Hello.
You're probably here because you saw one of my signs. I'm a Kirkland resident, not affiliated with any politician or interest group. This website is not endorsed by anyone and it's hosted right here in Kirkland. I made it because I believe in it. Most of our biggest issues are, in my opinion, either directly or indirectly caused by mismanagement of private land on a national scale. Kirkland has an opportunity to be a part of the solution, and help build a better America for everyone. Even homeowners.
Below is a list of issues that can be solved, greatly alleviated, or at least improved with density
increases and widespread legalization of commercial zoning. The idea of upzoning an entire city is
controversial, so I've also included some reasons people oppose these ideas, and responded to them
below. If you have items you'd like to add to this list, or if you'd just like to chat, you can reach me
at me@upzonekirkland.org.
Finally, I've attempted to include citations for every significant claim that I make. I don't want to waste people's time with ideas that are only speculative and might not work.
Arguments In Favor
Housing Affordability
The price of housing affects the price of everything else. When home prices are high, mortgage payments and rent are high. Those are the main contributor to cost of living. And the cost of living determines the cost of labor, which essentially determines the price of everything else.
When more housing is available, the price of housing goes down. Kirkland cannot expand outward anymore, so the only way to add housing is to go up or between. That means density increases. Increases to housing density increase the supply of housing, making it more affordable. That makes the city more affordable, which benefits everyone, including people who already own their homes.
If housing affordability is important to you, then you should support density.
Environmentalism
Single-family suburbs are the worst housing type for the environment. They often have non-native plants and grass, and pave over large portions of nature with driveways and wide suburban streets designed for street parking. Single-family suburbs can feel more "natural" than dense ones because they give every homeowner a little bit of nature. However, this discontiguous arrangement is not suitable for most wildlife and means that while everyone has a little bit of nature, nobody has a lot.
When housing is built densely from the beginning, more space can be left for large, continuous parks that offer true seclusion and support wildlife. These parks also offer safe, quiet places away from cars for adults and children to play and socialize. We have a couple parks like this in Kirkland, and people love them. With density everywhere, we could make this available in your neighborhood too.
Taxes
Single-family suburbs are extremely expensive for a city to support on a per-unit basis. Utility companies need more poles, internet companies need more underground cables, maintenance crews need to maintain and fix more roads. The money to cover this great expense is coming from your property tax and sales taxes.
With more density, the costs do not increase much but the number of people paying for them does. This means the city can lower taxes, or offer more and better services. Roads can be fixed more often and faster. Sidewalks can be kept cleaner. Bigger, more ambitious infrastructure projects can be paid for without raising taxes.
Local Business
Local businesses are the most affected by high property values and low density. When everyone lives far away, local business has a hard time competing with big name stores that can spend more on advertising. They also have access to fewer customers. This forces them to raise prices, making them less competitive. As mentioned above, they also have to pay their employees more to afford to live in the area.
With commercial zoning restricted to specific areas, there are relatively few slots for businesses to fill in the city. Even fewer when accounting for places that a consumer is likely to actually visit. With higher density and mixed zoning, many more commercial locations become available and it makes fertile ground for small, local businesses to thrive.
Elderly & Disabled People
Some people cannot drive themselves. They have to rely on public transit or friends and family to go anywhere. It doesn't have to be that way.