We’re hiring a housing and cities lead researcher!

- Develop and drive pro-housing policy
- Focus on state legislation in WA
- $106-125k, plus 10% retirement

Washington State Leads on Elevator Reform | Sightline Institute SB 5156 opens the door to lower-cost, smaller elevators in new apartment and condo buildings—and more accessibility for residents.

Washington just leveled up.

Small elevators = more elevators, more homes, and more accessible cities. @danbertolet.bsky.social

The State Senate just approved Washington's elevator reform bill 41-6 after it was amended in the House, sending it to the Governor's desk.

The House's amendments removed language around international harmonization but it still represents a major reform for elevators in smaller buildings.

Bob Ferguson signed a whole slate of housing bills this morning, including HB 2304 on condo reform, HB 2228 on scissor stairs, and HB 1678 (being signed here) allowing cities to aid social housing developers under the Housing Cooperation Law.

Another WA first for housing:

SB 6026 just passed the House 69 - 27!

Other states have passed bills to allow housing in commercial zones, but WA took it a step further by limiting the amount of ground floor commerical cities can require.

Thank you Sen. Alvarado and @davina425.bsky.social!!

WA's elevator bill passed the House last night 93 - 1 !!!

Once signed by the Gov, it will be the nation's first state legislation for elevator code reform.

Yes, it would have been a bigger win if the global standards intent language had not been amended out. @sightline.org will keep pushing!

Yet another example of how local policymakers burden home building with extra costs that should instead be funded through a broad tax because they provide broad public benefits.

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

🚨FINAL PUSH🚨

Before Friday's cutoff, let your rep know you support SB 6026 for more homes near jobs!

Missing in the middle of WA's middle housing: Elevators A bill still in play in the Washington Legislature would make elevators easier and less expensive to install in "middle housing" developments.

"You might think that our rules about elevators would help wheelchair users, but they can inadvertently achieve the opposite: overkill in elevator code kills elevators."

Thank you @ceceliablack.bsky.social for spelling this out so clearly!

www.seattletimes.com/opinion/miss...

Wins from Oly: Scissor stairs (HB 2228) and condo liability (HB 2304) have both passed the Senate!

Missing in the middle of WA's middle housing: Elevators A bill still in play in the Washington Legislature would make elevators easier and less expensive to install in "middle housing" developments.

Overkill in elevator code kills elevators.

Bill Tracker — #Homes4WA

What's still in action after this week's cutoff deadline? Our bill tracker is up to date with the latest 👇👇

hey washington housing folks

tomorrow at 10.30 am, the WA house housing committee will hold a hearing on SB 5156, allowing smaller and more affordable elevators in single stair buildings. more accessible hom

this saves $10Ks *per* elevator

please sign in pro here

app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Testifie...

#WALeg

Washington’s Elevator Reform Bill Rises Again » The Urbanist # The 41-7 vote in the Washington State Senate advances a proposal that would allow builders more flexibility to install smaller elevators in smaller apartment buildings, a small step toward bringing ...

After passing the Senate last week, WA's elevator bill has a hearing in the House Housing commitee tomorrow at 10:30am.

app.leg.wa.gov/csi/House?se...

The elevator bill has passed the Senate, 42-6!

So, in Seattle, what was the climate impact of all those new people living where they ended up? To know that, you’d have to imagine what would have happened if Seattle had sprawled more. We can look back to Dallas for the what-if.

Now’s the time to let your Senator know how you feel about elevator reforms! Let's unlock affordable, accessible, senior-friendly homes: app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/5156

Happy Friday! Two of our priority bills passed out of the House this week:

- HB 2228, to allow space-saving “scissor stairs” in apartment buildings
- HB 2304, concerning liability for small condo buildings

Both passed with unanimous support🥳

Seattle: A Model for Low-Sprawl Urban Growth | Sightline Institute As the housing shortage stretches into every corner of the United States, it’s clear that some cities and states have more abundant housing than others. But it’s harder to tease out which fast-growing...

New report: Which booming cities are growing their existing neighborhoods—and which are just paving over farms?

@jayleetx.com found that no US metro has done a better job of adding residents to already populated neighborhoods than Seattle.

This bill could let you downsize your way to home ownership in Washington Washington state legislators want to let people live in tiny homes and RVs in backyards and driveways year round. If their bill passes, it could unlock the least expensive path to homeownership availa...

"Think of it like a small backyard cottage but on wheels — and much cheaper."

@joshuamcnichols.bsky.social @kuow.org

WA bill HB 2228 to allow scissor stairs passed the House today, 95 - 0!

Thank you Rep. Zahn!

app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/...

If you agree that retail spaces on the ground floor of apartment buildings should be optional, not mandated, here's something you can do:

Take pics of vacant storefronts in you neighborhood and post them as a reply here, with info about where they are.

And please share this post, thank you!!!

Last year WA's elevator code reform bill, SB 5156, passed the Senate and died in the House, and it's now on deck for the Senate to pass it again.

Supporters can help by contacting your Senators and asking them to bring the bill to a floor vote, using this form:

app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/5156

🚨ACTION ALERT🚨We want more homes near jobs!

HB 2480 would allow more apartments near shopping districts — good thing for workers *and* local businesses. It has its first committee hearing tomorrow, January 28 at 8:00 am. Voice your support:

Short session moves fast. Here's what was introduced and moved through committee last week: www.homes4wa.org/bill-tracker

Legalize it!

🚨ACTION ALERT🚨

HB 1443 to legalize MDUs is stuck in committee and needs caucus action to get to the floor for a vote. Let our elected leaders know that we want more of these unbeatably low-cost, fast-build, and flexible housing options in our cities ASAP.

Urbanist Podcast: Olympia Preview and a Highway Boondoggle » The Urbanist # In this podcast, The Urbanist newsroom previews Washington's state legislative session and breaks down the huge setback dealt to the I-5 Interstate Bridge Replacement project, a highway boondoggle w...

Urbanist Podcast: Olympia Preview and a Highway Boondoggle www.theurbanist.org/2026/01/22/u...

Excited to be part of the Coalition for Elevator Reform's first brainstorm session.

Mark my words, we're gonna get elevators in more buildings & more cities