Let’s Try to be Optimistic for Once, Seattle
Any frequent reader of The Urbanist knows that we have a long and painstakingly catalogued list of gripes with Seattle. From the completely avoidable...
The Contradiction and Broken Logic of Parking
Seattle is in the midst of a massive change toward a dense, car-free city, but this cultural shift hasn't come without some pinches in the...
Forward Thrust Part 3: Big League City
The disappointment that urbanists feel about Seattle’s failure to obtain a subway system in 1968 (see part one and part two of the Forward Thrust series)...
Six Good Seconds
My notes are simply a diagram of a triangle with labels at each point for the three people who made it all happen. Race doesn't play...
Public Meetings Privilege Housing Opponents — Here’s How to Fix It
The way cities conduct public outreach and local elections stacks the deck against homebuilding, tenants, and people of color, research shows. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Washington State Awards Rural Community Block Grants, Program Imperiled
On Monday, the Washington State Department of Commerce ("Commerce") announced awards of the 2017 Community Development Block Grants (CDBGs) to rural jurisdictions across the...
Everywhere
As we pull up to Third and James, southbound, a couple of folks get on whom I recognize. "Heeyy," I say to them, beaming....
Dance!
"How you doin'?" I ask a man stepping in.
"You know how it goes," he replied. "Some days chicken, some days Phillies."
He didn't smile til...







