Environment & Sustainability

Grant Request Would Accelerate Complete Streets Investments on State Highways

State highways like SR 900 in Skyway are missing safe places to bike and walk. A mandate to fix that could be expedited by an ambitious $100 million grant that the state is seeking from the EPA.

Shoreline To Hold Spring-Summer Green Building Speaker Series

The City of Shoreline is kicking off a speaker series next month that will focus on green building. Topics that speakers will hit on...
A rendering of towers surrounded by trees plus a helicopter.

Telosa: What We Can Learn from Utopian Myths

As a child, I watched a documentary at school about Arcosanti, a utopian city in the desert founded on the idea that environmental sustainability...

Sunday Video: An Urban Planner Plays SimCity

https://youtu.be/LUQaCoxybW8 In this extended short, Dave Amos of City Beautiful takes on the old school classic SimCity from the perspective of a professional planner 20...
Green street trees shade Tacoma sidewalks. Colored dots on the sidewalk represent the values of the cooling effect.

A Tree Grows in Tacoma, But Will It Be There in 10 Years?

Tacoma has the least tree canopy in the Puget Sound Region. Residents experience this reality in higher average temperatures and poor air quality. On a...
A proposed new cruise terminal at South King Street could bring thousands of passengers to the nearby streetcar station at Occidental Square. (Paige Malott)

New Cruise Terminal Shores Up Opportunity for Streetcar

The Port of Seattle is planning a new cruise terminal at South King Street, just steps away from the Occidental Square streetcar station and...
A view of a mountain in the distance behind a suburban neighborhood

Seattle’s Geologic Hazards Can Be Overwhelming, But Preparation Can Start Now 

“Seismic” buttons in Seattle’s elevators hide ubiquitously in plain sight. When I was new to the city last year, these buttons were a reminder...

Breaching Locks and Sen. Ericksen’s Stunt Legislation

With the start of the annual Washington State Legislature session comes the annual parade of stunt legislation. Like the return of swallows to Capistrano...