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Plans and Policy

Downtown Seattle wall with City Hall sign on it and buildings in the background.

Seattle Must Reject Austerity in Response to Covid Recession Budget Holes

The Urbanist joined more than 40 community organizations in signing a letter urging Mayor Jenny Durkan and the Seattle City Council to reject austerity...

Save Seattle: Tax, License & Insure Pedestrians

Throughout the City of Seattle, residents are seeing their neighborhood streets besieged by free-loading, scofflaws, also known as pedestrians. The crux of the problem...

Harrell’s Anti-Graffiti Plan Sees $1.2 Million Cut But Council Leaves It Mostly Intact

Last month, Mayor Harrell unveiled his definitive anti-graffiti plan, with a focus on both graffiti removal and allowing artists to create legally. The mayor's...

Chair Mosqueda Announces ‘Delicately’ Balanced City Budget Package

Council actions rearrange Mayor’s budget proposal based on short term coverage from JumpStart tax. Seattle’s budget season is moving into its final stages as Budget...
A three story brick apartment building.

Seattle Council Sets the Stage for a Potential Multiplex Boom

The Seattle City Council added a series of series of height and density bonuses for stacked flats as they amended Mayor Bruce Harrell's proposed update to the City's Comprehensive Plan in September. The bonuses could unleash the city's former single family zones to create a stacked flat multiplex boom, ranging up to 12-plexes.

Housing Leaders Call Out Seattle’s Bare Minimum Growth Proposal

Builders, lawmakers, and housing advocates warn the 'One Seattle' growth strategy is "nothingburger" that will come up short on affordability, livability, and complying with state law. Fourplexes would be too constrained to deliver sufficient housing.
A Seattle neighborhood with apartment buildings fronting Aurora Ave N, a busy loud street

Harrell Growth Plan Would Produce Fewer Affordable Homes Than Alternative 5

The 1,300-page environmental review of the One Seattle plan shows that the Mayor's preferred plan would increase hardscape, tree removal, and greenhouse gas emissions, while decreasing affordable housing over broadly supported Alternative 5.

Mixed Bag Bills Could Weaken Growth Management Act

Late last month, the Washington State Legislature took rushed steps in passing two bills that deal with the Growth Management Act (GMA). One of...