Electric car charging stations and other things Mayor Durkan says will happen

Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan gave her State of the City speech on Tuesday in which she gave a few indications of what is to come in 2019.

Electric Cars

Durkan said she will send legislation to the City Council that would require new buildings in the city to have facilities for electric vehicle charging. That would include new homes with private parking.

The mayor said building charging infrastructure is necessary to meet the city’s climate goals. Her office sent out a statement saying it was cheaper to wire new construction than to retrofit later.

Read more: Can Seattle drivers be shamed into electric cars?

However, plug-in cars are still relatively uncommon. The state’s vehicle licensing department said it found 7,800 plug-in cars in Washington state in March 2018, which was when it stopped counting.

Housing

The low-income housing development at the former Fort Lawton is going to happen, the mayor said. It has to get through a public hearing and City Council approval before heading to the federal government for sign-off.

Also going to happen, according to the mayor: neighborhood upzones to allow more affordable housing.

Homelessness

The mayor said she would soon make an executive order that would provide strategies to prevent displacement and gentrification, but did not provide details yet.

She also spoke about the impact of creating a single city/county “entity” to direct homelessness resources in the coming months.

Transit

People living outside the urban core often struggle to connect with transit.

West Seattle commuters have had help: King County Metro and the city of Seattle have been providing vehicles that riders can hail that take them to or from a transit hub.

Durkan said that service will soon extend to south Seattle.