Historically, our industry has participated in and helped to perpetuate racist housing policies that have harmed generations of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Those impacts—and some of the policies themselves—still linger today.

Our association strives to ensure all people can attain housing. To achieve that goal and right these wrongs, we must condemn racism and discrimination in all its forms and face our troubling past.

In that spirit, we encourage you to read Codifying Prejudice: A Local History of Racist Housing Policy, featured in our Fall 2020 issue of Master Builder magazine, and the accompanying Twitter thread. We also invite you to explore the following sources and additional resources below.

We welcome your feedback at ksims@mbaks.com.
 

Seattle’s Founding & Anti-Duwamish Discrimination

• History of the Duwamish Tribe, Duwamish Tribal Services
• Seattle Board of Trustees Passes Ordinance Calling for Removal of Indians, Jennifer Ott, HistoryLink.org
• Native Landscape: The Rich Layer of Indigenous History Under Seattle’s Skin, Mary Ann Gwinn, The Seattle Times
• The Man Who Burned Down Chief Seattle’s Lodge, David Lewis, Seattle Weekly
• Seattle Pioneers Petition Against a Reservation on the Black River for the Duwamish Tribe, David Wilma, HistoryLink.org

Early Anti-Chinese Discrimination

• Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, History.com
• 1885 Sleeping Space Ordinance (Item #7), Seattle Municipal Archives
• Mobs Forcibly Expel Most of Seattle's Chinese Residents, Phil Dougherty, HistoryLink.org
• Anti-Chinese Activism in Seattle, Walt Crowley, HistoryLink.org
• Hidden History of Anti-Chinese Violence, Feliks Banel, MyNorthwest
• Anti-Chinese Riots in Seattle, 1886, Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, captioned illustrations and photographs, MOHAI
• The No Place Project; documenting racism, oppression, and violence against early Chinese immigrants; Tim Greyhavens

Japanese Internment, Federally & Locally

• 1938 Anti-Japanese Mount Baker Improvement Club Letter (item #74), Seattle Municipal Archives
• World War II Japanese American Internment in Seattle & King County, David Takami, HistoryLink.org

• Ugly History: Japanese American Incarceration Camps, Densho and TED-Ed, YouTube
• Abundant Dreams Diverted, Sharon Boswell and Lorraine McConaghy, The Seattle Times
• How Bellevue Businessmen Who Stoked Fears Benefited After Japanese American Incarceration, Alia Marsha, The Seattle Globalist
• After Internment: Seattle’s Debate Over Japanese Americans' Right to Return Home, Jennifer Speidel, Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project
• The Injustice of Japanese-American Internment Camps Resonates Strongly to This Day, T.A. Frail, Smithsonian Magazine

The Birth of Single-Family Zoning

• The Neglected Case of Buchanan v. Warley, David E. Bernstein, SCOTUSblog
• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, Chapter 3, Racial Zoning; Richard Rothstein
• Expert Shows Benefits of a Zoning Law; Chicago Commerce, Volume 15, page 25; October 18, 1919
• Guide to the Comprehensive Plan in Seattle, Seattle Municipal Archives
• 1923 Zoning Ordinance, Map, and Commission Poster (Items #54 a-c), Seattle Municipal Archives
• This Is How You Slow-Walk Into a Housing Shortage, Mike Eliason, Sightline Institute
• Dream Homes in All Shapes and Sizes: The Fall and Rise of Multifamily Housing, James Slone, Master Builder Magazine
• The Racial Segregation of American Cities Was Anything but Accidental, Katie Nodjimbadem, Smithsonian Magazine

Social Enforcement, Covenants & the Legacy of J.L. Grandey

• Racial Restrictive Covenants History: Enforcing Neighborhood Segregation in Seattle, Catherine Silva, Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project
• Racial Restrictive Covenants Database: Neighborhood-by-Neighborhood Restrictions Across King County, Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project
• Queen Anne Park Race-Restricted Covenant, Grantor J.L. Grandey Inc., Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project
• Prosch’s Queen Anne Addition Race-Restricted Covenant, Executor J.L. Grandey Inc., Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project
• Queen Anne Park: The Story of a Neighborhood, Florence Helliesen, Queen Anne Historical Society
• MBAKS Past Presidents, 1920s

