaucratic hurdles and letting the market respond to the clear demand for housing options.

This movement to build more homes inspired me to propose the King County Missing Middle Housing Motion in February of 2023. My legislation directed the King County Executive to complete a comprehensive study on ways to expand “missing middle” housing in unincorporated King County. “Missing middle” is a term used to describe modest multi-family homes that more than one household can live in, like duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, and townhouses.These types of homes bridge the gap between single-family homes and large apartment buildings, offering a wider range of options and greater affordability.

The code study that resulted from my legislation, delivered in June of 2023, outlined effective ways to significantly reduce barriers to building missing middle housing. Executive staff’s recommendations don’t just deal in numbers; they address the human need for diverse housing options. They represent a chance for families to put down roots, for young professionals to live near their jobs, and for seniors to age comfortably in place with access to essential services. Many of these great recommendations have been incorporated into the Executive’s proposed 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update, a document that sets the course for King County’s development for the next decade.

The Comprehensive Plan Update presents a unique opportunity for King County to lead the way on housing. The plan, currently under review by the County Council, has the potential to substantially increase housing supply by reducing zoning and regulatory barriers. Through the Local Services and Land Use Committee, the Council has taken the Executive’s recommended changes a step further, proposing to allow for more density and a wider variety of housing types in urban areas, all while streamlining or eliminating the often lengthy and expensive permitting processes.

It should be noted that King County’s land use and zoning jurisdiction extends primarily to rural areas and small urban unincorporated pockets like Skyway and White Center. Since the capacity for development in these urban pockets tends to be smaller than that of larger cities, and the Growth Management Act directs us to reduce development in rural areas, the County will not be able to close the housing gap on its own. But the inability to do it alone is true of every single jurisdiction in our state. It is only together that we can solve these problems and provide everyone an affordable place to live.

The urgency of this situation cannot be overstated. Up for Growth, a housing advocacy group, estimates a statewide shortage of 225,000 housing units. Washington State’s Department of Commerce estimates we will need more than one million homes in the next 20 years. In King County alone, we need thousands of new homes just to keep pace with population growth. This lack of supply isn’t just an economic burden–it’s a major factor contributing to our growing homelessness crisis. As a community, we cannot stand by while our neighbors face the devastating consequences of a broken housing market.

We need bold, coordinated action across every level of government, and our respective comprehensive plans offer us a roadmap to get there. Let’s learn from the success stories from the State Legislature to Spokane, embrace innovative solutions, work together across governments, and finally tackle the housing crisis head-on. Every jurisdiction in Washington State must take a hard look at their comprehensive plan and recognize its potential to address housing shortages.

The Stranger

A Guide For First Time Marijuana Users

Ohio and Delaware now have legal marijuana. To help, here is a guide for first time marijuana users.

The post A Guide For First Time Marijuana Users appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

The Fresh Toast

The Stranger’s morning news roundup.

by Nathalie Graham

Fire in the ID: A vacant two-story building on the 1000 block of South Jackson Street caught fire late Sunday night. It’s been burning through the night and will likely burn well into Monday morning. More than 85 firefighters are working to stifle the flames. Roads around the fire are closed, including Jackson Street between 8th and 12th Avenues.

Swimmer in critical condition: A 30-year-old man leaped off a pedestrian bridge in South Lake Union near the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) on Sunday. He went under the water and never resurfaced. Three rescue swimmers hauled him out of the lake. He is currently in critical condition. Just because it’s nice and warm outside for the first time this year doesn’t mean the lake water is warm. Cold water is dangerous to swim in, you freaks! 

Protect our Bulldogs: The Garfield High School community mourned the tragic loss of 17-year-old Amarr Murphy over the weekend. Murphy, a linebacker and defensive end on the football team, broke up a fight at school on Thursday afternoon and was shot multiple times. Aside from football, people at Garfield knew Murphy as an aspiring rapper, known online as Babyyanks. He was apparently getting ready to release an album. The community is still reeling after Murphy’s death. The school remains closed on Monday. When students return on Tuesday, they will do so with a heavy Seattle Police Department presence. 

Wildfire season is already cooking: A fire in the Lake Chelan area has ballooned to 300 acres in size. Fire crews are battling the blaze.

