Ballard housing growth off the charts

In just three years and three months, Ballard has skyrocketed 174 percent of its 20-year housing growth target — the most of any of Seattle’s 38 urban villages, reports the Seattle Times. In 2004, planners set a target of 1,000 new housing units in Ballard by 2024. Today, there are 1,739 new units — 287 finished and 1,452 permitted but unfinished units, many nearly ready for occupancy. “The demand for services is not going down and we don’t seem to have the structure in place to respond,” said Catherine Weatbrook, who works on the Ballard District Council. “Growth is going to happen. We can plan for it — or we can have chaos.” Meanwhile, Fremont has reached 62 percent of its 20-year target with 312 new units, and Phinney-Greenwood is at 44 percent with 175 new units. You can look up other Seattle neighborhoods on this Google map.