The Urbanist » Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.

Criminal History Is None of a Landlord’s Business: Soon in Seattle

by Curtis Little and Guest Contributor @urbanistorg on August 18, 2017

In March of 2016, having recently been let go from the Cleveland Browns due in part to truancy and public drug use, Johnny Manziel applied to live in an apartment. The property manager who processed his application was at first delighted that she would have the opportunity to rent to the Heisman Trophy recipient from Texas A&M. But she was quickly disheartened when she realized that, due to a criminal background screening policy that she had helped create which immediately disqualified applicants who had been arrested for or charged with a crime, she could not rent to Johnny Football.

His criminal background check revealed that he had been arrested for domestic violence three months prior. But since she was a fan, and because it was her personal opinion that he was innocent, she successfully lobbied her building’s ownership to restructure their screening policy to disregard arrests, and only screen for convictions (using the logic that arrests are not proof of wrongdoing).

One can only wonder how many other applicants were denied before this screening policy was changed to accommodate this one individual, but we can imagine that for every Johnny Football who succeeds in finding housing despite their well-documented and widely publicized misdeeds, there are a thousand others whose public fame does not precede them, and whose private shame is exposed during the rental application process, and who fail to secure housing despite their ability to pay rent. All because a landlord chooses to perform a criminal background check. In Seattle, that choice will be off the table very soon.

In a historic move, the Seattle City Council unanimously passed the Fair Chance Housing Ordinance into law on Monday, making it illegal for private landlords to conduct criminal background checks on applicants, effective January of next year. This legislation almost missed its monumental opportunity to eliminate criminal background checks entirely, but during the amendment process a series of changes were introduced to re-fang the law and rid it of certain stakeholder concessions that did not hold up under scrutiny.

Cycling/Transportation/Vision Zero/Walking

Help Decide How The Central Ridge Neighborhood Greenway Connects Neighborhoods

by Stephen Fesler @safesler on August 18, 2017

Through Sunday, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is offering a survey to get feedback on a concept for the Central Ridge Neighborhood Greenway and associated Safe Routes to School (SRTS) connection. The greenway and SRTS connection are intended to thread together neighborhoods from Judkins Park to North Captiol Hill with a cohesive family-friendly corridor safe for walking and biking. As a greenway, SDOT will focus on street calming techniques, such as reducing posted speeds, adding speed humps, modifying intersection designs, and adding signs, signals, and flashing beacons. SDOT will also sign the corridor to clearly identify it as a greenway.

The proposed 2.5-mile route would largely follow 18th Ave, though portions would jog down E Republican St and 16th Ave. The greenway would splice together other nearby greenways and trails along the route like E Columbia St, Central Park Trail, and future greenways on S King St and 18th Ave north of E Republican St. Within blocks of the proposed greenway, there are many schools and parks as well as significant retail districts, cultural venues, and Swedish Cherry Hill medical center campus.

SDOT is proposing a variety of improvements along the corridor, including: a brand new signalized intersection at E Madison St and 18th Ave, six improved non-signalized intersections, and four improved signalized intersections. Intersection improvements would be tailored to local circumstances. For instance, SDOT is proposing bike boxes and curb ramps at E Yesler St and 18th Ave while a new crosswalk and speed hump and curb bulbs would be added at E Jefferson St and 18th Ave intersection.

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The survey calls out special attention to the intersection of E Aloha St and 16th Ave E. In both scenarios, new crosswalks and speed humps would be added, but the main intersection could either be raised as tabletop with ramps or painted to draw attention to it.

E Aloha St and 16th Ave E intersection alternatives. (City of Seattle)

Meanwhile, SDOT wants to know how the community would like bike boxes designed. Using the intersection of E Cherry St and 18th Ave as example, SDOT’s concept show two variants of bike boxes either behind or in front the crosswalk.