Ground and air crews have continued work on the #PioneerFire today with new resources arriving. A Complex Incident Management Team (CIMT) has been assigned. NW Team 13 will assume command on 6/10. Further updates as conditions change. https://t.co/Qp6Qx28317 pic.twitter.com/9Dospps9W7

— Washington State DNR Wildfire (@waDNR_fire) June 10, 2024

Marijuana-less Martha’s Vineyard: The dispensaries on Martha’s Vineyard, the island off the coast of Massachusetts, is running out of weed. Despite the state giving ganja the green light, Massachusetts’ Cannabis Control Commission recently decided transporting pot across the ocean was a violation of federal law, thus leaving Martha’s Vineyard and its 230 registered medical users and thousands of recreational users in the lurch, weedless. One pot shop owner has filed a lawsuit against the commission. 

Today’s weather: Will be scrumptious. Some clouds, but mostly sun, and a high of 71 degrees.

I am not going to pretend I understand the EU parliament: But scary things seem to be happening over there. It seems as if the European Union held elections and far-right parties gained a ton of parliamentary seats. Far-right parties in Italy doubled their representation, and Germany’s extreme far-right party now holds more seats than its Social Democrats party. The showing was so bad for French President Emmanuel Macron’s party against competitor Marine Le Pen’s conservative faction that Macron “immediately dissolved the national parliament and called for new elections to start later this month.” All of this is bad for climate, agriculture, and immigration policy. 

This is the future liberals want: 

“It’s all the same train!”

The engine in the foreground is pulling the cars on the viaduct.

From #Switzerland — at 2 kilometers, the longest passenger train in the world.

pic.twitter.com/arYpPmhRlb

— 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 (@grescoe) June 10, 2024

San Juan Islands plane crash kills famous astronaut: Apollo 8’s William Anders died Friday when the plane he was flying around the San Juan Islands plummeted into he water. Anders, who snapped the iconic “earth rise photo,” was 90 years old at the time of his death. 

Clamming ban: Stop! Put that razor clam down! The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has expanded a coastal ban on shellfish harvesting to include razor clams and bay clam. Previously, the ban only included mussels. The ban is meant to protect people from “a marine biotoxin known as paralytic shellfish poisoning” that has wormed its way into this year’s population of shellfish. In Washington, similar bans are in place along the state’s Pacific coastline. 

Think you’re safe from wildfires? Think again! Just because your house didn’t burn down during a wildfire season doesn’t mean the fire didn’t put your life in jeopardy. A new study out of California shows that “more than 50,000 people died prematurely” between 2008 and 2018 “due to exposure to toxic particles in wildfire smoke,” according to The Guardian. One of the biggest issues is how wildfire smoke contains PM2.5, a tiny pollutant that can embed itself into human lungs and bloodstreams. To make you feel even worse about this, I should point out, while you can attempt to protect yourself against smoke, the real way to protect yourself is to have our governments invest in “forest management, wildland urban interface management, and climate change mitigation.”

Bad balls news: The 40 semen samples used in a Chinese study all contained microplastics. How does having minuscule bits of plastic knocking around with your swimmers impact fertility? Unclear! Can’t be good! That’s just my professional, non-scientific opinion. 

Positive penis news: Apparently, Viagra improves blood flow to the brain and improves blood vessel performance in people with a risk of vascular dementia. 

Tokyo creates government dating app: Marriages are down in Japan, so Tokyo city hall created a dating website and is currently making a dating app version. The goal is to convince people to get hitched and have more kids as Japan’s birth rates keep dropping. Details for the app aren’t set in stone, but it seems users will need to upload driver’s licenses to confirm identities and tax forms to confirm income, as well as a signed form signifying a user’s readiness for marriage. 

More possible abortion restrictions: Overturning Roe v. Wade and curtailing abortion access wasn’t enough for these ghouls. A conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, wants to limit private insurance coverage of abortions in states with abortion restrictions. This would make it far harder for people traveling out-of-state for abortions to actually get the abortion. Additionally, the think tank wants to rescind a new federal rule that requires most employers to offer “reasonable accommodations” when it comes to their workers and pregnancy, childbirth, and abortions. The Heritage Foundation has Trump’s ear, and the fear is he could move any of these issues forward if he’s elected, though his stance on abortion remains unclear. 

