Op-Ed: Excessive Water Hook-up Fees Stunt Seattle’s ADU Building Boom

Seattle Public Utilities is using “No Tap” water mains to extort homebuilders for system upgrades. The gauntlet created by Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) for access...

Sunday Video: The Rise of New York’s Super Skinny Towers

https://youtu.be/md8fJEShpZM Supertall skyscrapers are on the rise, particularly in New York City. This video covers some of them on the horizon and the structural feats...
Peter Kirk Park with Kirkland Urban and construction in the background

Downtown and Rose Hill: Kirkland’s Corridor of Dense New Development

After Totem Lake, a neighborhood that is experiencing a spree of significant growth, the next notable constellation of new commercial and residential development in...

Explainer: What is a Builder’s Remedy and Will It Solve Seattle’s Housing Crisis?

Sometimes there is a concept that pops up out of the blue that sounds like solution to so many problems. Among housing advocates in...
People bike on the low bridge with the cracked high bridge looming overhead. (Photo by Doug Trumm)

SDOT Lays Out Six Options for West Seattle Bridge, Cost-Benefit Analysis Process in October

In a recent blog post, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has outlined the framework it will use to evaluate options to replace or...

Lewis Proposal Aims to Lower Cost of Building Supportive Housing

In December, Councilmember Andrew Lewis introduced legislation that could make it cheaper, easier, and faster to build permanent supportive housing (PSH) in the City...
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...
A crane lowers the sport car at the edge of the hottub with the Space Needle and uptown view in the background.

Op-Ed: Hoisting ‘Supercar’ 47 Stories Inaugurates Condo Opening, New Gilded Age

A million-dollar McLaren Elva briefly graced the 47th floor rooftop next to the jacuzzi to promote the "First Light" condo tower opening this summer. The housing market is working quite well for the rich, how about for the rest of us?