New year, new civic skills. Civic Genius just wrapped up a series of It’s Your America workshops in Washington State on the topic of housing and growth. In Everett, Bellevue, and Seattle, these workshops brought people together for thoughtful, deliberative conversations where participants explored different perspectives, navigated tough trade-offs and worked toward real-world solutions. We were thrilled to partner with the Museum of History and Industry, King County Library System, and Seattle City Club, three beloved community institutions with a strong commitment to civic life.
Here’s an inside look at It’s Your America, customized for the Pacific Northwest with the help of two dozen plush sockeye salmon:
Everett
The growing, changing city of Everett kicked things off with a conversation at the local Washington State University campus. Affordability, accessibility, and environmental sustainability were big themes, setting the stage for a lively discussion on how to tackle these challenges together.
As participants began sharing their values and priorities, ideas started flying – along with our sockeye salmon. Everything from expanding transit to preserving community character to creating more equitable housing policies was in the air.
Of course, big issues don’t have perfect solutions. Every place has its own complexities and every policy has its pros, cons, and unknowns. To find common ground, we unleashed the salmon for a “Yes, And” game that helped build on the ideas of other people without instantly shutting them down.
Throughout the evening, participants from Everett and beyond contributed their expertise and learned new ways of navigating differences in a productive way.
Bellevue
In Bellevue, participants brought a diverse mix of perspectives to the conversation. While many shared similar hopes for the area’s future, the conversations took different directions, like easing traffic congestion, making new construction more sustainable, considering the impact of large out-of-state developers, and building for a wider range of incomes. But with open discussions and new tools for deliberation, the groups found areas of agreement on potential solutions. 
One broad area of consensus: planning for growth means balancing long-term goals with community needs, and community engagement is paramount. Speaking of broad consensus, if there’s one thing participants could all agree on, it’s that our Consensus Buzzers were an absolute hit! Nothing feels better than getting to yes, and Bellevue certainly kept the buzz alive.
Seattle
In Seattle, our participants zoomed out to take a big picture look at housing across the city. Folks asked big questions on how to enforce rent control, increase incentives for affordable housing, and protect current residents from displacement, plus how both the public and private sector play a part in shaping the housing landscape.
With these questions, Seattle’s conversation leaned into some tough dilemmas and weighed competing interests and priorities. While some maintained that the city should increase its budget to provide immediate, accessible housing, others questioned the city’s existing investment and the wisdom of additional spending without clear evidence of benefit.
Several Seattle participants had experience in advocacy or political action, and brought strong opinions to the table. Our game boards offered a defined field where everyone could zero in on consensus solutions, even when major disagreements remained. It was great to see trust-building in action and imagine what else could be possible with more time to engage.
What’s Next? Join the Conversation
Each workshop brought together people from all walks of life to share perspectives, wrestle with tough questions, and explore real solutions. While there was no single answer that could address every concern by everyone, one thing was clear: when we have the time to listen and the skills deliberate, we can build common ground on top of our shared values.
To bring It’s Your America to your community, reach out to [email protected].
