Before opening her swim school in Seattle, Chandrika Francis worked with students at a New Orleans high school. They told her that when the levee failed and Hurricane Katrina flooded the city, they didn’t know how to interact with the water. “Hearing again and again all these stories of
On Thursday, Urban Institute released a new report focused on the Seattle metropolitan region that is sure to be of interest to urbanists and housing advocates. The Urbanist published a preview of this research this fall, after talking to lead researcher Yonah Freemark. The full report goes into much more
The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce released its twice annual “Index” poll of Seattle voters today and found even stronger support for new housing than last time around, even when that came to replacing single family homes in respondents’ own neighborhoods. The poll (crosstabs) found 65% of respondents supported adding
Recently, a flurry of studies about the effects of new housing supply has emerged. They rebuff skeptics, who argue against building more housing. In a research roundup, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers Shane Philips, Michael Manville, and Michael Lens conducted and arranged a review of the new literature.
The buzzwords “smart grid” have been floating around in environmentalist circles, national security circles, and it’s even made an appearance in urbanist media. Hype surrounding the “smart grid” claims major environmental benefits, increased affordability, and energy security. So, what is the “smart grid” and what does it look like?
When America elected a White Nationalist three years ago, we ramped up our work to better understand structural racism, Whiteness, and how unjust systems stay stubbornly in place. Do you want to explore why oppressive systems keep getting reproduced generation after generation, despite good intentions? Do you want to strengthen
It’s been a long haul since the November kick-off, but wait until you see what over a hundred volunteers mapped over 1,000+ hours and what it reveals. There’s an extraordinary amount of historic buildings in Greater Ballard. The maps created from all the data (7,300+ structures,
“Americans spend 90% of their time indoors” explains Marc Kushner in this animated talk in which he discusses how architecture shapes us and triggers our emotional connections to places. He discusses how designers shift between being innovative and relying on traditional symbols as they respond to changing style, technologies, and
Tobias Lau, of Social Action, described how prior to learning about the innovative research about social life and experiences in cities led by Danish architect Jan Gehl, he had considered city development as “something that happened in front of me. Not something I could take part in.” As Lau gained
In yesterday’s article, I went over some of the characteristics of I-5 in Downtown Seattle and offered some temporary solutions for mitigating the effects of the freeway. In this final installment, I will summarize my recommendations for each phase, propose a number of themes, and provide information on how
Yesterday’s article went over cost estimates and offered three freeway lid case studies across. In this third piece on lidding I-5, I will summarize a site analysis for Downtown Seattle and suggest interim solutions that could be used to build support for expansions of lids on I-5. Site Analysis
Yesterday, I covered the need for lid parks in Downtown Seattle and what they should be used for. In this article, I look at (very rough) cost estimates for lids based on existing and proposed projects across the United States. From those projects, I select handful to study in-depth and
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
Physicist Geoffrey West explores how natural laws apply to biology, cities, and corporations, predicting everything from walking speeds to crime and health.
Article Note: This is the second installment in a series on observations of people in Pike Place. See Part 1 for a brief background of public life studies, and observations of the existing design features and transitory activity at Pike Place. This part focuses on stationary activity. As discussed in
Article Note: This is the first installment of a series on observations of people in Pike Place. Part 1 focuses on existing design features and transitory activity. “…please look closely at real cities. While you are looking, you might as well also listen, linger and think about what you see”
Lane width helps to control speed on urban streets. People driving tend to slow when streets are narrow. Urban Streets The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) recommends a default of 10-foot lanes. “Lane widths of 10 feet are appropriate in urban areas and have a positive impact on
Releasing data captured by government agencies in an accessible way to the public, has the potential to produce interesting insights about city life. Ben Wellington highlights how open data can empower citizens and help to make places better.
Ben Wellington uses data in innovative ways to tell interesting stories which enhance our understanding of cities. In comedic fashion, Wellington explains some of the quirky New York data sets he has mapped, and what they can tell us about the city. He demystifies the complexity of data, highlightin
Over the past few years a convincing narrative emerged explaining high housing costs in cities. As the narrative goes, urban housing is expensive because supply doesn’t meet demand; therefore, we need to build more housing to bring down prices. This view is bolstered by writers like Ed Glaeser (The
At the end of Seattle’s Hack the Commute on Sunday night the judges selected three potentially game-changing software applications for further development. Over the weekend 14 volunteer teams of data scientists, transportation experts, designers, and software developers created prototypes of smartphone tools that could improve the travel experience across
Commute Seattle released new survey data,with the help of EMC Research, that shows a growing percentage of Downtown commuters rely on modes other than single occupancy vehicles (SOVs). In fact, 60% of commuters don’t drive at all, instead opting for transit, walking, or cycling. The mode split by
The City of Seattle and Commute Seattle launched a “Hack the Commute” project on Tuesday, bringing together partner agencies and local technology companies to develop tools for improving and navigating the city’s transportation network. The coalition is interested in innovations for existing apps like Pronto’s or Google Maps,
Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 in a three-part series on measuring the success of Seattle’s urban village strategy. For the the 22 independent indicators, see Part 2 and Part 3. In this article, Scott distills down some key background details from the report. Correction: The SSNAP report
The NC3-85 and NC3-125 zoning designations (Neighborhood Commercial 3, 85-foot/125-foot height limits) are used extensively throughout Seattle. Ostensibly, the goal of NC3 zoning is to create large, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use commercial districts. But in fact, these two designations are limiting Seattle’s ability to develop, while presenting the illusion that
I recently went to Galway, Ireland, which was my first time out of North America. I had a ton of fun, and I also learned lots and lots. This is the first in a series of posts where I will try to share some of what I’ve learned. As
Yesterday morning the Census Bureau published a press release titled, “South, West Have Fastest-Growing Cities, Census Bureau Reports; Three of Top 10 are in Texas Capital Area.” The article has links to the best estimates for growth between July 2012 to July 2013. Sure enough, three cities in central Texas
If you are concerned about housing costs, you should know that building a lot more housing will be critical to control or reduce costs. We previously discussed a graphic that showed how the cost of homes seemed to correlate with the number of permits for new housing. You can see
Color Theming: Red = Developable, Green = In Design/Planning, Blue = Under Construction, and Yellow = Completed It’s been only three months since I first wrote about A Rapidly Changing Seattle. In that article, I highlighted the amazing amount of development taking place in Seattle and the city’s capacity for growth.
Editor’s Note: King County 2030 is a series analyzing King County’s future through the lens of growth targets for the County’s Metro and Core cities. Topics in the series include: density, sprawl, apportionment of jobs and housing, traffic patterns, greenhouse gas emissions, and more. For other articles
Look around a residential neighbourhood in a typical American city, and you will see an ocean of single-family detached homes. There is a myth that it has always been this way. In reality, many cities have historically allowed a diverse mix of buildings and uses in residential neighbourhoods: duplexes, row
We all know Seattle is in the midst of a development renaissance. But just how much development are we experiencing and where? What will that growth look like? And will we still have room for further growth in the future? I set out in search of answers to these questions.