We need better housing options

Regardless of how you may feel about the results of the election, it’s clear that we all as a society have much work to do. Why not start off by addressing one of the most urgent issues right here at home, housing.

As winter arrives, there are still many members of our community who are either struggling to find housing they can afford, or struggling to afford the housing they already have. Combine that with a worldwide pandemic and an economic recession, and I believe we can all recognize how little it would take for us to be searching for shelter ourselves.

There are many things that can and should be done to offer better and more affordable housing to the community members of Spokane. One thing we should do is update the Growth Management Act.

The Growth Management act was first adopted in Washington state in 1990. Its purpose is to coordinate growth across the state in order to best maximize sustainable economic and environmental development. It is primarily defined by a set of principles counties and cities must incorporate while doing land use planning. This year we have an opportunity to expand those principles to account for environmental justice, climate change and housing affordability.

Each of these are crises of their own that deserve more attention than they get. Join me in calling upon our state representatives and senators, especially those in the 3rd (looking at you Billig, Riccelli and Ormsby) to update the GMA this year.

Trenton Miller

Spokane