New Legislation Offers a Flexible Approach to Tackling Washington’s Housing Woes

House Bill 1923 would require that cities take action to increase both housing supply and affordability. Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon of the 34th District has sponsored...

Council To Adopt Mandatory Housing Affordability Residential Program

The Seattle City Council is poised to pass a landmark housing and land use policy today that will complete a two-pronged framework centered on delivering...

Zoning Changes Proposed Along 23rd Avenue, Cultural Heart Of The Central District

The Seattle City Council got its first glimpse this week at proposed rezones for three urban village nodes on 23rd Avenue in the Central...
Single Family homes.

The Path To Eliminating Single-Family Zoning In Seattle

During every election cycle The Urbanist asks candidates about their support for changing  current single-family zones. This year, every candidate for council except for...

Progressives like Scott, Sawant, Strauss, and Lewis are Winning the Housing Debate, Opponents Are...

We live in alternate realities. I realized this when I received a pro-Alex Pedersen mailer from People for Affordable Livable Seattle (PALS) political action...
Tree-lined street view of 3rd Ave downtown Seattle.

Seattle Council Approves Batch of Harrell’s Downtown Activation Plan Rezones

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell's pitch to rezone parts of downtown has succeeded. The mayor had made two particular rezones for highrise housing along Third...

Bellevue Primes Wilburton for a Potential Urban Transformation

The vision that Bellevue has for parking-dominated Wilburton is thousands of new homes close to transit and trail connections. The question now is getting the details right so that development can be fostered, rather than stifled.
Alex Pedersen poses in a suitcoat in a City Hall hallway

Alex Pedersen Ad-libs ‘One Seattle’ Zoning Proposal Aimed at Maintaining Two Seattles

Alex Pedersen became the first Seattle City Councilmember to outline his own proposal for the once-a-decade Comprehensive Plan update toward the bottom of his...