HOUSING & TREES
Snohomish County has released its annual Tree Canopy Monitoring Report and the numbers are impressive. In 2023 under the County’s balanced and flexible long term canopy approach to tree management: 1,816 new trees were planted. There was 44% retained canopy on...
Like many cities in Washington, Bellevue is grappling with high demand for housing. Across the state, sky-high home prices are contributing to higher costs of living. According to the City of Bellevue, the city must plan for 35,000 more homes over the next 20 years,...
Communities across the Puget Sound region continue to feel the effects of an affordable housing crisis driven by limited housing supply and increasing demand. To better address this crisis, cities should look at the home permitting and pre-construction process as an...
The Puget Sound region is in a housing crisis, and increasing supply is critical if we are to put a dent in meeting the great need for more homes. Whether our communities add single-family, duplexes, triplexes, apartment homes, or backyard cottages, more housing...
Maintaining and growing a healthy tree canopy while making room for more housing choices can—and should—include replacing trees. This is an essential part of a balanced tree policy because it provides a pathway to more attainable housing choices, reduces sprawl and...
Tracking tree canopy is a useful method to assess the impacts of tree policies over time. Municipalities can determine how policies, climate change and other factors affect the tree canopy as it changes. When it comes to balancing the need for housing and trees,...
Seattle is the latest city in the Puget Sound region to make changes to its tree ordinance. On Tuesday, Seattle city councilmembers voted to change the way homebuilders and homeowners approach tree preservation and removal. Read our press release on the updated code...
Protecting our region’s environment and confronting the causes of climate change, while addressing the need for more housing are priorities for all our communities, but there are misconceptions that we can’t focus on both. We look to the experts to learn how our...
What keeps housing costs high? There are many factors that can impact the cost of any given home – location, size, condition, and features. At the most basic level, our economic system influences the cost of housing. The lack of housing supply drives up the cost,...
If you haven’t heard already, the City of Seattle has proposed new tree legislation. It is encouraging that the City is attempting to strike a balance between housing and trees. The proposed ordinance is off to a decent start, but parts of the bill are...
A vibrant, diverse and thriving neighborhood can have a healthy tree canopy and housing options for people of varying income levels. However, tree codes that are not balanced can have the unintended effect of subtracting from our limited supply of buildable land and...