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Member Drive Testimonial: Rubén Casas
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Staff Biography
Recent Articles by this Author
Homelessness
Op-Ed: The War Over Tacoma’s Planting Strips
How the City of Tacoma uses planting strips along its streets tells a tale of haves and have-nots, and of our differing standards. The City has gone out of its way to exclude homeless people from this space with $163,000 worth of boulders.
Commentary
State Bill Could Unleash Potential of Streets, Making Space for People
New legislation in Olympia could help us rethink and reclaim the street as a true public easement. If passed and its provisions delivered, we can look forward to streets that are not only more welcoming of public life, but a lot less deadly to all users.
Commentary
Tacoma Rezone Offers Housing Diversity and Path to Breaking Car Dependence
In Tacoma, 62% of housing units are detached single family homes. This overabundance has come at a cost in terms of affordability and urban livability. But recent zoning changes could spur a greater variety of housing.
Environment & Sustainability
Op-Ed: A Wishlist for Pierce County Under Ryan Mello’s Leadership
Greening neighborhoods, boosting Pierce Transit funding by 50%, and embracing housing growth are the top three goals Rubén Casas has laid out for Pierce County under Ryan Mello’s progressive leadership.
2024 Election
Op-Ed: Presidential Election Hinges on Housing, Conceptions of the American Dream
Addressing our national housing crisis will require a drastic shift in how we think about housing in our society: it needs to become a basic human right — something we are all entitled to and therefore something our government works to deliver.
Commentary
Tacoma’s Almost Reality as an Olmsted-Designed Park City
In 1873, Tacomans considered laying out their fledgling city according to a unique Frederick Law Olmsted plan. The city ultimately discarded most of the plan, walking away from a greener, more park-oriented Tacoma.
Commentary
New Tacoma Waterfront Park Begs for I-705 Freeway Removal
Melanie LaPlant Dressel Park opened on April 11 as a beautiful park far away from the rest of the city. An elevated, wide ribbon of concrete — the roaring I-705 freeway — separates the park from its users. Tacoma should remove this barrier.
Commentary
More than Zoning Reform: Home in Tacoma and the Prospect of Real Change
Zoning has created urban forms that are expensive, exclusionary, and unsafe — Tacoma’s attempt to reform zoning stands to create more livable and complete neighborhoods by tackling the many secondary effects of zoning.
Construction
Op-Ed: What’s in a Name? Tacoma Town Center and the Future of Downtown
The stalling out of major downtown redevelopment offers a chance to finetune goals. The Tacoma Town Center, a $300-million project that is to be developed on a 6.4-acre parcel of land near the University of Washington Tacoma campus, is stalled once again. The reasons are typical: Developers have not