Home in Tacoma

You may have heard about the City of Tacoma’s new Home in Tacoma project, so what is it?

Home in Tacoma is the primary land use element of the City’s Affordable Housing Action Strategy (AHAS) and has been launched to evaluate diverse housing types and inclusionary zoning options throughout Tacoma. The intent is to increase housing supply, create affordable housing options, and increase the choice of housing types throughout City neighborhoods.

The City will be guided by both the AHAS and the Housing Element of the One Tacoma Comprehensive Plan. This plan has 4 primary housing targets to achieve by 2040:

1. Provide zoning capacity to accommodate up to 60,000 new housing units
2. Strive for 35% of urban Pierce County’s residential growth
3. Accommodate 80% of the City’s new housing units in and within walking distance of Centers
4. Ensure that at least 25% of new housing units are affordable at or below 80% of Pierce County area median income (AMI).

So how are we going to do all of this?

This is where the residents of Tacoma come in and get to answer the question, how do we accommodate our future neighbors? What do we want Tacoma to look like? More duplexes and triplexes? Detached accessory dwelling units in every backyard? What sort of zoning capacity should we allow along our designated corridors? How do we ensure that every member of our community has an affordable place to call home?

You can learn more about the Home in Tacoma project on Tuesday, November 10th during the City Council’s study session at 12:00 pm. This will be an opportunity to hear from the staff on how the project is progressing and hear City council members ask questions about the project.

Beyond the study session, you can participate in the City’s virtual Home In Tacoma Café Series on Zoom from 12-12:45 p.m. with three panel discussions:

• Tacoma’s Housing Crisis on December 18, 2020 | Passcode: 363213
• The City’s Role in Creating Housing on January 8, 2020 | Passcode: 685053
• Getting Housing Growth Right for Tacoma on January 29, 2021 | Passcode: 398323

Your participation is welcome in the Housing Choice Survey, which will help inform Tacoma’s Planning Commission’s recommendation to the City Council for Comprehensive Plan, Zoning, and Land Use Regulatory Code amendments.

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Photo courtesy of Joe Mabel