• How Public Policy Intentionally Segregated American Homeowners, Niskanen Center
• How Real Estate Segregated America, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Dissent Magazine

Redlining, Mortgages & the FHA

• The History of Redlining, Beatrix Lockwood, ThoughtCo.
• A 'Forgotten History' of How the U.S. Government Segregated America, Terry Gross, Fresh Air, NPR
• The Persistent Structure of Segregation and Economic Inequality, Bruce Mitchell Ph.D. and Juan Franco, National Community Reinvestment Coalition
• A History of Racial Justice: Redlining, Equal Justice Initiative

• The History of Redlining in Seattle, KCTS9, YouTube
• Redlining in Seattle, Seattle Municipal Archives
• Redlining and Disinvestment in Central Seattle, The Central Seattle Community Council Federation, Seattle Municipal Archives
• Home Owners' Loan Corporation Security Map and Area Descriptions, Seattle, 1936, National Archives and Seattle Public Library Special Collections Online
• Home Owners' Loan Corporation Racial Map, Seattle, 1936, National Archives and Seattle Public Library Special Collections Online
• Houses in Seattle’s Central District, captioned photographs, MOHAI

Seattle’s Open Housing Campaign

• The Seattle Open Housing Campaign, 1959-1968, Seattle Municipal Archives
• Anti-Discrimination March, Seattle, June 15, 1963, Image 1, Image 2, captioned photographs, MOHAI
• Civil Rights Marches, Seattle, March 1964, Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, captioned photograph, MOHAI
• 1964 Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Protest Against Picture Floor Plans Inc. (Items #98 a-b), Seattle Municipal Archives

Lingering Impacts

• The Rise and Dramatic Fall of King County’s Black Homeowners, Gene Balk, The Seattle Times
• Seattle Was Named After a Tribal Chief. Now His Descendants Own Less Than an Acre of City Land. Gregory Scruggs, The Washington Post
• Seattle's Ugly Past: Segregation in Our Neighborhoods, Knute Berger, Seattle Magazine
• Why Is Seattle So Racially Segregated? Jamala Henderson, KUOW
• Language in Seattle-Area Rental Ads Divides Neighborhoods Along Racial Lines, UW Study Finds, Katherine Khashimova Long, The Seattle Times
• Seattle Household Net Worth Ranks Among Top in Nation—but Wealth Doesn’t Reach Everyone, Gene Balk, The Seattle Times
• Here's Why Rich Seattle Schools Can Afford Extra Teachers and Fancy Gadgets, Isolde Raftery, KUOW
• The Devaluation of Assets in Black Neighborhoods; Andre Perry, Jonathan Rothwell, and David Harshbarger; Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and Gallup
• Zoning Is the Key to Understanding Seattle Housing, Ana Sofia Knauf, The Evergrey
• How Seattle Designed Neighborhood Plans to Inhibit Inclusivity, Part 1 and Part 2, Mike Eliason, The Urbanist
• Seattle’s Residential Real Estate Industry Is Talking About Race and Wrestling With Some History, Katherine Khashimova Long, The Seattle Times
• The Making of Ferguson: Public Policies at the Root of its Troubles, Richard Rothstein, Economic Policy Institute

This week, Shannon is at Sun Mountain Lodge at the MBA Membership Trip, speaking with Nancy Grygorowicz-Davis, director of marketing & events at the MBA, about MBA events.

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Contact: data@mbaks.com

Permit activity continues to trend downward across the Seattle metro area.

Through July 2025, King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties collectively issued 3,742 single-family permits, a 7% decline compared to the same period in 2024. Multifamily permitting has slowed even more sharply, with 3,758 units permitted year-to-date, a 37% drop from last year. These figures highlight ongoing headwinds in the housing pipeline at a time when demand remains elevated.

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