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..

Tacoma

Tacoma Issues Housing Permits Three Times Faster than Seattle, Builders Report

Seattle has been taking the lion's share of the region's housing growth for the last decade, but developers are starting to look to Tacoma...
Downtown Tacoma's stretch of Pacific Avenue hosts the Tacoma Link streetcar. (Photo by Doug Trumm)

Zoomers Flock to Tacoma over Pricey Seattle

You would have to be quite old to remember when it was cheaper to live in the city than the countryside. It’s been a...
Illustration of low scale and mid scale housing, showing some 4-story buildings next to single family.

Home in Tacoma Project Chugs toward Citywide Zoning Overhaul

Tacoma has embarked on a sweeping plan to reform residential zoning in the city. The Home in Tacoma project could transform single-family and multifamily...
A rowhouse with a transit shelter.

Tacoma’s Missing Middle Housing: Planning for Access, Affordability, and Mobility

In recent years, cities in the Northwest have responded affirmatively to calls to make housing more available and attainable through zoning reform. Portland, Oregon,...

On the Prospect of an Urbanism of the Poor

Recently, I was asked for my definition of an urbanist. In reaching for a definition, I realized that I actually don’t have one--certainly not...
Downtown Tacoma's stretch of Pacific Avenue hosts the Tacoma Link streetcar. (Photo by Doug Trumm)

Tacoma Quietly Rezoned Residential Areas in Latest Comp Plan Update

In late September, the Tacoma City Council approved a large slate of areawide rezones and future land use map designation changes, which primarily affected...

What Kind of City do We Want to Be? Tacoma and the Arguments Cities...

My summer reading list this year included a debut novel by Seth Fried titled The Municipalists, which CityLab described as “the urban planning Sci-Fi...

If You Build It, They Will Come (Even if You Don’t Include Parking)

The McMenamins Elks Temple in Tacoma has been open for two weeks. With its five eateries and bars, ballroom, and 45 hotel rooms, this...