“Why can’t the City of Seattle just take land that is available or land they already own and just build affordable housing?”

It’s a question and frustration J.J. says he’s heard a lot in local conversations about housing and how we can help our neighbors trying to stay afloat. So he asked us to look into it.

There’s been a push for the city to build affordable housing on underused land for a while. Local housing advocates have said this wouldn’t solve all our region’s housing issues on its own, but it’d be a step in the right direction.

But what would building up these spaces look like — and how would we do it? Let’s dive in.

Have we built on extra or underused land before?

Yep. If you head to Capitol Hill, you can see one prime example: the 12th Avenue Arts building, which opened in 2014. It used to be a parking lot for the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct. Capitol Hill Housing raised $4.6 million to transform the space into a complex with 88 affordable apartments, sitting on top of two theaters, three restaurants, and office space. SPD officers still get to park in the underground garage, too.

Why does Seattle have this “extra” land? And how much is there?

Some of our surplus land, a.k.a. space that’s either vacant or not being used to its full potential, is left for landscaped spaces or future city projects and utilities. In some cases, the city can work with local and state agencies like the Washington or Seattle departments of transportation to develop housing on land left over from construction projects.

In 2015, the department found that although it had 210 “surplus, excess, or underused properties” across the city, only about 33 of them could be cost-effective sites for affordable housing.

We asked how many of those properties had been turned into housing, but the city didn’t immediately have an answer. We’ll update when we hear back. Department spokesperson Robin Koskey did say, though, that the city’s housing office is “taking a more expansive view” of the extra land they identified.

Why? Because of changes to local and state laws that said how city-owned spaces could be given away.

» Want to know why we’re able to build on so few of these extra spaces? Check out our full answer to J.J.’s question at theevergrey.com.

Garrrrrr! Mariners legend Edgar Martinez finally made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday — in the last year he could possibly do it — and you could spend hours celebrating just by looking at the Internet. There’s the compilation videos. The photo galleries of his career. The moment he got the call, all humble and such. Even his five best TV commercials. The Space Needle is in on it, too, with Edgar’s “11” flag waving up top. Want to join Edgar in Cooperstown, New York, for the big induction this July? Get yer tickets here. ⚾️ (MyNorthwest, The Seattle Times)

Picky, picky. We think our neighborhoods are pretty good. They’re just not great, you know? That’s one takeaway from the latest American Housing Survey, which showed that Seattleites gave fewer “9” and “10” top scores for their neighborhoods than every other major U.S. metro area they asked. Our most common score was 8, though, so — solid B+. Why so stingy with the A’s? FYI Guy Gene Balk dug into the data to find two things about our neighborhoods we’re not that jazzed about — “petty crime” and access to transit. Plus, some of us are just critics. “Maybe we don’t like to brag,” Gene wrote, “or maybe we just like to complain.” (The Seattle Times)

The drunk coyotes of Ballard. Speaking of petty crime in neighborhoods, a couple coyotes drank their fill of beer a Ballard neighbor left out for slug and snail traps last week. And yes, wildlife biologist Chris Anderson told MyBallard — coyotes can get drunk. Like any good Seattleite, the coyotes drank local craft beer, and another Ballard neighbor’s making it easier for you to do the same. VisitBallard.com is offering “commemorative drinkware” to anyone who gets this Ballard Brewery Passport stamped at 11 neighborhood spots. And the anonymous neighbor made a Google map to help you plan the trip. (MyBallard, Reddit)

It’s not just you. It really is feeling warm around here. In fact, we just had the warmest first half of January on record. And by “on record,” we mean going back to the 1890s. The National Weather Service reports that the average temp at Sea-Tac for the first 16 days of the month was a springy 51.8 degrees. 😮 On the bright side, there’s still plenty of snow out in the mountains. For now, anyway. (Twitter, MyNorthwest, Crosscut)

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY

We’ll see you tomorrow. — The Evergrey