Urbanism 101: 15-Minute Cities, Walkability, and Accessibility
What is a 15 minute city and how might Seattle be able to get closer to achieving it? Other cities around the world offer a model.
Urbanist Jargon
Urbanism 101: Hostile Architecture
All urban design and architecture is implemented with a particular goal in mind — often to shape people’s behavior in a particular direction. Hostile architecture, also known as unpleasant or exclusionary architecture, or defensive urban design, is a type of design which “uses elements of the built environment to guide
The Urbanist Podcast: Your Guide to City Ranking Lists
We get a lot of news-ish emails about ranking cities in lists. Whether it’s the best cities for strange hats or the metros that one can find the most left-handed plumbers, there’s a list for everything. The proliferation of lists begs the question of their quality. Who is
The Olympia Waltz Continues for Middle Housing and Other Vital Legislation
WALeg Wednesday on a Thursday follows the bills that got to swap chambers as the music goes on for some and others fail for the year. * In This Digest: * Important Bills At A Glance * