Matt Hutchins

@matthutchins.bsky.social

Posts

Seattle architect, urbanist, and planning commissioner advocating for housing abundance, 15 minute cities and sustainable construction. AIA Seattle President-Elect.

Posts Replies Media

Too many towns are hurting themselves trying to strangle new housing… Spokane rose to the challenge and is reaping the benefits. www.planning.org/blog/9293177...

Spokane's Interim Housing Ordinance Allowed City to Do 'Some Great Things'www.planning.org The Building Opportunity and Choices for All interim ordinance adopted by Spokane in 2022 allowed for up to four housing units to be built on any residential lot.

The common theme here, is that just about every mayor understands that they need more housing : www.nytimes.com/2024/07/08/u...

9 Mayors on What Divides America, and What Will Save Itwww.nytimes.com Mayors described the national discourse as “broken,” “garbage” and “horrible.” But many found reassurance inside their own cities.

The Seattle Design Festival is super fun and you can build something out of this world, or just go and enjoy a colorful day in the park! seadesignfest.org/blog/sdf-202...

SDF 2024: WHAT IF?Call for Proposals - Seattle Design Festivalseadesignfest.org Submissions + Guidelines Proposals due May 29th We are now accepting event proposals for the 2024 Seattle Design Festival! Anyone is eligible to submit an idea for an event to engage and interact with...

I wrote this four years ago, and maybe just maybe a few of these will make it through the comp plan update. medium.com/@matthutchin...

Nine Totally Necessary Evolutionary Changes for Seattle’s Residential Neighborhoods.medium.com How do we pivot to smarter growth, house our exploding population, cut the high cost of housing and reverse the inequity baked into SF…

Our city is going to grow, and if you are interested in shaping policy that creates great housing, check out my presentation ‘Opening the Door for Middle Housing: Aligning comprehensive planning, the WA State model code, and design/development of middle housing’ vimeo.com/926350982

Bellingham For Everyone Learning Series - Matt Hutchinsvimeo.com Opening the door for Middle Housing: Aligning comprehensive planning, the WA State model code, and design/development of middle housing. Matt Hutchins is a principal…

LA is building lots of new affordable housing without public subsidy because of 1) expedited reviews of affordable housing projects and 2) incentives. Somehow this article recasts this as problem? calmatters.org/housing/2024...

Having a state watchdog tracking real housing production will accelerate our local response to the housing crisis. Don’t tell me we don’t need something like this—the proof is a generation of local jurisdictions putting the screws to new housing. www.theurbanist.org/2024/01/04/h...

‘Housing Accountability Act’ Seeks to Push Local Governments to Boost Homebuilding - The Urbanis...www.theurbanist.org The bill could result in a builder's remedy to force resistant jurisdictions to allow apartment construction. Representative Jessica Bateman (D-22, Olympia) has filed a brand new bill that seeks to pu...

The new HB 11110 Middle Housing nearly final Model Code looks to have improved the FAR and lot coverage. Is is enough to shift the market to greener stacked flat development? Probably not, but at least I can develop Spokane 6-like buildings under it!

Washington State hasn't had a mechanism for holding cities and towns' feet to to the fire with regard to planning for the housing we know we'll need. With HB 2113, now we will. Visionary legislation by Reps Bateman and Macri.

I’m in Minneapolis for a few days—any underrated architectural gems I should seek out—like mid century Rapson or Birkerts?

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Matt Hutchins

NEW: In a groundbreaking bid to transform itself into a more sustainable metropolis, Paris is set to roll out its ambitious 2024-2030 Climate Plan, including an overarching plan to prioritize cycling infrastructure, introducing 180km of additional cycling paths and 130k bike parking spaces by 2026.

Paris puts people and bicycles at the heart of ambitious new climate planmomentummag.com In a groundbreaking bid to transform into a more sustainable and cyclist-friendly metropolis, the Paris climate plan is set to roll out.

If we were serious about climate change and resilience Seattle would do this: momentummag.com/paris-puts-p...

Now as an Urbanist article: www.theurbanist.org/2023/12/05/o...

Op-Ed: State Model Code Could Give Middle Housing a Shot - The Urbanistwww.theurbanist.org In HB 1110, the Washington State Legislature read the will of the people and demanded that we tackle the housing crisis more proactively by allowing middle housing in most cities and towns. The Washin...

If you want to comment on the code, do it before December 6th. Check in the alt text in this image for some suggestions! app.smartsheet.com/b/form/92772...

Here is a comprehensive discussion of the Washington state Model Code for Middle Housing and how we can have it produce more housing in line with HB1110 medium.com/@matthutchin...

Give Middle Housing a shot!medium.com In HB 1110, the State Legislature read the will of the people and demanded that we tackle the housing crisis more proactively by allowing…

Find out more about the emission standards for large buildings aiaseattle.org/event/cote-d...

COTE: Decoding BEPS - Seattle's Building Emissions Performance Standard | AIA Seattleaiaseattle.org Learn about the City of Seattle’s proposed Building Emissions Performance Standard (BEPS) and what it might mean for you and your clients. Nicole Ballinger, Buildings and Energy Strategic Advisor fr...

I get to talk up what Spokane is doing:

Last week, I met with new clients a start up one senator two reporters three GCs four advocacy groups 25 grad students to push forward infill dev, middle housing, ADUs and housing for the homeless, sustainable const, and advocacy I am thankful I can preach what I practice

I got a chance to talk about how exciting Spokane’s zoning changes are: www.krem.com/article/news...

Biden has been so much better as President than I expected. Has navigated a bunch of tough situations. Imagine the other guy even having a cogent thought about what to do here, or any empathy for anyone affected by these wars much less a policy path www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | Joe Biden: The U.S. won’t back down from the challenge of Putin and Hamaswww.washingtonpost.com Our goal should not be simply to stop the war for today — it should be to end the war forever, break the cycle of violence and build something stronger in Gaza.

What I do in advocacy: to help the most people, I want to leverage my expertise to make the broadest system change. Doing an innovative project is great, reforming the underlying rules is better, but changing the public's mindset is the best (and hardest).

ADUs: 800 square feet leaves plenty of room for great design!

Oyster shell

Winter is setting in. Potlatch State Park.

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Matt Hutchins

12 ways to reduce cars in cities that have *already worked*, ranked by effectiveness, from screening nearly 800 papers. Key takeaways: 1. combine carrots for sustainable mobility + sticks to restrict cars 2. govt must lead Our recent research led by Paula Kuss theconversation.com/12-best-ways... 🧪

Congrats to winners of the 2023 PHIUS passive house design awards! High performance buildings are so hot right now (and by hot, i mean cutting edge--their internal temperature is stable and comfortable without large inputs of external energy!) qiuw-zgpvh.campaign-view.com/ua/viewinbro...

At this point I have little optimism about the Seattle comp plan update With this Mayor With this new Council I don’t see where we are going to get the vision and outspoken leadership to take the big challenges head on. I predict ‘Urban Villages v.4: Serve Current Entrenched Interest”

It was great to see 5 multi-family/affordable housing projects were elevated by AIA Seattle: Orenda by Weber Thompson Dockside by Cone Architecture Inspire by Public 47 Mary's Place by Graphite Design North Campus housing by KieranTimberlake

A little camp cabin: 840 sf, 2BR, deep porches, flat pack construction.

The original sketch of the house vs actuality. (Still waiting on final element: the pioneer schoolhouse on the roof)