​Save Maple Leaf Neighborhood Center

We are residents of Maple Leaf and we strongly support the designation of Maple Leaf as a Neighborhood Center, as described in the proposed One Seattle Growth Strategy. This designation will help make our neighborhood more affordable, more sustainable, and more inclusive.

The housing crisis is real. It is estimated that an additional 112,000 homes will be needed in Seattle by the year 2044, and the current rates of building will not get us to the goal.

In 2023, the Legislature, recognizing the need to address the housing crisis in Washington state, passed House Bill 1110, requiring cities across the state to allow for a greater quantity and variety of housing in areas currently reserved for single-detached homes, and to submit proposals for growth to the legislature. In the City of Seattle that proposal is known as the One Seattle Growth Strategy.

This proposal includes 30 Neighborhood Centers, including one in Maple Leaf where additional density would be allowed. In Maple Leaf, this Neighborhood Center is centered on Roosevelt Way, between 85th and 91st, where there is already an existing commercial area. There is a small but very vocal group opposing this designation, claiming that Maple Leaf should be exempt from this designation. Importantly, without the additional housing in these Neighborhood Hubs, Seattle will not reach its goal of providing enough housing to meet the need.

Maple Leaf is a pleasant neighborhood in North Seattle that is becoming increasingly unaffordable thanks to the housing shortage. Seattle was recently ranked as one of the most expensive places to live in the United States, where the median house sold in November of 2024 for $850,000. In Maple Leaf the median house sold this past November for $839,000. Maple Leaf also has among the lowest percentage of children living here compared with other Seattle neighborhoods. And we wonder why our schools are closing.

Under the current zoning that prevents construction of different kinds of homes, there are few options for: the residents who grew up here and want to stay here and raise their families, people who want to move here and be close to their jobs (especially those who work in the service industry in our neighborhood), as well as seniors who want to downsize or sell their homes but still live in the neighborhood.

Maple Leaf has long had a commercial district along Roosevelt and 90th, and this is where the proposed Neighborhood Center would be designated. The kind of development that would be encouraged in this area includes small and large apartment and condo buildings from 3-5 stories, townhomes and rowhouses, cottage courts, stacked flats, duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, sixplexes, single-detached homes, backyard cottages, corner stores, and additional mixed use commercial space. We eagerly welcome this to our community.

The proposal will create a walkable and transit friendly neighborhood with housing options for renters, buyers, and small scale local home builders alike. This means more choices for young families, people who grew up here but haven’t been able to raise their own families here, service workers, artists, craftspeople, musicians, teachers, and of course more options for people who want to remain in the neighborhood while they age.

We can do this while supporting current residents and enhancing what makes this neighborhood a great place to live. The things that make a place great to live are simple: Diverse (both by income level and ethnicity), engaged, and supportive communities of people that work together to build their place themselves - creating walkable, equitable communities with amenities to meet the needs of the neighborhood now and in the future, and building not just individual wealth but also community and social wealth.

Those who oppose this designation raise concerns about:

• Infrastructure such as public transit, health care and markets, and roads and utilities:
  What we have right now can meet these needs, and we must advocate for more, especially transit. But we shouldn’t refuse to welcome more and affordable housing to our neighborhood. The fact is that additional housing and neighbors will help attract health care clinics, grocery markets, and other great amenities to support our new and existing neighbors. Lastly, we should welcome additional sources of revenue to the City and the neighborhood to support even more infrastructure.


• Trees:
  We love our trees, and recognize that the biggest threat to the tree canopy is the climate crisis. Concentrating housing in existing cities like ours protects our forests and our urban trees by reducing climate pollution. It’s much better for the environment than suburban sprawl.


• A bleak picture of the future:
  To hear them describe it, a Neighborhood Center designation somehow means loss and harm. We strongly disagree. With more housing type options and a collective neighborhood will to build up our neighborhood together, we can create different kinds of housing that people want, and that protect, grow, and integrate well with ample open space and tree canopy.

Seattle is becoming more dense, and Maple Leaf is part of that evolution. This proposal, crafted in part with extensive feedback from residents in our community, will help meet our housing and commercial needs. If we get involved, it could do so sustainably, maintaining and growing the tree canopy, providing habitat, and fostering an engaged community with a strong sense of place. That vision of Seattle is greener, friendlier, more sustainable, healthier, and much better for business. We want this for Maple Leaf, and we urge our representatives in City Hall to stand with us to make it a reality. Preserve, not remove, the proposed Neighborhood Center for Maple Leaf.