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...

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...

Sunday Video: 2017 Year in Review for California High-Speed Rail

https://youtu.be/XaSPNUXx478 In 2017, the California High-Speed Rail Authority had a successful year of on-the-ground construction throughout the Central Valley. In this vidoe, the agency takes...

Shoreline North Station Sees New Urban Connection Form

Within a mile of Shoreline North Station, about 1,700 homes have been built or planned since 2019. While the development pipeline is petering out, the City could jumpstart it once more with zoning changes and action to redevelop public land.

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...

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...

The Urbanist Podcast: The Far Reaching Impacts of the Concrete Worker Strike

In this episode, reporter Ray Dubicki and I were joined by Doug Trumm, Executive Director of The Urbanist, to discuss the concrete mixer driver...

Apartment Production Declines toward a 5-Year Low in Seattle Metro

The numbers come from a new national report, but data from the City of Seattle also indicates a sustained decrease in housing production. According...