From the viewpoint of an editor, it’s clear that many articles do not end up receiving the attention they deserve the first time around. The internet can be a mysterious place when it comes to readership, and sometimes articles that feel very important end up getting lost in its
There’s no doubt that fall has arrived. The days are shorter (and wetter), budget squabbling is enfolding over at City Hall, the campaign season for various city seats is in full swing, and the Northgate Link light rail extension is finally open for business. These last three items have
To spread the word about ways our community of readers can engage with furthering the mission of The Urbanist to improve cities and quality of life, we are highlighting events and activities in Seattle during the first half September, which has a lot going on! This article will be the
Thank you for reading The Urbanist and making it through a crucible of a year with us. We wanted to look back at our most popular articles as we try to put 2020 in the rearview mirror of our tandem bike, dear reader, as soon as possible–reflecting a smidge
As we bid 2019 adieu and enter a new decade, it’s hard not to get wistful and ponder the past decade in the rearview mirror. There were some victories, but they are overwhelmed by our tremendous failure to address the coming climate catastrophe. We’re likely to look back
As 2018 draws to an end, it’s the time for reflection and last ditch efforts to get you to read some of fine volunteer journalism this year. 2018 was a year of setbacks, but also of groundwork laid. It was Mayor Jenny Durkan first full year in office. Spoiler
Seattle has ambitious plans for 2018. Taking MHA Citywide… Can We Expand It to Single Family? The Seattle City Council plans to expand the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) program taking inclusionary zoning citywide, at least in land zoned multifamily and commercial. That the MHA program wouldn’t apply to single-family
2017 was a banner year for Seattle. We led the country in construction cranes, in population growth rate, in transit ridership growth, and–much to the chagrin of tenants–in rent hikes. Seattle’s rapid population growth came with the milestone of crossing the 700,000 population mark early in
As 2017 draws to a close, we’re reviewing our top ten most read articles of the year. Looking back, themes emerge, such as the fact that readers of The Urbanist really like rail maps. So, cartographers, get working on new material for 2018. Other popular topics were eliminating single-family
Another year, another great list of articles from our writers at The Urbanist. Here are our top ten articles from 2016 based on readership. Each is worth a full read. Why You Should Vote No on Seattle Initiative 123 by Scott Bonjukian After two previous articles on the effort to
Amid Seattle’s rapidly growing inner neighborhoods remains the urban scar of I-5, a massive concrete and steel ribbon that is the lasting legacy of 20th century transportation engineers. It helps move thousands of people and tons of freight every day through the biggest city in the Pacific Northwest, but
To world-renowned architect Bjarke Ingels, architecture is the fiction of the real world, in which dreams about the way we aspire to live our lives can be realized through bricks and mortar. Expressing concern that contemporary buildings “have been reduced to containers of space; boring and boxy”, Ingels shares his
The University District is slated to get an expanded park space on the shores of Portage Bay in the coming years. The project, tentatively billed as the Portage Bay Park, is already midway through a planning and design process. The Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) is leading that
On Wednesday, I sat down with Jonathan Hopkins, the Political Director for Seattle Subway. Last July Seattle Subway released a bold proposal for Sound Transit’s next ballot measure to expand the regional light rail system. Dubbed “STcomplete,” their plan would double the proposed 15-year Sound Transit 3 (ST3) measure
Community Transit is set to make service improvements to the local and commuter bus network in March 2016. This comes on the heels of a successful ballot measure, Proposition 1, which will feed rapid growth of the network over the next few years. The agency is targeting a modest service
The City of Tukwila has delivered a series of pedestrian and transit facility improvements near Westfield Southcenter, a major regional shopping mall. The bulk of the improvements are focused on Andover Park West between Tukwila Parkway and Strander Boulevard. Andover Park West is a primary arterial in Tukwila’s commercial
A street improvement project that is about to start construction this winter on Capitol Hill might take a lot of people by surprise, mostly because it’s coming in the guise of a park improvement project. But it’s been in the works for quite some time.
Last week, I wrote about the progress of the highway funding bill through Congress. A few politicians—Marco Rubio, John Kasich and Rick Santorum—don’t want to fund highways at the federal level any more, endorsing transportation devolution. I also talked about Chuck Marohn’s Strongtowns no new roads