Tenants in the Capitol Hill and Central District neighborhoods are at the top of major shifts in how people live in Seattle with areas that rank among the fastest growing areas for renters in the nation and some of the most renter-represented streets in Seattle, according to a new industry report.

For some, they are part of areas with a long history of renter representation. Others are part of streets where the balance has shifted only recently to renter majority neighborhoods.

“We have to ask ourselves, what is the population moving in and what is the population moving out,” John Rodriguez, formerly part of the Capitol Hill Renters Initiative and founder and executive director of the Dominican Association of Washington State said. “Is it equitable? Is it fair?”

According to the report from nationwide apartment listing service RentCafe, the Central District’s 98122 is ranked 66th as one of the fastest growing renter ZIP codes in the nation with an 44.4% increase of renters from 2011 to 2020. 65.1% of the people living in this neighborhood are renters. It is now the sixth-most renter dominated area in the city.

Meanwhile, Capitol Hill’s 98102’s longer history as a place for small apartment buildings and rentals means the area’s renter majority isn’t as new as the Central District’s — the area has produced a 22.7% increase in renters from 2011 to 2020. Its renter population now sits at 68.3%, making it the fifth most renter-represented ZIP in Seattle.

According to Andrea Neculae, author of the report, home values have skyrocketed in these neighborhoods by a staggering 42% in the past five years. As a result, in the Central District, homes are 78% more expensive than the typical house in Washington. Home prices in Capitol Hill are 60% above the state average.

Many people believe that renters aren’t as emotionally invested where they live as opposed to homeowners, however, this is not the case, according to Kate Rubin, executive director of Be Seattle.

“Renters are as much a part of their community as anyone and they try to grow roots as best they can.” Rubin said.

Community and stability may not be the issues they are made out to be. But affordability and displacement are also part of the changes.

“Gentrification has been the main problem in the Central District, a historic Black owned and Black founded neighborhood.” the Dominican Association’s Rodriguez said.

City data shows Black residents made up 57.7% of the population in the Central District. Since 2018, the population has sharply declined and now Black residents only make up 16.4%.

The rising amount of transplants, people moving into the city for work, school, or other opportunities, have displaced a lot of the residents who had been living in these communities for years. The lack of rent control has contributed to the rising prices of apartments and homes which many people living in those neighborhoods can no longer afford.

Many of these new buildings being built aren’t meant for low-income residents to live in, with the average rent being around $2200 for 650 square feet. This leaves people very little money for other expenses as such bills, food and other necessities.

According to Rodriguez, education is an important element to empowering BIPOC renters to know their tenant rights. Implicit bias still impacts renters of colors when filling out housing applications, by putting people on waiting lists, and withholding applications.

Gentrification has caused Black and brown people to move down South to more affordable areas in South King County such as Renton, Kent, and Federal Way. However, Rodriguez still believes in having renters initiative offices in the Capitol Hill and continuing to help the small population of renters of color in the area.

Because of this, Rodriguez has started a new BIPOC Renters Collective program through the Dominican Association of Washington State and has established their offices in Capitol Hill.

“We are here and it’s symbolic that we haven’t moved our offices from Capitol Hill. Even when most of the population we served have moved to other neighborhoods, we are here and we want to remain symbolic and a monument of equitable development.”

You can read more about the RentCafe report here.

PLEASE HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE!
Subscribe to CHS to help us pay writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.