Opinion

Op-Ed: Shrinking Sound Transit’s Oversized Stations Could Save Hundreds of Millions

Sound Transit diverges from international standards by building oversized underground stations that add hundreds of millions in costs to little benefit. Overhauling the agency’s planning framework to promote more efficient designs could help keep projects on track as they face massive financial strain.

Op-Ed: ICE Tactical Units Are Preparing to Deploy in Seattle — We Must Fight...

We need to be absolutely clear: we will not allow Seattle to become a testing ground for authoritarianism. And resistance starts with using every legal tool at our disposal. The Seattle City Attorney’s office has a central role to play in defending our neighbors and our fundamental rights. Here’s how:
A bus on Rainier Avenue passes by as a pedestrian walks up the side street in Columbia City.

Op-Ed: Expand Urbanism, Emphasize Inclusion and Equity in Our Shared Vision

King County Council Chair Girmay Zahilay and Rian Watt make the case for a more inclusive urbanism: "To fully realize the transformative promise of urbanism, we must be willing to ask: urbanism for whom?"
A view north up First Avenue shows a hodge of Pioneer Square historic brick buidlings, tall glass scrapers and a large parking garage.

Op-Ed: It’s Time to Bring Transit Back to Seattle’s First Avenue

Restoring transit routes to First Avenue, after they were removed in 2011 to make way for the demolition of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, is a needed step in downtown mobility as the neighborhood enters a new era.
A large first sculture on home plate of the baseball field at Cal Anderson.

Op-Ed: Seattle Police Mishandled Protests Again, We Must Learn from Mistakes

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell called for an internal report after police took heat for disrupting a pro-LGBTQ counterprotest and shielding anti-trans protesters. Given a long-running pattern of police failures, the process must be public and rigorous to make a difference, Seattle City Attorney candidate Rory O'Sullivan argues.
The skinny modern eight-story towers peeks out between two trees.

Op-Ed: Building Code Changes to Promote Better Multifamily Housing in Seattle

Urban planner Markus Johnson proposes a series of building code changes that would provide more desirable and accessible multifamily housing at a more reasonable construction cost than most current multifamily development in Seattle.
Police hold nightsticks in full riot gear behind a metal fence as protesters march by.

Op-Ed: Seattle Police Officers Guild is the Problem

The Seattle Police Officers Guild has continually sabotaged reform after reform. We can no longer allow SPOG leadership to remain an obstacle to accountable, constitutional policing. Seattle City Attorney candidate Nathan Rouse lays out what the office can do to help.

Op-Ed: Democrats Acted Irresponsibly, Failed to Trump-Proof Washington State in 2025 Session

Governor Bob Ferguson blocked efforts to tax the rich, pushing Democrats to implement austerity cuts that included raising the cost of child care and cutting early learning. A weakened social safety net makes the state less prepared to weather further Trump chaos.