Governor Jay Inslee standing in front of a perfectly lit Mount Rainier talking about climate change, affordable housing, and public transit “We need to build housing, but it needs to be affordable.”
The Governor came to the Rainier Valley to take part in the unveiling of Willow Crossing, a 211 unit apartment building for people making less than 60-percent of the average median income, “affordable units for families that are sustainable, they’re easy on the environment, that maximize our public transit system (and) realizes a new vision for the Rainier Valley.”
When the nearby Othello light rail station opening in 2009, this is what local leaders envisioned, “I was 10 years ago very pregnant and organizing for Transit Justice and making sure that this promise that we had when we built the light rail would actually be seen and experienced” says Rebecca Saldana who’s now a Washington State Senator.
Governor Inslee was clearly excited the chance to ease the housing crunch. But the well-known climate change crusader inside seemed more focused on the symbolism of the moment, “Mount Rainier is beautiful and it’s at great, great risk. Those glaciers over my right shoulder are disappearing because of the threat of climate change.”
