South King County has been hit hard by rising housing costs and increased displacement risk.
People have been pushed south by rising costs in Seattle and the Eastside, which in turn has raised costs in South King County cities.
In 2016, the Housing Development Consortium established a pilot program to bring south county cities together to address what could be called the suburbanization of poverty.
After the three year grant funded pilot was complete, the cities began to formalize a new organization as South King Housing and Homelessness Partners (SKHHP).
Auburn, Burien, Covington, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent, Normandy Park, Renton and Tukwila have formed an interlocal agreement and identified funding in their city budgets for SKHHP. King County is also supporting this work.
The signatories have worked with the Housing Development Consortium to secure funding, develop a work plan, and are currently working to staff the organization. The newly formed Executive Board just had its first meeting.
At its annual celebration this week, the Housing Development Consortium honored the new South King Housing and Homelessness Partners with its Municipal Champion Award, recognizing a collective effort to seek collaborative solutions to a regional housing problem.
As part of the development of VISION 2050, PSRC has developed a displacement risk tool to identify areas at greater risk of displacement based on current neighborhood conditions. Under all the alternatives examined in the draft SEIS, lower-income households in affordable urban neighborhoods have the potential to be displaced by higher-income households unless adequate affordable housing opportunities, policies, or supportive services are provided.