A sketch of the Pacific Tower parking lot TOD project showing lots of trees and greenery and the 160 apartment homes at the base of the distinctive orange brick Pacific Tower building in Beacon Hill. Image by Weber Thompson.

Seattle Public Utilities Is Exacting Impermissible Capital Improvement Fees

Project requirements suggest a pattern of double charging, which nearly sunk a 160-unit affordable housing project in Beacon Hill. Navigating the Seattle permitting system is...
Mercer Island's light rail station, in the median of I-90, being constructed. Parking lots and low density development is visible on the periphery

Construction Issues Delay East Link Opening to 2024 and Federal Way Link to 2025

Sound Transit revealed delayed timelines for its next four light rail extensions Thursday. Defects in concrete plinths in a four-mile section of East Link...
Apartments around Downtown Park

How Downtown Redmond Grew from Sleepy Suburb to Small City

Redmond's 1993 Downtown Plan led to an urban transformation that saw the construction of over 5,000 new units between 2000 and 2020. This Saturday, light rail arrives to support that urban growth.
A group of about 20 advocates pose with signs next to House-y the social housing mascot

Seattle Social Housing Staffs Up, Nets $115 Million

The Seattle Social Housing Developer smashed projections and pulled in more than double the amount expected from a recently voter-approved "excess compensation tax." Social housing advocates' priority bill at the state legislature is also making significant progress.

International District Development Wave Comes with Growing Pains and Opportunities

More than 4,500 homes have been constructed, permitted, or proposed in the Chinatown-International District since 2019 -- 1,240 units of them affordable, based on...

Decode the Rainbow: Utility Markings and Washington 811

Given the amount of construction around town, Seattle’s sidewalks get painted a rainbow of colors. Many know that these markings are important for something,...

Off Limits: How Seattle’s Suburbs Are Blocking Housing

Suburbs surrounding Seattle, some of them literally islands, are pulling up the drawbridges to growth. That is putting even more pressure on Seattle to...
NE Juanita Dr and its unprotected pedestrian path

Navigating Kirkland’s Pedestrian Nightmare — And Paradise

Whenever I write an article or series that charts the development of cities and neighborhoods in the Puget Sound, I always make an effort...