The Red Coast is a rare book of Pacific Northwest history that unpacks a vital era. The labor, free speech, and political wars in the first third of the 20th century is an often misunderstood and glossed-over part of our heritage. Written by three authors, including two St. Martins Saints (I guess), the episodic nature of…
Tract 105 in Olympia. Or a story of how the nodes argument of density is racist
Last week I wrote about how on the macro-level, Olympia’s neighborhoods are racially segregated along density lines. The more single-family homes in a neighborhood, the higher percentage of white people that live there. And now I’ve found an example of how adding high-density housing in one neighborhood, and preserving single-family housing in the neighborhood next…
Zoning and race in Olympia, WA
Last November I posted about the history of race and housing in Olympia. I tracked local ordinances to outlaw racial discrimination in housing. I also wrote about some housing developments that have racially-based covenants. One of the things I noticed in these racially-restrictive covenants is that they always came with another requirement, that the neighborhood…
Black Lake Way, old Black Lake Road and how history could have been
One of the most interesting, long-term and simmering debates in Olympia, is how several dozen blocks in SW Olympia are connected to the rest of the city. Southwest Olympia south of Division and east of the mall is an interesting place. Unlike anywhere else in the city, they are unusually cut off from the rest…
Who was Karen Frazier?
Not Karen Fraser, but Karen Frazier. Because the name of a street in Southeast Olympia resembles the name of a longtime local politician, I’ve always wondered who the Karen Frazier (not Fraser) of the street actually was. Who had been well-known or important enough in Olympia decades ago to name a dog-legged street after? Well,…
There is a worse fate for the Olympian than our present and a future without the Olympian
1. I got into a discussion this afternoon with a local, talking about the state of the Olympian and whether it would be worthy of support if it changed its corporate structure to a non-profit. Here’s the original argument: I don’t disagree about local news being produced by non-profits. Great idea. The Olympian is the…
How did our housing practices shape Olympia’s racial makeup?
Amanda Smith, the former mayor of Olympia, sat in a suddenly silent city council meeting in the spring of 1968. She had been mayor in the 1950s and had come back to city hall to speak out in favor of an ordinance to prevent housing discrimination. Duke Stockton had just stopped speaking against the ordinance…
Olympia housing post in two parts: Answering a question on Ron Rants and asking a question on Samuel Stein
Both of these came up at the same time, so I’m doing them in one post. 1. Answering Steve Salmi’s question here first: …Dan Leahy was right to “follow the money” regarding tax breaks for developers – including Ron Rants. Olympia would do well to display greater transparency in its decision making if it wishes…
How much did cutting the middle out of our housing stock cost Olympia in the last forty years?
Or, Olympia’s spreading tax-subsidized single-family neighborhoods. I’ve pointed to this chart oftentimes as an illustration of how we changed directions back in the 1980s. I’ve recently been rethinking this graph, mostly due to new perspectives on a fairly old policy tool to encourage apartment construction in downtown Olympia. Dan Leahy has been writing in Works…