Environment & Sustainability

Wonkabout Washington: Road Map for Washington’s Future

Quick quiz: Can you name all fourteen goals of Washington state’s Growth Management Act? Would you guess that addressing climate change is not one...

City Council Sells Wallingford Site to Dunn Lumber and Weighs UW Campus Plan Amendments

On Monday, the Seattle City Council approved disposition and sale of a City-owned brickyard (3819 4th Ave NE) next to Dunn Lumber in Wallingford....

Carbon Pollution Fee Would Invest Billions in Washington State’s Green Economy

At a recent presentation by Shift Zero, a zero net carbon building alliance, mention of Initiative 1631 stirred excitement among the green building professionals in...

Council Appears Poised to Act on Tree Canopy Protections

Seattle hopes to tackle the loss of tree canopy through new regulations, which is gradually falling according to recent data. In late August, a...

A Walkable Aurora Avenue

You’ve driven down Aurora, but have you ever walked it? Chances are, you haven’t. And nobody would blame you. The street is not designed...

Sunday Video: Let’s Make Mass Transit Free*

https://youtu.be/ccxVYborUcU On City Beautiful, Dave Amos takes a look at the benefits for free public transit and why it should be expanded to more transit...
Wallingford Community Council proposed 2017 Comprehensive Plan amendment to remove more than 50 blocks and only park from the urban village. (City of Seattle)

Urban Village Boundary Contractions? No Thanks.

In my Sightline piece from May, I described how homeowners in Wallingford have worked for decades to block housing via downzones, increasing development burdens, and...

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...