Yearly Archives: 2025

A 2018 traffic stop ended with a horrific Seattle police killing of Iosia Faletogo deemed "lawful and proper." Six years later a jury saw it differently, but the inquest also highlighted the need for stronger police accountability mechanisms.

Last week, Seattle Councilmember Rob Saka hosted a packed town hall to address gun violence in High Point and other parts of his District 1. The event ended in frustrated shouting, as residents said Saka hadn’t delivered on what he’d promised.

Presented with a recommendation to allow additional density beyond a state mandate, a bloc of Bellevue's council pushed for more process and study. This November's election, when five of seven councilmembers must defend their seats, looms large in the background.

Following a productive legislative session on the issue of housing, with around a dozen bills signed into law, Washington state lawmakers are already looking ahead to the next set of challenges to tackle.

Inside the complicated calculations that determine if affordable housing gets built on King County’s Eastside and how A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH) finds itself in the middle of it all.

Cities in Washington will have the legal authority to create shared streets, which feature much lower speed limits and put pedestrians first, under Senate Bill 5595. Governor Bob Ferguson signed the bill into law Saturday. It will go into effect on July 27.

Take the third installment of The Urbanist's crossword series, which runs every two weeks. If you love to take a contemplative moment with a brain-teasing puzzle, but you’re tired of nationally syndicated crosswords with no local flair or stance on high-capacity transit, you’re right where you need to be.

Uytae Lee of About Here dives into development fees and taxes, which contribute to a significant proportion of new housing costs. In many North American cities, housing taxes have been increasing much faster than inflation. But why are they increasing so much, what are they used for, and how does this affect homebuilding?