Considering the Housing Approaches

Bellevue is considering several approaches to housing in order to reach our target of 35,000 new housing units by 2044. These approaches take into account state and regional requirements as well as City Council direction including:

• Create more housing options such as duplexes, townhomes, and other modest scale housing.
• Create options that are affordable at all income levels, especially for households that have low incomes.
• ensure housing has access to jobs and transit. 
• Address impacts from historic discrimination in land use and housing.

Each approach looks at different areas of the city and combines them in different ways. These areas include the city's

	Urban Core - Downtown, BelRed, Wilburton, and East Main These areas have larger high-rise and mid-rise apartment and condo buildings.  Most of the units are 1-bedrooms and studios. Residents in these areas can easily walk to jobs, retail, transit and amenities
	Mixed Use - Crossroads, Eastgate, Factoria These areas have mid-rise apartments and a mix of smaller apartments and townhomes. There is a greater mix of unit sizes Residents in these areas have good access to jobs, retail, transit and amenities.
	Transit Nodes These areas have mid-rise apartments and a mix of smaller apartments and townhomes. These nodes are often on or near arterials There is retail and services at the ground level, but less variety than in other areas.
	Neighborhood Centers These areas have smaller apartments and a mix of fourplexes, triplexes, duplexes, and townhomes.  Residents in or near these centers have walkable access. These centers can support smaller, locally owned businesses.
	Neighborhood Residential Mostly a mix of single-family homes with some duplexes, triplexes, cottage homes, and town homes.  Not generally close to retail or transit so residents mostly have to drive to services and amenities.

You will see that with each approach there is more capacity than our housing target. Having more capacity gives developers (both non-profit and for-profit) more flexibility to respond to the needs of future residents. This means developers can build a greater variety of housing types and provide more choice in more neighborhoods. 

Below are some brief introductions to the different housing approaches. If you would like more details you can download our Planning for Housing Guide, view the Housing Alternative Boards, see data from the 2022 Bellevue Housing Needs Assessment.

At this point in the process, we aren't asking people to choose a "favorite" approach. There is still more work to be done before we can fully evaluate these approaches. Right now we want to know what you like about any aspect of these approaches and any concerns you have.

Before you jump in the discussion of the approaches, tell us:

When you think about the issue of housing what values and goals are most important to you?