Subscriber Drive: Local Leaders Share Why They Support The Urbanist

Entering the home stretch of our fall subscriber drive, we at The Urbanist would be honored for you to join our wonderful crew of supporters. We think we provide a valuable service with our unique brand of advocacy journalism, but don’t just take our word for it. Here’s some of the testimonials we’ve received over the years from local leaders and advocates. We hope you join them in donating during this drive.

“The Urbanist is a bright spot, a throwback really, to a time when local reporters covered the hell out of local issues. And they’ve been getting better every year. I’m a supporter, and you should be too,” former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said, adding to his 2020 testimonial.

“Our family supports The Urbanist because we need local journalists like them who are closely following important housing and transportation news. With their reporting, people can be informed advocates for policies and legislation that create a more just and sustainable Puget Sound region. Please consider subscribing to The Urbanist today,” Move Redmond executive director Kelli Refer and Tom Fucoloro, founder of Seattle Bike Blog wrote in 2021.

“The Urbanist‘s reporting has quickly become a must-read for anyone who is interested in the future of cities, and its editorials have proven to be an indispensible force in the fight for real change in Washington State. They provide a roadmap for the future,” Kamau Chege, Executive Director of WA Community Alliance recently wrote.

“The folks at The Urbanist don’t just write, they participate actively in campaigns that shape the future of Seattle and our whole region. When TRU was building a coalition to challenge Washington’s regressive tax system by passing our state’s first income tax in over 80 years, or to raise revenue for affordable housing and homelessness by taxing big business, The Urbanist was there to lend their platform and their voice. Now we’re working together in the MASS (Move All Seattle Sustainably) Coalition, leading the fight to improve Seattle’s multimodal transportation infrastructure,” Katie Wilson, General Secretary of Transit Riders Union, wrote in 2019.

“The Urbanist has been an essential outlet in our city, deconstructing policy ideas in an intersectional way,” Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who is running for King County Council this year, wrote in a 2019 testimonial. “The Urbanist reminds us that the goal is not to seek policy that quiets the concerns of the loudest voices of those who previously held power, but instead to rise up, to speak up, to demand action and pass policies that allow for our urban core to be accessible, affordable, safe, healthy and equitable to all in our quest for a more just society.”

“We need The Urbanist (and housing/land use/transit/enviro-justice blogs like it) in every community. We need them because this is how we include more people. This is how we create space for in-depth policy and political conversations that too often happen behind closed doors, with only the experts and credentialed planners. It’s time to start recognizing the lived experience of people who day in and day out move and breathe in our communities, and know how to create security, joy, freedom, and health. The Urbanist allows us to share in creating the communities we need,” Anna Zivarts, Director of the Disability Mobility Initiative at Disability Rights Washington wrote in 2021.

The Urbanist’s fall subscriber drive runs until Sunday, October 8. Check out our post about tax-deductible giving options to support our educational work or subscribe below to our 501(c)(4) nonprofit, which is not tax deductible. Email development [at] theurbanist.org to increase your subscription level or with questions about giving. Thanks for reading and supporting our work!