Seattle Urban Renewal Timeline
Urban Renewal Timeline
See the Projects page for timelines of individual projects.
- 1949: Congress passes the Housing Act of 1949
- January 1954: Planning Commission submits report on proposed 1954 Urban Renewal Act (Clerk File 225993)
- August 1954: Congress passes Housing Act of 1954
- March 7, 1957: Washington's Urban Renewal Law passes, enabling cities to participate in the federal urban renewal program
- September 17, 1957: City Council passes Ordinance 86463, finding that "blighted areas" as defined by the Urban Renewal Law exist in the City of Seattle and creating the City's urban renewal program
- December 23, 1957: City Council passes Ordinance 86767, authorizing urban renewal coordinator position and advisory committee
- January 1958: Talbot Wegg is appointed as the city's first Urban Renewal Coordinator
- March 10, 1958: Kenneth B. Colman appointed chairman of the Citizen's Advisory Committee on Urban Renewal
- November 1958: Citizen's Advisory Committee on Urban Renewal incorporates as the Seattle Urban Renewal Enterprise (SURE)
- July 1958: The city's first Workable Program is approved by City Council and submitted to federal authorities (Clerk File 234996)
- March 30, 1959: Ordinance 88069 adopts Seattle's first Minimum Housing Code
- May 1959: Ordinance 88230 is passed, authorizing new positions in the Building Department to enforce the Minimum Housing Code
- September 1959: Ordinance 88664 adopts the 1959 Workable Program
- November 1960: Resolution 18692 adopts the 1960-61 Workable Program
- January 1962: Resolution 19068 adopts the 1962 Workable Program
- February 1963: State Supreme Court rules that urban renewal is constitutional in the State of Washington
- June 1963: Resolution 19552 adopts the 1963 Workable Program
- August 1964: Resolution 19940 adopts the 1964 Workable Program
- October 1965: Resolution 20387 adopts the 1965 Workable Program
- September 1966: A study of group attitudes of urban renewal in Seattle is prepared for SURE
- 1967: Ten-year systemic housing code compliance program established within the Building Department, administered by the Division of Housing Conservation and Building Abatement
- June 1967: Resolution 21088 adopts the 1967 Workable Program
- December 1967: City of Seattle is designated as a recipient of a Model Cities grant
- February 1968: Forward Thrust bond issue passes
- August 1968: Federal Housing Act is amended to provide for the Neighborhood Development Program (NDP)
- September 1968: Resolution 21652 adopts the 1968 Workable Program
- November 1968: City begins to study areas to include in NDP application
- February 1969: Department of Community Development is formed, assuming the responsibilities of the City Planning Commission staff and the Urban Renewal Program, previously a division of the Executive Department
- July 1969: Resolution 22100 adopts the 1969 Workable Program
- September 1971: Resolution 23255 adopts the 1971 Workable Program
- February 1973: Resolution 24006 authorizes an application to federal government to fund a survey and planning effort in the Mann-Minor neighborhood; the federal government advises the City not to apply due to a lack of program funds available
- January 1974: Resolution 24449 adopts the 1973 Workable Program
- August 1974: Congress passes the Housing and Community Development Act, ending the federal Urban Renewal and Model Cities programs