Land Use

EIS Scoping Report for Backyard Cottages in Seattle Released

On Monday, a scoping report on reforming backyard cottage (also known as "accessory dwelling units" or "ADUs") regulations in Seattle was released. The scoping...

Paris Hopes to Forge a New Model for Olympics-Oriented Development

Paris aims to break the mold, using major public investment for the Olympic Games for lasting benefit to the host city. Improvements include a cleaner Seine, major transit expansion, and a new eco-district. But will those efforts go far enough to win over locals?

Microsoft’s $500 Million Pledge Has Set the Bar for Tech Industry

Technology centers like the Bay Area, New York, and Seattle are becoming unaffordable for all but the wealthiest. What responsibility does the tech industry...

Sunday Video: Skinny Toronto Home As A Prototype

https://youtu.be/PfqXqJxwFfI With a 16-foot wide lot in the middle of a city, what can be done to build a single residence for a family?

Africatown Designs Its Future: Part 1

A year has passed since Africatown Community Land Trust acquired a twenty percent ownership stake of the land parcel at 23rd and Union in...

Midweek Video: What America Gets Wrong When Building Transit

In this video, Jason Slaughter of Not Just Bikes walks through many of the common mistakes that America and Canada make when planning and...
A light rail guideway rises on the edge of the I-5 freeway trench at the 130th Street overpass in Seattle.

Draft Plan Inches Toward Modest Upzones around 130th and 148th Street Link Stations

Urbanists have been hoping that arrival of light rail to North Seattle would transform single-family sprawl oriented around I-5 and a 160-acre publicly-owned golf...

Sunday Video: Why Don’t Cities Use Hexagon Blocks?

Dave Amos of City Beautiful talks about hexagon blocks and explains how they could offer a better urban form than the traditional gridiron. They...