Local Officials Share Transit Aspirations for World Cup
Local leaders plugged expanded transit options for Seattle's World Cup matches this summer and shared their goal for 80% of fans to arrive without a personal vehicle. Here's what is planned.
Sports
Op-Ed: Speak Up for Community Option for Woodland Park Playfields by May 9
Seattle Public Schools' options to expand athletic fields at Woodland Park all have major drawbacks, and neighbors are pushing a āCommunity Alternativeā repurposing a gravel parking lot. Weigh in via SPSās public survey by May 9.
Sunday Video: Marshawn Lynch Bikes to Victory, Seattle Seahawks Superbowl Edition
Give Marshawn Lynch the ball and a bike. The Seattle Seahawks legend is still making his presence felt cheering on his old team, or riding around your favorite city on a bike.
Bike Lane Proposal Would Connect Seattle Center FIFA Fan Zone
The new Fourth Avenue bike lane extension is set to provide direct access to Seattle Centerās front door, connecting the campusās fan zone to the rest of downtown. Itās an outlier as a permanent infrastructure upgrade being built to accommodate FIFA.
Paris Hopes to Forge a New Model for Olympics-Oriented Development
Paris aims to break the mold, using major public investment for the Olympic Games for lasting benefit to the host city. Improvements include a cleaner Seine, major transit expansion, and a new eco-district. But will those efforts go far enough to win over locals?
Op-Ed: Parks Need More Mini Soccer Pitches, Fewer Empty Lawns
Activate underused parks with soccer pitches and courts for basketball, pickleball, and tennis to bring people out and foster social cohesion. RAVE is building 26 community fields around the metro in time for the 2026 World Cup. But we shouldnāt stop there.
The NHL Winter Classic Can Accelerate Seattleās Sonics Boom
Seattleās big hockey Winter Classic success at the ballpark offers lessons to nightly sports on the other side of town.
Super Bowl Sunday Video: The Dark Side of Sports Stadiums
Widely regarded as the biggest weekend in sports, the Superb Owl fills the February niche in the United Statesā unofficial gluttonous holidays calendar. Between the estimated $16 billion in wagering on the game (including goofy prop bets) to the 18.8 million people expected to call in to work on
Sunday Video: The Most Urbanist Soccer Arenas In North America
Itās World Cup season! So maybe itās worth talking stock of American soccer (football) culture. Ray Delahanty at CityNerd takes stock of the top 10 best soccer arenas in North American from an urban standpoint. Seattleās Lumen Field ranks in the listings. Delahanty also touches on dishonorable menti
Marinersā Victory Returns October Baseball to a Changed Seattle
The Seattle Mariners return to the playoffs after a 21-year drought. The Seattle Mariners will be playing in major league baseballās postseason for the first time since 2001. With a walk-off home run on Friday night, the team clinched its position in the championship tournament. Their appearance as a
Unico Announces 3,000 Homes and Sounders FC Practice Complex at Rentonās Longacres Site
In December, Unico Properties purchased the 158-acre Longacres property in Renton from Boeing for $100 million. This month plans are emerging that would put up to 3,000 apartments and a Sounders FC soccer practice complex on the campus, which is next door to the Tukwila Sounder Station and its
Sunday Video: Skateboardingās Legendary Spots
Skateboarding as a recreational activity and sport mostly started in cities using unique bits of infrastructure and public space to bring creativity and excitement in accomplishing tricks. Tony Hawk, a renowned skateboarder, talks with Vox about some of skateboardingās most legendary spots, particul
NHL Seattle Will Fund Free Transit for Home Game Attendees
The National Hockey Leagueās Seattle affiliate will announce today that they will be providing every single person who purchases a ticket to a hockey game held at the new Seattle Center Arena with a transit pass if they request one. The opening of the new arena will coincide with
Unlike Seattle, Golf Really Is Dying
Last week, The Seattle Times ran an article headlined, āStudy questions ābest useā of golf courses Seattle operatesā. The article stems from a report that the City commissioned in 2017. The report was apparently due a year ago, but was only recently released, as reported by Erica C. Barnett at
Does the NHL Need to Be at Northgateās Front Door?
At a press conference earlier this week, the CEO of National Hockey League (NHL) Seattle announced Seattleās new NHL team will be siting their offices and practice facility at Northgate Mall surface parking lot, as the first phase of the mallās redevelopment. Many have hailed this as a
Top Urbanist Action: Ask County Council for Housing Not a Stadium Subsidy
It seemed like a done deal. The King County Council was going to fork over about $190M to pay for Safeco Field maintenance intended to keep its tenant, the Seattle Mariners, happy and ready to sign a lease extension. Then something extraordinary happened. Hundreds of people pushing for more affordable
Forward Thrust Part 3: Big League City
The disappointment that urbanists feel about Seattleās failure to obtain a subway system in 1968 (see part one and part twoĀ of the Forward ThrustĀ series) reminds me ofā¦ professional sports: the aspirations and the disappointment; the recrimination and lost opportunities; the parsing over stats and precinct data for
Seattle Council Approves Arena MOU and Some Short-Term Rental Regulations
On Monday, the Seattle City Council approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Oak View Group (OVG) paving the was for a $600 million redevelopment plan of KeyArena at Seattle Center and possibly the return of the Sonics. The MOU drew most of the attention during the meeting and
City Hall Advances Seattle Center Arena And Lander Overpass Plans
On Monday the Seattle City Council passed a resolution signaling intent to move forward with plans to renovate the Seattle Center Coliseum (popularly dubbed KeyArena despite shirked royalties by KeyBank). The day after, the Port of Seattle came up with the additional $10 million to close the funding gap for
Oak View Group Wins KeyArena Revamp Contest
Weeks before Mayor Murray was supposed to announce the winner of the redesign contest for KeyArenaāhereafter called Seattle Center Coliseum*āAEG withdrew its proposal, breaking the suspense thatĀ Oak View GroupĀ would be the winner. AEG argued the process was not fair and its competitor was not being forthright
Seattle Center Coliseum Renovation Plans Go In Two Directions
The City of Seattle put out a Request for Proposals (RFPs) to renovate Seattle Center Coliseum (better known as KeyArena despite the bankās lapse in paying naming rights loyalties) on January 11th. Two proposals emerged and yesterday the Seattle City Council got an update on the plans at a
The Merits Of Upgrading Seattle Center Coliseum
The City of Seattle hostedĀ a media tour of KeyArena on Wednesday. The City hoped to get attention for theĀ request for proposals itās issued to upgrade the Seattle Center arenaĀ to support an NBA and/or NHL team. The Seattle Timesā Matt Calkins took to his column to
Sunday Video: Super Bowl Sustainability
With a vision to host the healthiest, most sustainable and socially responsible Super Bowl ever, theĀ San Francisco Bay Area Super Bowl 50 Host Committee launched the Play Your Part initiative, encouraging fans to make environmentally conscious decisions. For pledging to use public transportation or ride their bike to the
Seahawks 2016 Divisional Series Outlook
Hey fellow 12s! Here is a quick ELO summary of the 2015 season and wildcard game for your Seattle Seahawks. By Fivethirtyeightās week-to-week ELO score, the Seahawks are the best team of the four NFC contenders heading into Sundayās 10 AM game in Charlotte, North Carolina. Actually, they