(Rick Mohler is an associate professor at the University of Washington Department of Architecture, a principal at Mohler+Ghillino Architects and Wallingford resident, natch.)

Last month I moderated a forum on urban housing that was assembled by the Seattle chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Having been engaged in the Wallingford Community Council’s effort to understand and respond to HALA, I opened the forum by expressing my enthusiasm for the lively, and sometimes contentious, citywide discussion that’s been initiated by the mayor’s HALA proposal. I added that many of my neighbors here in Wallingford, who barely knew the land …