E Cherry St and 18th Ave E intersection alternatives. (City of Seattle)

Finally, SDOT is soliciting feedback on one of the biggest investments in the project: a signalized intersection at E Madison St and 18th Ave. The proposal would:

Add two new traffic signals to stop motorists on E Madison St;
Deploy two new north-south crosswalks;
Add bicyclist push buttons adjacent to bike boxes;
Construct new curb ramps;
Restripe the existing crosswalks; and
Add markings to require motorists to turn right from 18th Ave.

Also notable with the Madison intersection is its relationship to the Madison BRT (RapidRide G Line) project. Bus stops for the RapidRide line would be located a half block or so west of the intersection.

The proposed redesign of the E Madison St and 18th Ave intersection. (City of Seattle)

SDOT intends to finalize the route this fall and begin formal design in 2018. Construction on the greenway would follow in 2019.

Airports/Architecture/Transportation

Sea-Tac Airport Adding Overflow Gates To Concourse D

by Stephen Fesler @safesler on August 17, 2017

With record passenger levels and major overhauls planned to passenger facilities underway at Sea-Tac Airport, The Port of Seattle is commissioning a new gate expansion. Located at the northend of the main terminal, Concourse D will be modestly expanded with the addition of a hardstand holdroom. The new 32,500-square foot passenger facility will be a two-story structure where passengers will both arrive and depart from while their planes wait at a hardstand site on the tarmac airfield about a half-mile away. Passengers will be shuttled between the holdroom and hardstand site.

The Port of Seattle has decided to use this as a different approach from the standard concourse-side gangway boarding method to accommodate peak passenger and gate demand. Instead of planes waiting on the tarmac for an open gate, they can move into the the hardstand site and begin the deboarding–and even boarding–process using moveable ramps. Buses will whisk passengers between the Concourse D Hardstand Holdroom and hardstand site north of the North Satellite (which itself is undergoing expansion and refurbishment). Passengers will be able to pick up the baggage as normal or make direct connections via Concourse D and the main terminal.

The bus route that will connect the hardstand site and hardstand holdroom. (Port of Seattle)

Arena/Driving/Land Use & Development/Parks & Public Space/Sports

City Hall Advances Seattle Center Arena And Lander Overpass Plans

by Doug Trumm @dmtrumm on August 17, 2017

On Monday the Seattle City Council passed a resolution signaling intent to move forward with plans to renovate the Seattle Center Coliseum (popularly dubbed KeyArena despite shirked royalties by KeyBank). The day after, the Port of Seattle came up with the additional $10 million to close the funding gap for the Lander Street overpass and the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) announced it would begin construction as soon as next year.

Seemingly, these moves close the saga of where Seattle would put the arena to host its WNBA team, the Seattle Storm, and perhaps lure an NHL or NBA expansion team. The arena will be the existing Seattle Center Coliseum renovated to the demands of the modern NBA and NHL (read: lots of luxury box seating) as proposed by the last bid standing from Oak View Group. To fill the $564 million complex, CEO Tim Leiweke said the group will not just lure an NHL team and (eventually) bring back the Sonics but also attract enough concerts to make it a “top ten venue.”

SoDo Arena Prospects Dimming

Although Oak View Group’s arena deal isn’t quite a done deal yet, its progress seems to be slowly closing the door on a SoDo arena. The move to solve Lander Street Overpass’s funding gap without the help of the SoDo arena deal takes away one of lead investor Chris Hansen’s major public benefits and points of leverage. Last year, the Seattle City Council denied Hansen’s Occidental Avenue vacation proposal, and he came with a sweetened offer, withdrawing the request for $200 million in municipal bonds and adding $10 million in Lander Street Overpass funding for the street vacation. The council took a wait-and-see approach.

Cycling/Driving/Transit/Transportation/Vision Zero/Walking

Holman Road Trades an Overpass for a Safe Crossing

by Stephen Fesler @safesler on August 16, 2017

Holman Road is a busy arterial connecting neighborhoods in Northwest Seattle. Stretching from N 105th St in Greenwood to 15th Ave NW in Crown Hill, it stitches together places like Ballard and Northgate to serve as a primary corridor for frequent bus service and freight. In 2016, community members–including members of the Ballard Greenway coalition–came together to develop a plan to address safety concerns for a small stretch for the road. They submitted a Neighborhood Street Fund (NSF) request in 2016 to signalize the intersection of Holman Rd NW and 13th Ave NW. The NSF request was ultimately one of a dozen successful proposals awarded funding and is now going through the stages to full design.

