Housing hope: In Southwest Snohomish County, Housing Hope is looking at sites for affordable housing ($).
Regrettable error: The West Point wastewater treatment facility in Magnolia had another short accidental overflow of sewage this week.
Shelter debate: The King County Regional Homelessness Authority has weighed in on the Renton shelter debate.
What not to do: Strong Towns uses a sad Main Street in South Carolina as an example of what communities should not do to their Main Street.
Still crowding: While Manhattan is far less congested, subways in New York City are crowded in some neighborhoods where people have to go to work ($).
West Portland plan: Despite failure at the ballot box for transit expansion, Portland is moving forward with the West Portland Town Center plan.
Distracted: Distracted driving has skyrocketed during the pandemic.
Transit crises: Transit agencies are imploring Congress to act with emergency funding ($) to keep service going during the pandemic. So far proposed relief from Congress falls far short of the need with the “skinny” Covid relief bill.
Deadly evictions: New data suggests that evictions has resulted in hundreds of thousand of preventable Covid infections and more than 10,000 preventable Covid deaths.
Unfunded liability: The failure of a measure to change Washington’s constitution means a huge $15 billion unfunded liability to the state’s long-term care program.
Strong rural communities: Strong Town‘s Chuck Marohn outlines his plan for building strong rural communities.
Protecting multifamily housing: To protect multifamily units in single-family areas, Chicago is considering an ordinance to make it difficult to convert them to single-family residences.
Restoring history: A church in Capitol Hill is raising funds to repair windows damaged in the summer’s protests.
Tracking Covid: Washington has a new Covid exposure tracking app.
Racist, classist legislating: Spokane’s city council blocks a 10-acre multifamily project in Southgate over objections to apartments.
Outdoor becomes indoors: As restaurants rush to provide outdoor dining to stay open during the pandemic surge, at what point does enclosing outdoor spaces become effectively indoor?
Housing frenzy: Why in the middle of a pandemic are housing prices rising fast and inventories staying so low ($)?
Spokane Reform: Commissioners in Spokane County won’t try to block an expanded county commission slated for 2022–also addressing apparent violations of the Voting Rights Act.
Convention center boom: Even though nobody is going to conventions, new and expanded convention centers are booming during the pandemic ($).
Where’s the action?: The new federal pedestrian safety “action” plan is light on action and heavy on studies, Streetsblog says.
Death sprial: Massive transit cuts come to Washington, D.C. amid pandemic financial woes.
Pierce County coup attempt: Several right-wing legislators and the county executive are trying to force a hostile takeover of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department ($).
Obvious connection: Despite their geographic closeness, Fairfax County, Virginia and Montgomery County, Maryland lack a quick transit connection, but that could change.
Market response: How are developers in Seattle responding to parking reform?
Incentives can work: Vancouver added over 11,000 rental units to the housing market in 2019 due to the vacant housing tax.
NZ climate emergency: New Zealand has declared a climate emergency to speed up actions to address it.
Charlotte LRT again: Charlotte’s mayor is calling for a 2021 transit referendum to try expanding CATS light rail again as well as bus and bike improvements.
Ditch Rahm: Transportation advocates are encouraging President-elect Joe Biden to skip Rahm Emanuel as transportation secretary. Rahm appears to have started his own whisper campaign so his candidacy may not be as serious as thought.
Beyond forests: Scientists say that wildfire management needs to go well beyond forests.
Walk/bike boom: Mobile phone data suggests that there is a biking and walking boom outside of Boston.
Teens stuck at home: The pandemic city leaves teens with few outlets to do what teens do.
Urban diplomacy: Bloomberg CityLab explains how cities can help President-elect Joe Biden repair American diplomacy.
Economic picks: President-elect Joe Biden has announced his top picks for economic roles in his administration ($).
Vancity congestion charge: Vancouver is moving forward with a congestion charge program, dubbed a “mobility pricing scheme”, for implementation by 2025.
Twenty is plenty: Portland’s 20 mph signs show that they have reduced top tier speeds.
ADUs in Denver: Denver joins in on the accessory dwelling unit trend seeking new legislation to encourage them.
Stephen is a professional urban planner in Puget Sound with a passion for sustainable, livable, and diverse cities. He is especially interested in how policies, regulations, and programs can promote positive outcomes for communities. With stints in great cities like Bellingham and Cork, Stephen currently lives in Seattle. He primarily covers land use and transportation issues and has been with The Urbanist since 2014.
