Washington minimum wage to top $16 an hour next year (Seattle: real estate, apartment)

[CrazyDonkey]

The state minimum wage was $8.07 in 2008 (15 years ago). With inflation, that would be $11.54 today, a difference of $4.20. If the state minimum wage going forward only matches inflation (.54 / 15.74 = 3.43%), that is not by itself inflationary. Only the closing of the $4.20 gap was inflationary.

[xPlorer48]

Look at the propositions before Bellingham’s voters:

https://www.cascadiadaily.com/news/2...ingham-ballot/

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by 87112

Man, the price of a meal will be 20 bucks soon. Any kind of meal. It use to be 11,12-------

But this is going to get worse and worse. Price of gas goes up everything goes up. Or as democrats leaders say to themselves. " its all part of our plan".

It used to be $8, 10! Students used to go to the ethnic lunch buffets on U Way, and get a filling lunch for $5-6, which was significantly cheaper than the prices at the UW cafeterias! Now the "cheap" buffets are $12 or more, depending on the city. People are going to stop eating out.

[TheTimidBlueBars]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

The state minimum wage was $8.07 in 2008 (15 years ago). With inflation, that would be $11.54 today, a difference of $4.20. If the state minimum wage going forward only matches inflation (.54 / 15.74 = 3.43%), that is not by itself inflationary. Only the closing of the $4.20 gap was inflationary.

I would guess that the COL in the Seattle area has gone up more than ~100% in absolute dollars since 2008.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by TheTimidBlueBars

I would guess that the COL in the Seattle area has gone up more than ~100% in absolute dollars since 2008.

Yes, it is a state-wide minimum wage.

$18.69 (most workers) - $11.54 = a $7.15 gap relative to state-wide inflation since 2008. That's why we have a separate minimum wage in Seattle, which is still inadequate, largely due to unaffordable housing. Service workers must cut discretionary spending (such as eating out), commute further (from Federal Way, for instance), and/or downsize their digs (to a micro-apartment or room-share) to try to stay even.

Living without a car, which is feasible in many parts of Seattle, can save $500-$800 a month, which then might be used to cover rent, health insurance, entertainment costs, etc.


Remote workers are driving up housing values and rents statewide. The question is whether they will be correspondingly moderated in Seattle proper due to a combination of increased supply and decreased demand.

[87112]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

It used to be $8, 10! Students used to go to the ethnic lunch buffets on U Way, and get a filling lunch for $5-6, which was significantly cheaper than the prices at the UW cafeterias! Now the "cheap" buffets are $12 or more, depending on the city. People are going to stop eating out.

You still can eat cheap these days. I find real Mexican food to do it. Just get a 10 to 12 dollar Burrito from a taco truck or real Mexican restaurant. One burrito can fill me up from noon to 7p or longer.

Thats as cheap as it gets these days. Go eat Asian and its 14 to 16 before a tip.

I still say to people the growth of the Latino community is one of the best things to happen to the Seattle area in the last 15 years.

[rkcarguy]

I don't think it's going to make much difference. It used to be that people filled these positions and tolerated a poor quality of life (financially)for the skiing hiking kayaking nightlife and other perks of the area. Now housing is simply out of reach and these activities are overpriced, over-full, with homeless trolls bringing break-ins and theft to every trailhead parking lot and store. We have plenty of jobs offering more than $16/hr in Bellingham that have been unfilled for months or even over a year. No affordable housing = no affordable service workers.

Ruth, WA colleges are notoriously tight(as you probably know), they cut positions and make the remaining employees do more, replace someone coming up on tenure with 2 people half time to avoid having to pay benefits....and so on. I've known a fair amount of staff and professors that filled me in on things and eventually moved on. Yet as we see in Bellingham, tuition goes up, enrollment swells, and most of the student population is left to fend for themselves for housing, with the college having dorms for only a small fraction of enrollment.

[jabogitlu]

Oof, I don't think of $10 to $12 as cheap. But then again, lunch for me is often a ramen packet with an egg dropped into the boil, maybe topped with some green onions.

Remote workers are driving up housing values and rents statewide. The question is whether they will be correspondingly moderated in Seattle proper due to a combination of increased supply and decreased demand.

Is there any data to show that remote workers are responsible for the increase in housing value? My guess is that the lack of supply due to NIMBY-controlled single-family zoned land is the primary reason why our housing values have increased so much. I also don't think we are going to see decreased demand anytime soon. All of the completed new luxury towers in Denny Triangle are operating at 90%+ occupancies and our new housing starts in the city are WAY down. If rates stay this high, they will probably continue to stay down. Although regulatory burdens (including our new energy code for high-rise) combined with the new state-mandated upzone of some of our land may push more developers to start lower-density multifamily projects in suburban-style neighborhoods.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by 87112

You still can eat cheap these days. I find real Mexican food to do it. Just get a 10 to 12 dollar Burrito from a taco truck or real Mexican restaurant. One burrito can fill me up from noon to 7p or longer.

Thats as cheap as it gets these days. Go eat Asian and its 14 to 16 before a tip.

I still say to people the growth of the Latino community is one of the best things to happen to the Seattle area in the last 15 years.

But that's 12 friggin' dollars for a darn burrito! No student on financial aid can afford that more than once/week, if that. As UW staff, we'd all bring sack lunches. And the offices didn't have fridges back then, no coffee machines. They probably still don't. Not that we ever needed any of that. Students can make their own burritos to bring in their backpack for probably about $3.00, maybe less.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Oof, I don't think of $10 to $12 as cheap. But then again, lunch for me is often a ramen packet with an egg dropped into the boil, maybe topped with some green onions.

Is there any data to show that remote workers are responsible for the increase in housing value? My guess is that the lack of supply due to NIMBY-controlled single-family zoned land is the primary reason why our housing values have increased so much. I also don't think we are going to see decreased demand anytime soon. All of the completed new luxury towers in Denny Triangle are operating at 90%+ occupancies and our new housing starts in the city are WAY down. If rates stay this high, they will probably continue to stay down. Although regulatory burdens (including our new energy code for high-rise) combined with the new state-mandated upzone of some of our land may push more developers to start lower-density multifamily projects in suburban-style neighborhoods.

I'm glad you asked. People! Seattle is the national POSTER CHILD for REIT's run amok! Seriously, I've read articles about how REIT's rushed in to the Seattle market to finance scads of cheap apartment buildings supposedly to meet the huge boom in demand due to the tech boom (and student demand as well: see U District), to the extent that they oversaturated the market, and created ugly, desolate canyons along once-quaint and colorful commercial corridors. Seattle's an example of what can happen when the REIT sector gets caught up in "irrational exuberance" unchecked by city planners and the permitting process.

It's these Wall Street investment instruments that are causing the skyrocketing housing values. They set an artificial "market value" and stick to it, even though their buildings as often as not are chronically only half full. IOW, supply-and-demand economics do not apply. These corporate vehicles control "market pricing".

And about the accusation of NIMBY-controlled single-family zoned land, I haven't seen that too much, traveling around Seattle. Strolling around Ballard residential neighborhoods, for example, I see a 3-4 story apt. building every few blocks. I think they fit in rather well. That seems like a good solution: blending modest multi-unit housing with a height cap in with SFH's.

The problem with greater density is, as we all know: total gridlock all over town and on the freeways.