Top Apps Emerge from Seattle’s Commute Hackathon

At the end of Seattle's Hack the Commute on Sunday night the judges selected three potentially game-changing software applications for further development. Over the...
A lawn with concrete steps ringed by trees with the shiny new towers of Downtown Bellevue rising above in the background.

East Link TOD: Housing Growth Picks Up in Downtown Bellevue Ahead of Light Rail

We're starting our transit-oriented development (TOD) series in Downtown Bellevue. Check out how the Eastside's highrise capital has been growing, with 13,000 homes recently added or in development, in anticipation of East Link light rail's arrival on April 27.

While Seattle Population Spikes, Car Population Stalls Out

Seattle's human population is growing fast, but its car population has stalled out. Between 2017 and 2023, Seattle added 35,000 households and about 80,000 residents, but just 3,300 cars, new Census data has revealed -- in news that is music to urbanist ears.
The intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Othello Street.

Single Family Zones Are Biggest Culprits in Displacement of Black Seattleites

Seattle's single family areas have seen their Black population plummet by 9,126 since 1990. Meanwhile, "urban village" neighborhood have added more than 8,000 Black residents in that span. Why then is low-density zoning expected to blunt displacement?

How Much Housing Will Washington’s Missing Middle Legislation Create in Puget Sound?

The Washington State Legislature is hotly debating where and how to allow multiplexes in more areas via HB 1110 and its companion SB 5190....
The Liberty Bank Building brought 110 affordable homes to the Central District under the guidance of Africatown. (Photo by Doug Trumm)

Seattleites Want Mid-Rise Social Housing Even More Than Sixplexes, Polls Shows

Social housing is popular in Seattle -- so popular it even seems to override concerns about appropriate building scale and amorphous "neighborhood character." To...

PSRC Regional Trip Survey: Driving Down, Active Transportation Up

The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) recently released a report highlighting data from the 2014 Regional Travel Study and previous studies. The report compared the results from...

Lynnwood City Center’s Growth Aspirations Hinge on Two Slow-Moving Megaprojects

Builders have nearly 3,000 homes in the works near Lynnwood's freshly opened light rail station. But more than half hang on two massive projects that are in limbo.