Affordable housing is right for the Ridge
June 20, 2012
By Contributed
Imagine Housing is proposing to build affordable apartments in an upscale Snoqualmie Ridge neighborhood, and some residents are up in arms.
The neighbors fear a low-income housing project will increase traffic, bloat classrooms at the schools, increase crime rates and decrease property values.
But this is affordable housing, not low income. Full-time minimum wage workers earn $18,800 annually — not enough to even qualify for a one-bedroom unit at $924 per month at the proposed complex.
This project is geared for the working poor, the folks who work at our hospital and clinics, casino and retail shops.
Ann Levine, executive director of Imagine Housing in Kirkland, told the Snoqualmie City Council on June 11 that renters would have to make two or three times the minimum wage in order to afford an apartment in Snoqualmie.
To qualify for a one-bedroom unit in Imagine’s proposal, a person’s income must be at least $23,760, but no more than $36,960. That’s $11.42 and $17.77 per hour, respectively.
While it’s hard to imagine living on an income of $23,760 with $924 per month going to rent, it makes sense for the para-professional bringing in nearly $37,000. And that person or family should hardly be put in the category of someone to be feared, someone who will strain police services due to increased crime in the neighborhood, or someone who will cause property values to decrease.
Quite frankly, it shouldn’t be assumed that low-income earners are prone to criminal behavior. Think Bernie Madoff.
Are more affordable housing options necessary in Snoqualmie? A quick look at craigslist provides the answer. Very few one-bedroom apartments are available, and most start at about $1,100 per month. The city recognized the need in 2009 when it restricted the 12 acres proposed for this project to affordable rental housing.
Snoqualmie Ridge neighbors need to get informed, and then put out a welcome mat to the new neighbors who are coming.
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5 Responses to “Affordable housing is right for the Ridge”
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Let’s not confuse low-income refuse like me with with full-time minimum wage workers. I work my butt off in these neighborhoods up on the Ridge and have a child at WSU studying computer engineering. My life isn’t perfect but I know from experience that yours aren’t either.
I respect myself a whole lot and am working toward a better life for myself and my family. Get off of your high horses. Some things in life are far more important to your precious property values.
Make that last line “Some things in life are far more important THAN your precious property values.” I hate it when I don’t completely review my comments before posting.
Your article neglected to mention how many cars would be traveling to and from Frontier Ave. You also left out the parking lot. Please come and take a ride to Frontier Ave and see for yourself.
The reference to Bernie Madoff as a proffered rebutting to the strawman argument that “low-income earners are prone to criminal behavior” is a complete non sequiter. With strawmen and non-sequiters as its intellectual underpinnings, the overall argument raised in this editorial is as weak as it is snarky. Moreover, the article hides the fact that Snoqualmie taxpayers are expected to contribute $800,000 of property tax revenue so as to pay off the wealthy private investors who would fund the project for Imagine Housing. The foregone tax revenue is especially obscene given the city’s emergency services expense will greatly increase so as to cover the high-density development. Its one-thing to have multi-family housing that is consistent with the overall community. However, what Imagine Housing proposes is an Eastside equivalent of Cabrini-Green with structures that are taller than any existing building in the city, complete with unacceptable population density levels. The Snoqualmie City Council may have delayed this project until utility infrastructure is finished, but the voters will be vigilant for when this issue is revisited. And any council member who votes for the property tax abatement or to otherwise facilitate can expect to be removed from office by the electorate.
I support providing affordable housing on Snoqualmie Ridge. I am not for giving tax breaks to millionaire investors as an enticement for building them so they can make a profit off the middle class.
Do we honestly believe a 80K a year in tax breaks will be a make or break for the project? If it does, then let it break the project. I pay a healthy amount of property taxes for the services provided. Lets do the math, what is it going to add in property taxes per unit per month? Its not a make or break by any measure I doubt. Its a way for the developers to make money off of the hard working middle class.
Secondly, I believe that if a tax break is provided because the council buckles to the developers the taxes lost need to be funded from an alternative source such as sales taxes, utility taxes etc and these taxes need to be communicated to the citizens so we can make an informed decision on who we elect on a go forward basis.
(Feel free to post in the paper.)