Students crossing Holman Rd NW at-grade below the underpass. (City of Seattle) — Students crossing Holman Rd NW at-grade below the underpass. (Selena Carsiotis)

Architecture/Housing/Transit

Exploring Tokyo Urbanism

by Doug Trumm @dmtrumm on August 15, 2017

I took a trip to Tokyo in July and thought I’d share some impressions. We stayed in Shiodome, a centrally located neighborhood connected to several subway lines known for its office towers of salary men. Subways are so dense here Shiodome station and Shimbashi station essentially meld into one, connected by multilevel pedestrian streets lined with restaurants and stores, an image hinting at the scale of urbanism Tokyo offers.

The first thing that struck me about Tokyo: its transportation system was every bit as efficient as I had heard. We arrived at a time when Seattle would have been ground to a standstill with afternoon rush hour, yet the bus we took from the airport to the hotel didn’t get stuck in traffic. Partially this is a reflection of congestion pricing–the bus used a tollway to reach downtown Tokyo–but also very high transit use and walking rate across its very large metropolitan area.

One of Toyko’s oldest stations, Shimbashi serves seven lines: Ginza, Tōkaidō, Yamanote, Keihin-Tōhoku, Yokosuka, Toei Asakusa, and Yurikamome. (Photos by author)

At 3.3 billion passenger trips per year, Tokyo has the busiest metro in the world, and that shows up in its transportation mode share data. One report had Tokyo’s mode share at just 12% private vehicles whereas transit took 51%, walking 23% and biking was 14% of trips. By way of comparison, private vehicles comprised a whopping 88% share in Houston, Texas, as of 2015, whereas Seattle had a 56% share with transit taking 21% for commute trips, according to US Census data. Even in Downtown Seattle, the drive alone rate–though dropping–sits at 30%.

Transportation/Uncategorized/Vision Zero/Walking

Your Voice, Your Choice Project Winners Announced

by Ryan Packer @typewriteralley on August 15, 2017

The City of Seattle, via the Department of Neighborhoods, has just completed its first citywide experiment with participatory budgeting. In March, the department solicited ideas for relatively cheap improvements to parks and streets in Seattle neighborhoods and 900 ideas were whittled down; the top ones based on community-attended focus groups ended up on a city council district-based ballot in June. Now the winners have been announced, and these projects will be baked into the budget for next year and then constructed.

$2 million for the projects across all council districts led to a district cap of $285,000. Because there were some funds left over due to top projects coming in below this cap, an additional three projects were funded in district 1, 2, and 5–the three districts with the highest number of voters during the participatory budgeting.

Here are the winning projects for each council district:

Architecture/Civics & Culture/Housing/Plans & Policy

Housing Policy Lessons From Vienna, Part II

by Mike Eliason @bruteforceblog on August 15, 2017

Allowing multi-family housing in all residential zones, and aggressively promoting private bidding lowers housing costs.

Part II: Zoning and Development in Vienna

Previously, I discussed demographic and funding allocations of social housing in Vienna, compared to Seattle. (See Part I of this series.) This segment will look at the zoning and development policies, compared to Seattle.

Urban planning in Vienna is incredibly comprehensive, and the city undergoes a rigorous citizen engagement and planning exercise when developing or redeveloping areas. The Bauträgerwettbewerbe are a critical component of achieving high quality, dense, and livable housing cost effectively. Teams compete to develop and receive subsidies for individual projects, and are judged by a diverse panel on the economics of the project, the architecture, ecology of the building, and the social mix. The city has effectively leveraged its purse to push the price of construction down, making developers compete on the merits and economics. This results in buildings that are incredibly innovative across the board–you can see past winners from Stadt Wien, and there’s even a 24-story cross laminated timber tower underway in Seestadt Aspern.