Seattle growing into a bigger, newer city

Old and new housing neighbor each other in neighborhoods that are seeing new construction and more upzoning around Seattle. Old and new housing neighbor each other in neighborhoods that are seeing new construction and more upzoning around Seattle. Photo: SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 78 Caption Close Seattle growing into a bigger, newer city 1 / 78 Back to Gallery

Seattle is growing up, some might say.

Except they'd mean literally, and if city plans are any indication, it will continue.

Seattle officials are pushing ahead on plans to rezone every neighborhood in the city to allow more density. What that translates to, in many cases, is taller buildings.

Officials are presently working on moving forward a plan, announced last September by Mayor Ed Murray, to upzone the University District.

In the U District rezone plans, several areas within the urban village boundary would have height limits lifted to as high as 320 feet, depending on use, with other areas upzoned more modestly. The proposal also includes plans for open public spaces, historic preservation and design standards.

Murray's plan touts that 40 to 275 homes, many considered affordable, will be demolished in the next 20 years, with or without zoning changes. Meanwhile, with the new zoning plan, up to 910 affordable homes will be created.

While many are in support of creating more density in the city, there are fears by others that Murray and his density supporters will erase single-family zoning in favor of an all-urban village or high-rise plan.

But as roughly thousands of people move to the region each month, something has to give.