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In 2023, Seattle voters authorized the city to create a new organization to develop “social housing,” a type of publicly-owned affordable housing that accommodates low- and middle-income renters. Now, as residents prepare to vote on another ballot initiative on whether and how to fund the developer, local advocacy organizations are pitching social housing as a climate solution.

“If we’re thinking long-term, this is a transformative solution,” said Akiksha Chatterji, campaigns director for the local nonprofit 350 Seattle.

Chatterji’s group, which advocates for climate and social justice as part of an equitable transition away from fossil fuels, has made social housing a core part of its advocacy platform since the proposal’s early days. It has recently rallied supporters around the ballot initiative to fund it through a new tax on wealthy corporations, which voters will consider on Tuesday. Sunrise Seattle, a branch of the national youth climate organization Sunrise Movement, has also endorsed the social housing initiative.

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