A toddler potty at Ercolini Park in West Seattle, a common sight at playgrounds. (Barbara Clabots)
An we come upon the last day of the year, a perfect opportunity to look through The Urbanist’s media archive for a retrospective of the year in snippets. There’s the topics we covered from the legislature through the budget. But a smart eye can also catch the empty trees going to flower, then leaf, then all the foliage filling the gutters. It’s an arc to the year that creates a backdrop to the scenes, independent of the individual image needs of a story. Here are the photos and images we caught this year and thought were the best.
Our favorites: January through March
SB 5903, which the senate transportation committee considered this week, would require drive thru businesses to accommodate people walking or rolling up. (Ryan Packer)Tracks in Bellevue’s Spring District leading to the Operations and Maintenance Facility East. (Stephen Fesler)Sound Transit Fare Ambassadors. (Guy Oron)Café street seating on Ballard Avenue. (Natalie Bicknell Argerious)New developments near NE 4th Street included pedestrian and streetscape improvements that are meant to encourage walkability. (Christopher Randels)The protected bike lane on the new Fairview Bridge was one of the projects that opened in 2021 during a productive year for the department. (Ryan Packer)Cherry blossoms mark spring’s arrival, as does The Urbanist’s subscriber drive. (Doug Trumm)The absolutely massive pile of meat comprising the half pastrami and split pea soup from Market House Meats downtown. Add the onion and horseradish to the sandwich. Eat the tomato and lettuce as a pleasant aperitif afterwards. (Ray Dubicki)View from Pinnacle Peak out to Buckley. (Stephen Fesler)The next apartment building under construction at the corner of Tacoma Avenue and S 21st Street. (Kevin Le)
April through June
The return of in-person meetings with advocates rallying for affordability in Tacoma. (Kevin Le)Pedestrians cross the Ballard Locks to Magnolia. (Doug Trumm)The intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Othello Street. (Andrew Engelson)Terminal 18 Park on Harbor Island, looking at the West Seattle Bridge being repaired. (Ray Dubicki)Volcano Donburi from Donburi Station in Georgetown, just next to Georgetown Playfield. (Ray Dubicki)The Highway System Plan influences what projects WSDOT requests funding for. Providing feedback during the update period right now could help steer them away from highway expansion. (Ryan Packer)Broadway in Downtown Tacoma has the design — and history — to become a world class pedestrian space. (Jeremiah Thomas)Woodin Creek Village is the first development designed around walkability to come online in Woodinville’s Downtown District, but other plans are in the works well. (Natalie Bicknell Argerious)The lunch special from KauKau (Shaun Kuo)
July through August
Demonstrators gather at a rally against Amazon’s warehouse planned near Mount Baker Station and in favor of investing more in the community. Eighteen hours before the rally, Amazon announced it was walking away from developing a warehouse and parking at the sites. (Natalie Bicknell Argerious)A Pierce Transit bus operates on Commerce Street in Tacoma. (Stephen Fesler)The opening of the Duwamish River People’s Park in South Park brought out many different community members. (Natalie Bicknell Argerious)The sculpture forms a natural frame around the amphitheater stage. (Christopher Randels)A memorial for Jennette, a young mother who was killed in a collision while crossing Martin Luther King Jr Way S near the Columbia City light rail station. (Jason Rock)Discovery Park’s South Beach includes lots of driftwood to sit on and a great view of Mount Rainier, the Magnolia Bluffs, and Elliott Bay. While not on the Loop Trail, it’s a half-mile side trip. (Doug Trumm)Slater mixed use construction at 12055 Slater Avenue NE (Shaun Kuo)Vareze Residential at 11801 NE 116th Street (Shaun Kuo)Urbanist in the urban environment, representing Seattle. (Owen Pickford)Kelli Refer and her husband decided they want to continue their car-free lifestyle with a baby on board. Find out how they have made it work in this podcast episode. (Kelli Refer)A Sound Transit bus with a dot matrix destination sign stating: “Sorry, Not In Service”. (Stephen Fesler)Waiting for the train in NYC’s Metropolitan Lounge.(Ray Dubicki)View out the back of the Empire Builder train in Libby, Montana where we were stopped behind a broken freight train. (Ray Dubicki)
October through December