A long read for your Monday: Washington state law considers any assault on a health care worker a felony. While the law was made to protect workers, it has the unintended consequence of penalizing mentally ill people, throwing them in jail and delaying much-needed treatment. Read the new Seattle Times investigation into the law and its impacts. 

Here’s a song for you: Listening to this on a sunny day is the secret to happiness. Possibly.

The Stranger

Jollibee, Pierogi, and Japanese-American Comfort Food

by EverOut Staff

Picnic weather is here, and two new fried chicken spots have arrived for your outdoor repast: Shaq’s Big Chicken in Shoreline and the highly anticipated Rainier Valley location of Jollibee. Plus, learn about Saint Bread co-owner Yasuaki Saito’s exciting upcoming project in Wallingford. For more ideas, check out our food and drink guide.
NEW OPENINGS 

Big Chicken
According to a press release. this fried chicken joint owned by none other than basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal opened a new outpost in Shoreline on May 31. The spot serves specialty sandwiches, such as the “M.D.E. Chicken” (“Shaq Sauce,” chicken breast, and bread-and-butter pickles) and the “Uncle Jerome” (Nashville hot chicken, mayo, and pickles).
Shoreline

The Stranger

TRANSlations’ in-person screenings are June 7-8 with online screenings June 6-9.

by Vivian McCall

Seattle’s TRANSlations, one of only nine trans film festivals in the world, begins screening films in person today.

Features and shorts from around the globe screen at Ark Lodge Cinema, the Seattle Art Museum, and the Beacon today and tomorrow, and attendees have the option to stream films through Sunday.

Produced by Three Dollar Bill Cinema, the festival started as part of a trans conference in Seattle 19 years ago. Anto(n) Astudillo, a New York-based trans filmmaker and curator from Chile who directed the festival, said that back in 2006, TRANSlations screened about 30 films; this year there are more than 70.

To prepare for TRANSlations, Astudillo and volunteers formed a screening committee to sift through the many entries, discussing what films made them feel good, and which did not.

“We went there because not only do we want to make films, show films, and have a community to talk about those things, but we want to feel good about who we are and how it’s presented,” he said. “There’s so much talk about misrepresentation—we don’t want that anymore, and everyone’s ready for new narratives. And everyone’s ready for the creative imagination in the community.”

Astudillo and the volunteers decided to focus on short films this year, which made up the bulk of submissions. That’s not surprising, as trans people, let alone trans filmmakers, don’t have gobs of money to throw around because of systemic poverty, discrimination, and barriers to the film industry. It follows that people with little funding will find creative solutions and produce shorter films. 

Astudillo said they wanted to use the festival programming to platform people who wouldn’t be platformed elsewhere and also offer panels to create a space for the community to discuss what they meant to them. Amid a rising tide of anti-trans sentiment and legislation restricting the civil rights of trans people, Astudillo said the screening committee felt strongly about picking films that offered a response.

There’s WE ARE HER, short films about notable trans women from past and present; LETTING GO & LETTING IN, a collection of stories focused on young people and family; and DANCING MAKES US BRAVE, a program that includes Jude Dennis’s diary film 002 Heresy, which documents a trans woman’s life in the American South, and Daisy: Prophet of the Apocalypse, Irish filmmaker Venus Patel’s story of a radical trans preacher prophesying salvation for anyone who renounces heterosexuality. A few other program highlights include shorts by First Nations trans filmmakers, which were selected by TILDE, an international trans film festival in Melbourne, Australia. 

Willow Skye-Biggs’s experimental fantasy film Dragonfly, makes its festival debut at the Ark Lodge tomorrow night, and another film of hers called Vapor Trails, a science-fiction love story between two trans women that previously played at festivals in London, Portland, Stockholm, and NewFest in New York (which Astudillo also curates), also plays Saturday.

