Economics

Want to Revitalize Downtown? Here’s Eight Ways How

In the spring of 2020, downtown Seattle sat empty. A once bustling and growing core of tower cranes, thriving businesses, and active neighborhoods was...

The Unfinished Promise of the Center City Connector

Pioneer Square has the most to potentially lose--but also gain--from the connection of Seattle’s downtown streetcar lines. During her daily commute into Pioneer Square...

Why Seattle Needs Inclusionary Zoning, Explained By The Bid-Rent Curve

“Barriers to spatial mobility are barriers to social mobility.” - American Apartheid Every morning Sandy McKay gets in her Volvo hatchback and joins the flow...

Seattle Booms Because Amazon Is The Master Of Platform Capitalism

Earlier this month Amazon announced a deal to buy Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in cash. The news precipitated a $32 jump in Amazon's...
A diagram of the stadium proposal with surrounding buildings.

Everett Forges Ahead with Downtown Stadium for Minor League Sports

Is Everett's plan to move the AquaSox from aging Funko Stadium to a brand new downtown stadium an economic jolt or a costly gamble? The City of Everett will be leading financing on the project projected to cost at least $82 million.
Light rail tracks near a Bellevue parking garage. Sound Transit's expansion timelines are under financial stress due to the Covid recession. (Photo by Stephen Fesler)

Sound Transit Grapples with Recession and Transit Expansion Rebalancing

The double-whammy of a global pandemic and parallel recession has taken a toll on Sound Transit finances. Agency staff have warned that a sustained...

Sunday Video: The Real Cost of Cruises

https://youtu.be/0nCT8h8gO1g Hasan Minhaj explains the downsides of the growing cruise ship industry.
The domed Olympia Capitol Building stands in the distance with a bus stop with a passenger waiting in the foreground. A dogwalker also mosey on the lawn.

Op-Ed: Don’t Believe Corporate Elite Claiming to Fight for ‘Affordable Washington’

A corporate front group is pushing ads seeking to sap support for taxing the rich as the state faces a budget crisis. John Burbank points out the ads are misleading and argues the state must raise new revenue to avoid draconian cuts that will hit the working class hard.