Tacoma’s lack of housing is pervasive. Many challenges facing our community are harder to solve because there just aren’t enough homes for those who live here. As we review Home in Tacoma’s first year of implementation, it is important that we do so within the context of the City of Tacoma’s broader efforts to encourage the development of affordable housing.
The City of Tacoma led the way in modernizing zoning, starting with updates to its Comprehensive Plan in December 2021 and culminating with the unanimous adoption of comprehensive residential zoning changes in November 2024. I’m proud to directly contribute to this historic process both on the Planning Commission and on the City Council. These changes, which officially went into effect in February 2025, allow for the desperately needed “missing middle” housing in a way that is responsible to our communities and the environment. Our goal is to increase housing options for everyone, and I’m really excited to see such a promising start in the data presented.
In just its first year, the zoning reform has demonstrably stimulated residential development activity in neighborhoods across Tacoma, creating a larger pipeline of homes than we have seen in recent years. Compared to the previous five-year average in these areas, we have seen a 39% increase in permit applications and a 62% increase in the number of proposed housing units, despite an overall slowdown in permitting activity across the Puget Sound region.
The data shows that development is not limited to one part of the city – housing density (by number of units) is highest in the Eastside (25%), West End (21%), and South End (18%). This shows an equitable distribution of growth among historically under-resourced areas like the Eastside and South End.
The increase in housing options through Home in Tacoma is part of our broader strategy to encourage the development of affordable housing in Tacoma. It builds on past actions, like our adoption of the Housing sales tax to create the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF). From 2020 to 2025, between City-administered federal funds and the AHF, the City has invested over $20 million to support the development of 608 affordable housing units, with almost $38 million more supporting another 630 units in the pipeline.
As I celebrate these encouraging early results, I remain focused on what more we can do to drive the development our community needs. This includes monitoring the effectiveness of our affordable housing development incentives, as well as the homeownership development incentives I sponsored. Owning a home offers vital stability against the volatility of renting and helps families build generational wealth. Currently, Tacoma’s homeownership rate sits at just 55% – well below our regional, state, and national averages – and those rates are even lower among historically marginalized populations. We cannot improve these numbers by relying on our existing supply alone. That is why I remain committed to pursuing policy updates that encourage the development of new homes that are within reach for working families.
We need more housing at every level, and we needed it a generation ago. It is an honor to be here in this moment to support this tremendous step forward for our city.