Like many of the filmmakers in TRANSlations, Skye-Biggs is an industry outsider whose work has been “very independent” and shoestring. Most of her projects haven’t had a clear budget, and most of the money has come from local arts grants. (To make Dragonfly, Salt Lake Arts Council and National Endowment of the Arts gave her $15,000, which was “huge.”) For life and film, she depends on government subsidies.

Skye-Biggs lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, a state that has passed some of the most severe anti-trans bills in the county, including a law that pushes trans people from bathrooms and locker rooms on government property. Last weekend, a friend of hers left the state to escape constant worry over this law.

Skye-Biggs said her next project is the first thing she’s written since the laws have gone into effect. She weighed whether the characters in her next project needed to be trans or whether the film needed to be about transness at all. Right now, it does. Whether it is important to make more politically direct films at this moment, she has no idea.

“I also resent sometimes feeling those expectations and I know other people who resent feeling those expectations,” she said. “And sometimes, I think we just do our best.”

TRANSlations’ in-person screenings are June 7-8 with online screenings June 6-9. See the full schedule and get tickets at threedollarbillcinema.org/translations.

The Stranger

The best new music to hit Dave Segal’s inbox this week.

by Dave Segal

J.R.C.G., “Dogear” (Sub Pop)

It’s always heart-warming when Sub Pop, Seattle’s most famous record label, signs an up-and-coming artist from the region. This the company’s done once more with Tacoma’s J.R.C.G., the combative band that sprang out of Dreamdecay and which is led by powerhouse drummer/vocalist Justin R. Cruz Gallego.

With 2021’s Ajo Sunshine (on John Dwyer’s Castle Face label), J.R.C.G. established themselves as an inventive and intense rock unit, allergic to cliché and radiating so much nihilistic energy that it flipped over into a strange kind of uplift. That rare feat surfaced when they opened for UK buzz band Dry Cleaning at Neptune Theatre three years ago. In a review of that show on Slog, I wrote that Gallego and company “came across like a mad collab between early-’70s Hawkwind and mid-’80s Swans while still sounding like an urgent response to 21st-century crises.”

J.R.C.G.’s new album, Grim Iconic…(Sadistic Mantra) (out August 2), is no mere retread of past gory glories. Electronic elements play a much bigger role here, and there’s also a stronger emphasis on non-rock rhythms. In the press release, Gallego notes, “I grew up in punk and DIY subcultures, but before that I had Latin music playing in the background through my childhood and every phase of adolescence. It was surprisingly natural to incorporate. I realized I wanted to go deeper into these rhythms. I wanted to make a record that felt as experimental as much as it felt from the perspective of a Latino. When I got a glimmer of that possibility, it felt exciting.”

You can hear this on the second song, “34,” which features a kind of chunky funk rhythm slapping over piercing synth drones, followed by a rococo guitar solo Zappa-ing all over the beats. Gallego’s vocals are zoned and distressed, like a Pacific Northwest Thom Yorke, but far less enervating. A chaotically noisy electronic coda caps off this shocking new direction for Gallego. Speaking of British singers, “Drummy” finds Gallego nearly out-glumming Robert Smith, while mercifully being much less whiny. Justin’s effect is more like a stunned resignation. 

The surprises continue on “Liv,” an odd electronic fugue with a slowed, muted Apache beat. Then it suddenly accelerates and ascends into a bongo-fueled party jam, as if Gallego’s MDMA just kicked in while in the studio. A very cool switcheroo. “Cholla Beat”—the most straight-ahead rocker here—could be the album’s second single. It’s a pugnacious, dark-hearted growler with exciting guitar shrapnel and synth surges triggering adrenaline spikes. (“Cholla” means cactus in Spanish and is also equivalent to the English slang term “noggin.”)

Grim Iconic‘s first single, “Dogear,” begins with a steamrolling, dynamite funk rhythm somewhere between NYC party-starters Konk and Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime.” The melody splits the difference between lament and celebration; it sounds like an anthem’s struggling to emerge from a deep pit of angst. Play it often enough and you’ll begin to feel invincible.

“World i” is a dazed bruiser shot through with aching, arcing synth wails and anchored by a methodical, muscular rhythm not unlike that in Can’s “Yoo Doo Right.” A heroically forlorn sax spirals out of the guttural churn, followed by anguished guitar feedback squalls, until all of the elements build into a frenzied, unstoppable force—a fantastic way to end an album. 

