It will be, in many ways, Seattle’s first post-pandemic election, with local, state and federal COVID-19 states of emergency now over. The city is grasping for a return to a pre-pandemic normalcy, with plenty of fledgling signs of the before-times starting to appear, from big companies mandating in-person office work to packed restaurants and sporting events. Yet the pandemic’s negative aftereffects linger.
The specter of recession looms over city budget forecasts. Street homelessness remains a visible challenge after snowballing in the early days of the pandemic, when shelters closed and many services went remote. Temporary gains in housing affordability have largely been erased by rising interest rates and a recovering
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