Washington State

The Washington State Housing Needs Assessment was an innovative and exhaustive accounting of housing affordability whose 71,000 square miles are home to 7.5 million residents. To maximize the usability of the report for legislators, affordable housing practitioners and municipal planners, M&L focused on select key indicators of the statewide market. M&L comprehensively answered research questions posed by a diverse client team by completing every point of analysis for renters and homeowners of different income tiers and within unique geographies. The process called for adapting and expanding proven techniques, including the affordable housing gap analysis created by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Urban Institute. Additionally, M&L conducted extensive outreach to the state's 38 public housing authorities to compile the most complete and detailed inventory of subsidized housing the state had ever undertaken. The result was a highly data-driven report that included a unique data profile for all 39 counties as well as 17 urbanized areas in the state.