J.R.C.G. performs August 3 at Clock-Out Lounge. 

Louis Cole, “Life” (Brainfeeder)

Keeping with the theme of exceptional drummers, let’s talk about Louis Cole. Recording for Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label, Cole has proved himself to be not just a phenomenal timekeeper, but also a deft writer and arranger of songs that excitingly fuse jazz, funk, and electronica. He also possesses one of the most compelling falsettos in the biz. Much like his musical polymath brethren Jamie Lidell and Jeremy Ellis, Cole’s got soul for days (and nights). 

Whereas Cole’s last album, 2022’s Quality Over Opinion, abounds with stripped-down party bangers to help you strip down, his fifth album, nothing (out August 9), seems destined to revel in glorious symphonic excess, judging by its first two singles. For this record, Cole’s enlisted Metropole Orkest and Grammy-winning composer/conductor Jules Buckley to bulk up his compositions. 

The album’s first single, “Things Will Fall Apart,” offers spacey, orchestral funk with Cole singing in his best Daryl Hall voice. The music’s expansive and menacing in that patented “Barry Adamson scoring a fake James Bond film” way. Hearing pessimistic lyrics sweetly crooned in a massive-sounding opus such as this makes for some nice cognitive dissonance.

nothing‘s second single, “Life,” starts out with an homage to Bernard Herrmann’s stabbing strings motif from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho before shifting into an ever-soaring orchestral jazz-funk rave-up for the ages. David Binney‘s sax solo lends jazz fire while Sam Wilkes‘s fleet-fingered bass channels Jaco Pastorius and Squarepusher for maniacal fusionoid propulsion. Throughout, Cole doles out lightning-quick, intricate beats while trading vocals with a dulcet female choir—including his creative foil Genevieve Artadi—whose delivery is comically stoic. The lyrics appear to have a “seize the day” gist, which complements the inspirational gush of creativity. Watch the video below—in which the musicians wear skeleton suits to drive home the “be here now” theme—to really appreciate the immaculate timing, tight arranging, and phenomenal musicianship going down here. 

The Stranger

Things Are Heating Up For Cannabis This Summer

It seems it will be an important season since things are heating up for cannabis this summer

The post Things Are Heating Up For Cannabis This Summer appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

The Fresh Toast

Can Cannabis Cool Your Heat Dome Misery

Records are being set for high temperatures – but can cannabis cool your heat dome misery?

The post Can Cannabis Cool Your Heat Dome Misery appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

The Fresh Toast

Cool Ice Cream Cocktails For A Heat Dome

Caught in the crazy heat? Here are some cool ice cream cocktails for a heat dome happy hour!

The post Cool Ice Cream Cocktails For A Heat Dome appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

The Fresh Toast

Seattle Dragon Boat Festival, Indigenous People Festival, and More Cheap & Easy Events Under $15

by EverOut Staff

This weekend’s forecast is sunny with a sprinkling of festivals—read on to see what strikes your fancy below, from the Seattle Dragon Boat Festival to the Indigenous People Festival and from Georgetown Carnival to Pierogi Fest. For more ideas, check out our guide to the top events of the week.

FRIDAY
FILM

Purple Rain
I recommend showing up in your most loud-and-proud ’80s threads (a second-hand raspberry beret, perhaps?) to celebrate the High Priest of Pop at this sparkly screening of Purple Rain, which also celebrates Prince’s would-be 65th birthday. About the film, former Stranger writer Angela Garbes wrote: “Prince made me feel weird, mostly because he reminded me of God. My brothers and I watched silently in our den—enraptured and confused—until my mother walked in at the exact moment Apollonia peeled off her leather jacket to reveal her beautiful bare breasts. The movie was abruptly shut off, though soon after I found a way to watch it and became forever enthralled by Prince’s music, body, and movements. Prince was, in fact, a sexy MF. But there was always something transcendent and divine about his eroticism. He taught me sex wasn’t filthy. At its best, it’s generous and holy.” LINDSAY COSTELLO
(SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill, $14.50-$15.50)

The Stranger