Seattle urbanists and transportation activists will rally Saturday, calling for “more housing and better transportation in Seattle” as city leaders move forward on a new 20-year growth plan for the city and a new $1.35 billion transportation levy vote this fall.

The Transportation and Housing Rally for a Healthy Future will take place Saturday, April 20th starting at 2 PM in the Central District’s Jimi Hendrix Park:

We have a unique opportunity to build an affordable city with clean air, thriving businesses and communities, sidewalks, bike lanes, and transit in every neighborhood. The time to act is now! Mayor Harrell has proposed plans that will keep housing unaffordable, promote inequitable development, and limit sustainable transportation options. We advocates have outlined what we need in the upcoming transportation levy and comprehensive plan.

Organizers include a mix of community groups and advocacy organizations including 350 Seattle, Ampersand Bikes Club, Aurora Reimagined Coalition, Be:Seattle, Disability Mobility Initiative, Disability Rights WA, House Our Neighbors, Jackson Park 4 All, Lid I-5, Puget Sound Sage, Real Change, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, Seattle Subway, Sierra Club of WA State, Transit Riders Union, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, The Urbanist, and West Seattle Bike Connections.

The rally comes as Seattle wrestles with finalizing its next 20-year growth plan and ongoing debates around how best to create more multifamily and affordable housing in more parts of the city.

Meanwhile, Mayor Bruce Harrell’s $1.35 billion transportation levy proposal would focus on repairs, replacements, and realignments and not major new street and transit projects.

The groups are backing a roster of demands to call for both the new Comprehensive Plan and the new Transportation Levy to do more including demanding the city “dedicate at least 50% of levy funding to improvements for people walking, rolling, biking, and riding transit.”

The groups are also backing demands calling for a more fair distribution of growth across the city that would include allowing “midrise housing (4-8 stories) and mixed uses in all residential areas within walking distance of frequent transit” instead of restricting it to limited pockets as the current proposal lays out.

You can see more of the Comprehensive Plan demands here and the Transportation Levy demands here.

Full details on Saturday’s rally can be found here.

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