April 29, 2008

Land use benchmarks report notes growth in jobs, new homes, centered in urban areas

Talk to most King County residents and you get the sense they enjoy some of the best job and residential options in the region.

That anecdotal idea is being borne out by a new benchmarks report that shows roughly half of the nearly 300,000 new jobs and 225,000 new housing units within the Puget Sound region that were created over the past decade occurred in King County – and virtually all of that growth occurred in designated urban growth areas.

Meanwhile, King County’s rural areas, farmlands and open space continue to be preserved for their unique characteristics.

The findings are part of the 2008 King County Benchmarks report on land use between 1995 and 2006. Prepared by the King County Benchmark Program, the report details the progress of countywide planning policies and their impact on the environment and overall quality-of-life.

“This report points to the continued effectiveness of land-use policies that direct growth into areas where public amenities are already available, while maintaining open space including forestland and other natural areas,” said County Executive Ron Sims.

King County uses Countywide Planning Policies that guide growth and land use by encouraging dense urban development within a designated Urban Growth Area, while preserving and protecting rural and resource lands.

Looking at 11 separate indicators that range from employment statistics, to housing starts and acreage preserved as open space, the report notes that:

• While nearly 10,000 new housing units have been added to urban centers since 2001, more than 876,000 acres of forestland have been maintained in King County, representing 64 percent of the county’s total area;
• Within the designated Urban Growth Area, both single-family and multifamily residential densities permitted from 2001-2005 were higher than those during the previous five-year period;
• Consistent with countywide planning policy goals, 16 percent of King County’s residential growth since 2001 has been in urban centers, through the addition of nearly 10,000 new housing units;
• Including newly designated areas, urban centers accommodated 37 percent of countywide jobs by 2006, combining with manufacturing industrial centers to collectively gain 111,000 new jobs between 1995 and 2006;
• King County has capacity for 289,000 new housing units within the Urban Growth Area, more than twice the capacity needed to accommodate the remaining household growth target set in the countywide planning policies; and
• King County also has capacity within the Urban Growth Area to accommodate about 400,000 new jobs in commercial and mixed-use zones, and 123,000 new jobs in industrial zones—nearly double the capacity needed to accommodate the remaining employment growth targets.

The Benchmark Program began in 1994 to provide information for King County and local jurisdictions to use for setting environmental goals and evaluating the effectiveness of environmental policies. King County uses the Benchmark Reports to gauge the effectiveness of growth management planning policies and to make changes to policies or programs that are not having a desired outcome.

The report is a collaborative effort between the county and numerous local municipalities, and is available online.