Image description: a sketch of a Link light rail train at an elevated station with text reading: Move Redmond 12:00 to 4PM May 10th Redmond 2 Line Opening Celebration - trails 2 transit presented by Sound Transit at Downtown Redmond Station..

Plans and Policy

Mayor Harrell smiles in a gray suit outside a brick storefront.

Seattle Risks Missing 2024 Comprehensive Plan Deadline with Continued Delays

The draft plan still isn't out, which is worrying housing advocates. But success is still within reach. Last year, the City of Seattle had planned...

Washington Cities Push Back on More State Accountability Around Housing

A proposal that would shift the system of accountability around managing housing and job growth in Washington is already receiving strong pushback from local...
A small crane move materials to the top of a three story townhome complex where a construction work receives them.

Seattle’s Housing Construction Booms While Permitting Flashes Warning Signs

Plummeting permits could point to a housing slowdown and less affordable housing money after a banner year. Seattle’s housing production set a new record in...

Puget Sound Leaders Not Ready to Hit Brakes on Highway Expansion

Even in the face of ambitious greenhouse gas emissions goals that remain out-of-reach, elected leaders in central Puget Sound aren't ready to rethink the...
Two police SUVs are parked behind metal barricades blocking traffic from Market Street.

Op-Ed: The Seattle Police Department Has an Efficiency Problem

SPD’s refusal to offload low-priority calls is undermining its ability to solve serious crimes. Over recent decades, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) has increasingly handled...
Fort Lawton include patchy grass and drab concrete low slung buildings and garages that used to serve the military installation.

Harrell Proposes Doubling Affordable Housing at Fort Lawton Site to Overcome Impasse

The move could be a jolt to a long-delayed plan for the decommissioned site, spreading infrastructure costs across more homes -- if the bid...

Burgeoning Waterfront Redefines Vancouver, Washington

Ambitious development is taking Washington State’s most overlooked city from 'Vantucky' backwater to hip. A few years ago an Urbanist reader approached me at a...

Puget Sound Leaders Debate a Pivot Away from Highway Expansion

A small change around regional grant funding criteria could prove a bellwether for transportation policy in Puget Sound. Everywhere from Lynnwood to Puyallup, from Auburn...