A half century ago Seattle had more than 2,000 houseboats. Today only about 500 remain.

Over the decades the houseboat community has struggled to stay afloat as a result of policy changes, higher moorage fees and evictions.

Local historian Knute "The Mossback" Berger says, "There's been a long tradition of accepting houseboats and then periodically deciding, well, this is a bad idea."

On this episode of SoundQs we explore the history of houseboats and look at what makes this community so unique.

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button above or on your favorite podcast app. SoundQs is a weekly podcast where KUOW reporters tackle questions submitted by our listeners.

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