🎧 Power of Place Episode #10 | Dreams of Abundance - Roger Valdez

Power of Place - Stories of the Pacific Northwest

Join us in this episode for a conversation spanning Realpolitik, capitalism and moral philosophy with affordable housing activist Roger Valdez, founder of Seattle for Growth. As the chief lobbyist behind Washington State’s 2005 cigarette ban, Roger understands that social and policy change is incremental and often glacial. Washington’s legislation came a full 40 years after the Surgeon General’s warning – a lesson that advocacy requires stoicism and perseverance. Hear Roger’s prescient economic analysis, influenced by Nobel Laureate F.A. Hayek, of Seattle’s housing crisis and his arguments in favor of further development. Propelled by his Christian faith, Roger embraces urban density as an opportunity for neighborly love and community.

“Abundance does create opportunity, and it creates competition between producers, which benefits the consumer.” - Roger Valdez

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥.