🔮 Four questions we have for the future of Seattle

Plus, a fully functional ferry in Tacoma you can live aboard.

By Hannah Myrick

Hey there, it’s Friday!

What will this year hold for Seattle? It’s impossible to say for sure, but if we look into our crystal ball, we have a few ideas of the stories we’ll be following this year.

Seattleites tend to care about the same hot topics year after year. Our big questions of 2020 and 2021, as well as your wishful headlines for 2022, show us that transportation, policing, affordable housing, and homelessness are all things we’ve been talking about for years and will continue to for many more. 

Read on for the four big questions we expect answers to in the year ahead.

❓  Will public transportation be more accessible for all? Sound Transit launched the Fare Ambassador Pilot Program last year in hopes of accomplishing that mission. Its ambassadors stopped issuing tickets to riders who don’t pay and instead used their time to educate riders and offer resources for subsidized payment. It’s a step towards making public transportation a safer and more inclusive space for all, but the question remains: Will this program continue, and will others decriminalizing fare enforcement grow?

❓  What is the future of affordable housing in Seattle? In the past month, several affordable housing projects have been announced in places like Capitol Hill and the Central District, and a multigenerational concept was designed for the Chinatown - International District. Hopefully, the trend continues since the eviction moratorium is set to expire at the end of the month.

❓ What steps will Seattle take to invest in our communities experiencing homelessness? Governor Jay Inslee put forward an $800 million proposal that allocates resources for increasing housing options as well as expanding mental health services for unhoused people. Mutual aid groups are currently providing care and resources to that community, while encampment sweeps by the city have continued throughout freezing temperatures. So the question becomes: Will our newly elected city government choose to prioritize the needs of our unhoused neighbors, and how will Inslee’s proposal play out?

❓ Will the Washington Cares Act move forward and inspire other safety nets for Washingtonians? The first-of-its-kind law provides Washington workers with long-term care benefits funded by a payroll tax that begins collecting this year. Its passage was paused in December and it’s currently being refined by state legislators. Meanwhile, hazard pay for grocery workers may be ending soon. Will Seattle and Washington offer increased safety nets for their residents in a continuing pandemic? That answer remains to be seen.

What Seattle is talking about 

🙌  Debora Juarez was elected the first Indigenous president of Seattle City Council. Juarez, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, was co-nominated as president by Councilmember Lisa Herbold who was originally seeking the position. Herbold made the decision after hearing about a Blackfoot Confederacy model of kinship which sees collective work as the source of power, not hierarchy. Juarez’s goals for the council include increasing teamwork, further addressing the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, and bettering the lives of Seattleites. (Seattle Times)

📻  The Seattle Police is in hot water for faking radio chatter last summer, when they claimed there was a group of right-wing extremists marching through downtown Seattle possibly carrying guns. The radio transmissions happened on Jun. 8, 2020, at a pivotal part of that year’s racial justice protests coinciding with the formation of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest area (CHOP). The investigation began after Omari Salisbury, a journalist from Converge Media, asked the Office for Police Accountability for body camera video from the officers who tailed the Proud Boys group, but no relevant footage was found. The event is now under review by police department leaders and is set for disciplinary hearings. (Washington Post)

⛴️  Did you know that when ferries are decommissioned, they can become houseboats? Well, Annabelle is just that - a liveaboard ferry in Tacoma that, in its former life, spent 50 years transporting cars across the Columbia River and back. It is now a 2,300 square feet, three-level, three-bedroom living space. There’s a library, preserved nautical details, and more than 2,800 square feet of deck. Oh, and it’s also still a fully functional ferry too. (Seattle Met)

 Things to do

Submit your events to our calendar.

Today

🏛 Join Seattle CityClub as the top leadership from both sides of the aisle of the Washington State Legislature take an in-depth look at the top priorities for the 2022 session (Online)

📕 Listen to a recitation of poetry, essays, and memoirs from the “We Need Reckoning” collection, read by women and non-binary people of color from Tacoma (First Hill)

🤣Get your laugh on at Seattle Theatresports Improv Comedy at Unexpected Productions’ Market Theater (Downtown)

Tomorrow

🎶 Honor the musical legend David Bowie on his birthday with live tunes at the Tractor Tavern(Ballard)

🎵 Listen to original music inspired by the novel “Crying in H Mart”, composed by local musicians and artists (Online)

🎸 Meet fellow Deadheads and sing along to the Grateful Dead’s hits performed by cover band The Golden Road (Ballard)

Sunday

🎵Check out a new show at The Crocodile and see Neal Francis perform a blend of soul, funk rock, disco and more (Belltown)

Monday

🎤Join the High Dive's emo and pop-punk karaoke night and start your week off right (Fremont)

Tuesday

🍽️Get your mouth-watering as vegan chef and author Priyanka Naik chats about her new book The Modern Tiffin with the Book Larder(Online)

Wednesday

🎬Watch a series of films so provocative they were banned and learn about the legacies they leave at SIFF Film Center (Seattle Center)

One more thing….

Before you go, here’s one weekend recommendation to keep your mood up as we weather the clouds and cold.

🎵 Listen to “Like Mariah,” by local R&B star Parisalexa and dance like Mariah Carey is watching.

Thank you as always for reading! I hope you enjoy a wonderful weekend. 🌟

— Hannah at The Evergrey

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