Bellingham mayoral candidates divide on housing policy
Like many western Washington cities, Bellingham is growing and experiencing its fair share of growing pains.
The question for voters this Election Day will be how mayoral candidates April Barker and Seth Fleetwood will ease those growing pains.
Barker believes the city is headed in the wrong direction. Topping Barker's political priority list is affordable housing. She said the city needs to build more housing for the middle class.
"The stuff we stopped building back in the '80s is the answer we need to go back to. The duplexes, the triplexes. All different types of housing styles that can match those wages," Baker said.
Fleetwood favors higher density buildings, urban villages and more high-rises downtown.
However, he is sensitive to what some fear might become the "Ballardization" of Bellingham – a reference to the once quaint Seattle neighborhood now overrun with condos and apartments.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bellingham-mayoral-candidates-divide-on-housing-policy/ar-AAJwtD1