Newly installed planters and street paint on Ballard Avenue, a test project for Café Streets. (Ryan Packer)Lanes are stripe from Aurora toward the Aqua Theater, but flexposts have been installed yet, with orange cones instead. (Doug Trumm) Testing night at the arena featured loaded fries and the deluxe burger from Impossible Foods. Also pictured are the souvenir cup, a welcome return that can be refilled anywhere in the arena. (Ray Dubicki)The Black Lives Matter mural on Pine Street is surrounded by flexposts to discouraging people from driving over the mural, but also cluttering the view. (Doug Trumm)Osprey in nest from the Duwamish River. (John Feit)A foursome of yellow cranes with green bases sewed from the Georgetown Bridge. (John Feit) Graffiti blend in with a mural in a Chinatown-International District alley. (Cormac Wolf)The Old City Hall area used to be the terminal for regional trains into Tacoma. The future light rail station will instead be 1.7-miles away at a park-and-ride facility. (Troy Serad)The proposed deal between the executive and legislative branches would keep parking enforcement unit at SDOT for now, allocating an additional $8.3 million to the unit. (Ryan Packer)KOMO Plaza at night. The office building is featured in the hit show Gray’s Anatomy. With a holiday-adorned Space Needle in the background. (Ray Dubicki)Midnight on Ballard Avenue. Even with a significant bar scene, the area is quiet after hours as four lanes of asphalt sit bleak and unused. (Ray Dubicki) Denny Way towers under construction. (Doug Trumm)An unfortunately bleak and empty Pioneer Square to un-celebrate the holiday season. (Natalie Bicknell Argerious)Yesler Way is the obvious choice to bike between downtown and the waterfront, but a key connection there remains unfunded. (Ryan Packer)
Screen caps
A reminder that we’re still experiencing a pandemic that keeps crowds down, people at home, and meetings remote. Here are some of our favorite screen grabs of the year.
Illustrations
A lot of times, we have to rely on the courtesy of architecture firms and public agencies to dole out concise illustrations of whatever it is they’re trying to sell us. The pictures are often pretty, but that’s to sell us something. We tried our hand at some illustrations this year, and here’s some of our favorite in-house and guest contributor illustrations.
To explain an Environmental Impact Statement, we turn to the always complex decision on what to have for dinner. Alternatives at the top, criteria at the left.A new power rises in the West. The Washington (State) Commanders, relocating the NFL from the swamps of DC to beautiful, vibrant Tacoma.The Urbanist rates Sen. Kevin Van De Wege as zero No. 1 and Rep. Davina Duerr as hero No. 1 of the 2022 state legislature. (Photos courtesy of State Democrats)The Urbanist Election Committee’s 2022 Primary endorsements. (The Urbanist)Urbanist Halloween Costumes. (Created at CustomInk.com)
Post-pandemic, the King County bus routes are still running below frequency due to staff and equipment shortages. (Ryan Packer)Image C11: A streetcar line that prioritizes density would naturally run along 6th Avenue instead of the proposed line through low density 19th Street. (Troy Serad)Other lots in the area were allowed to install service lines, referred to as spaghetti lines to their lots. Exhibit by author using Seattle water system map. (Donna Breske)
The View From Nathan’s Lens
We consider it a treat to get a column from Nathan Vass. Hopefully you do also. Here’s some pictures that accompanied his articles this year.
King County Metro Line 358 to Aurora Village. (Nathan Vass)Photo by Nathan VassPhoto by Nathan PassA net-less basketball hoop. (Nathan Vass)Sun over an airplane wing. (Nathan Vass)
Evening
Finally, late in November we tried to run a Photo Scavenger Hunt. Due to a few missed chances at promotion, it didn’t quite get the hook we wanted. While just a pair of entries didn’t quite warrant handing out a full prize, the submissions we received were lovely. Here, as evening is just begging to get shorter, enjoy Daniel and Oliver’s looks at Seattle in the dark.
11th Avenue and 43rd Street in UDistrict. (Oliver A-S)Holden Stairway between Delridge and 20th Avenue SW. (Daniel Cavazos)
Ray Dubicki is a stay-at-home dad and parent-on-call for taking care of general school and neighborhood tasks around Ballard. This lets him see how urbanism works (or doesn’t) during the hours most people are locked in their office. He is an attorney and urbanist by training, with soup-to-nuts planning experience from code enforcement to university development to writing zoning ordinances. He enjoys using PowerPoint, but only because it’s no longer a weekly obligation.
