How to Make an Attractive City
Only a few cities in the world are truly beautiful—and none of them were built in recent history. At least, that’s what folks at...
The Deck is Stacked Against Stacked Flats in Seattle
Once plentiful across the city, small apartment buildings with flats stacked on top of one another are incredibly rare in new construction. The reasons behind that are multifaceted, and stemming the tide will take a push on multiple levels of government.
To Meet Housing and Sustainability Goals, Seattle Must Streamline Land Use Code
Few things perfectly encapsulate the problems of planning like a city’s land use code. Unlike the building code, which dictates the life safety requirements...
Missing Large Housing and Berkeley’s Push to End Apartment Bans
Historically, Berkeley has been a hotbed of resistance to new housing and an innovator in excluding people of color. In fact, Berkeley was the...
Kenmore and Kirkland Reform Accessory Dwelling Regulations, Snohomish County Could Be Next
Accessory dwelling unit (ADU) reform has been taking off across the Puget Sound region. Seattle, Tacoma, and Burien all approved sweeping changes to ADUs...
Seattle Must Stop Giving A/C the Cold Shoulder
Air Conditioning and Summer Insulation are Necessities, Not Amenities.
After moving to Seattle in 2020 from Southern California, I was surprised to find that the...
Fixing Seattle’s Design Review Process
A working group has spent a year analyzing Seattle's design review process. Here are their suggestions for improvement.
When most new mixed-use, multifamily, and...
About That $210 Million Youth Jail…
Block The Bunker activists celebrated after Mayor Ed Murray backed down and put the $149 million North Precinct police building on hold. But they...