Invest in Montlake’s Neighborhood Center as a guiding light for Seattle
Seattle City Council
1. Sign the petition for Montlake housing for all today by following the prompts below. Please join us in ensuring that Montlake can grow into vibrant neighborhoods where everyone has a place to call home. Let’s join together as neighbors to tell our City council that we support neighborhoods that are affordable, sustainable and inclusive. The petition below concerns advocacy for supporting housing opportunities in the Montlake neighborhood.
2. Email the following members of City Council about your thoughts on allowing more opportunities for housing in Montlake. You are welcome to use the text of the petition in your email; please personalize this letter as you see fit, including adjusting the content and subject line to support your interests and priorities. Copy and paste these addresses: joy.hollingsworth@seattle.gov, AlexisMercedes.Rinck@seattle.gov, sara.nelson@seattle.gov. They represent: Joy Hollingsworth, D3 and Chair of Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan; Alexis Mercedes Rinck, Position 8/Citywide; and Sara Nelson, Position 9/Citywide respectively.
2. Please consider attending and speaking at upcoming opportunities for public comment. The Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan is expected to cast final votes on the proposed Comprehensive Plan package in May or June 2025. This includes decisions on retaining the Montlake Neighborhood Center. The next public hearing is at City Hall, February 5th at 5:00 PM.
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Background:
We are the residents and neighbors of the Montlake Neighborhood Center and surrounding area. We are fighting for a neighborhood that meets all of the needs of our community.
State law requires the City of Seattle to develop a new growth strategy, also known as the Comprehensive Plan or One Seattle Plan. The Comprehensive Plan is a roadmap for where and how our city will grow and invest in our communities over the next 20 years and beyond. The plan allows for additional types of housing in neighborhoods that have historically been exclusively or primarily single family zoned. The proposed neighborhood center in Montlake would allow for increased opportunities for affordable and market-rate housing, though the needs of our community demand even greater upzoning.
The petition emails City Council member Joy Hollingsworth, who has jurisdiction over District 3 where this Center is located, and is lead for the Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan; it also emails the two at-large Seattle City Councilmembers, Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Sara Nelson. Anti-housing activists are lobbying elected officials to prevent this needed affordable housing from being allowed in our neighborhoods. Your voice is needed to fight back to affirm our commitment to the values of affordability, sustainability and inclusivity. We need to design a Seattle with all residents in mind and grow to meet the demands of our city. Seattle should be for all of us.Sponsored by
To:
Seattle City Council
From:
[Your Name]
Invest in Montlake’s Neighborhood Center as a guiding light for Seattle
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As residents and community members in and neighboring Montlake, we enthusiastically support the creation and retention of the proposed Neighborhood Center in Montlake as part of the One Seattle Plan. We also call for expanded opportunities to increase housing density within and around this center to foster a Montlake for everyone. Montlake is the perfect neighborhood to deepen and connect the community with existing vital services and infrastructure. Protecting and expanding this neighborhood upzone helps connect neighbors with transit and parks, community and services, and helps forge a path toward land use justice.
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Connecting neighbors with transit and parks
Transit
- Montlake is very close to the University of Washington light rail station and key bus routes 48 and 43. This makes it a rich and vital neighborhood to house students and families associated with UW, and helps connect folks with a key North-South transit corridor along 24th Ave. that serves multiple hubs of housing, businesses and services. Adding density here will help our neighborhood and city lean into an inclusive, green future. Overall, by encouraging dense, higher-density housing near key transit corridors helps reduce urban sprawl, ease traffic congestion, and improve air and water quality.
Parks
- The Montlake lid. Millions of dollars have been invested into the Montlake lid park project to make this area more accessible for our community. We celebrate this work. Let’s make sure we capitalize on this historic neighborhood investment that helps link pedestrians, cyclists and drivers from South of the cut to UW and North Seattle, by supporting more housing to fully utilize this investment.
- The Arboretum. The Arboretum is an essential iconic gem for our city. It is an inherent human right for the people of our city to be able to access the nurturing, connecting and cultural power of nature. Therefore, it is essential that we expand housing opportunities significantly near this massive park. Places like the Tot Lot and Foster Island support a variety of recreational activities, from family play to birdwatching. This is a rare opportunity to promote park equity on a significant scale. Access to nearby Interlaken park is also another plus. We need to encourage greater upzoning potential for the entire west side of the Arboretum in the Montlake neighborhood.
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Connecting neighbors with community and services
- Healthcare, education, and library services. Improving access to the UW medical facilities and UW campus will enable more opportunities for students and neighbors to conveniently access. Cutting down on transit times may save lives at the hospital, and allow students to have richer lives and better able to focus on making contributions to our community. The local Seattle Public library Montlake library branch also serves as an important community hub – more people deserve access to this institution. Our neighborhood kids at Montlake Elementary also depend on us to build a resilient, inclusive neighborhood for their futures.
-Local economics. Montlake has several local beloved and convenient businesses, from the Montlake Bicycle Shop to Oxbow Bakery to Mont’s Market, that serve a number of local customers for different needs. Increasing density will increase foot traffic to these businesses and revenue for the City.
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Connecting our community through justice
-Equity and inclusion. Much of Seattle suffers from a historic legacy of exclusion and redlining. By offering increased opportunities for housing in the Montlake area, there will emerge the chance to help correct for a legacy of racial and economic segregation and injustice.
-Affordability. Seattle is getting less affordable all the time. Workers that serve the UW and surrounding businesses are getting pushed out of Montlake, including our most cost-burdened youth and elderly renters. This jeopardizes the fabric of our community. By introducing more diverse housing options and choice, including multifamily and social housing, we can ensure Montlake becomes a place where everyone has the chance to live and grow. Increasing density along 24th Ave., from E. Newton St. to E. Roanake St., will open doors for more neighbors and provide housing choices that cater to a variety of needs and lifestyles.
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To keep and make Montlake more accessible, connected, affordable and just, we urge the City council to support the Montlake Neighborhood Center. We also advocate for the city to go further by broadening the upzone area to create even more housing opportunities for all. Montlake can accommodate growth mindfully and justly. From UW to the Arboretum, Seattlites deserve a chance to help make this neighborhood thrive.
Sincerely,
[Signatory]