How Seattle houseboats have managed to stay afloat
A half century ago Seattle had more than 2,000 houseboats. Today only about 500 remain.
Over the decades the houseboat community has struggled to stay afloat as a result of policy changes, higher moorage fees and evictions.
Local historian Knute "The Mossback" Berger says, "There's been a long tradition of accepting houseboats and then periodically deciding, well, this is a bad idea."
On this episode of SoundQs we explore the history of houseboats and look at what makes this community so unique.
Listen to the episode by clicking the play button above or on your favorite podcast app. SoundQs is a weekly podcast where KUOW reporters tackle questions submitted by our listeners.
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Caroline Chamberlain Gomez
Editor, Seattle Now
Caroline Gomez is the editor of Seattle Now, KUOW's flagship news podcast. She's produced and edited hundreds of episodes on the people and stories that shape Seattle. She created "Casual Friday," Seattle Now's Friday episode that performs best (almost) every week. She has a masters degree in human centered design and engineering from the University of Washington and she applies a user-centered approach to her journalism and processes. Previously she was a producer at KCRW and is a proud alum of UCLA's Daily Bruin.
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Deborah Wang
Contributing Reporter, Editor, & Host
Deborah is a contributing reporter, editor and host at KUOW. Since joining the staff in 2005, Deborah has done everything from political reporting to podcast hosting and is now serving as Interim News Director. She is an award–winning radio and television journalist whose career spans more than three decades.
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