Social Welfare

City Council Passes Library Levy Renewal Proposition, Selects Pacheco as Interim Councilmember

On Monday, the Seattle City Council approved several significant pieces of legislation and welcomed a new temporary member to the body. Council adopted a...

Why Urbanists Must Support Linkage Fees and Inclusionary Zoning: A Scalable Policy For Affordable...

Over the past few years a convincing narrative emerged explaining high housing costs in cities. As the narrative goes, urban housing is expensive because...

Sunday Video: The Innovative Way Ghent Removed Cars From The City

https://vimeo.com/379854529 Officials from Ghent talk about how their circulation plan helped transform the city to a higher walking and biking mode share in a very...

Sunday Video: Skid Row, Explained

https://youtu.be/rKo8Sv99MkM Los Angeles’ Skid Row was not an inevitability, it was a policy. Johnny Harris explains how this district of tragic poverty came to be....
Several sheriff vehicles park on Pine Street in Downtown Seattle next to the light rail station.

Seattle’s Stay Out Orders and Encampment Sweeps Continue Trend toward Criminalization

Emboldened by the Supreme Court's sweep-friendly Grants Pass decision, the Seattle City Council is advancing stay out zones in hopes of criminalizing drug abuse, sex work, and homelessness out of existence. History suggests this will not work.

Call to Action: Protect Elders Being Evicted into Homelessness

Last Friday, Councilmember Kshama Sawant hosted a hearing that featured several residents facing eviction, telling their stories. Testimony was powerful, moving, and conveyed the sense of love these...

Southeast Coalition Seeks Community Hub in Othello

At the southwest corner of Othello and Martin Luther King Jr Way, a stone’s throw away from the Othello light rail station is a...

Midweek Video: Why It’s So Hard To Get Unemployment Benefits

https://youtu.be/ualUPur6iks The American unemployment system is not universal in its design. How did we get to where we are and why are some systems designed...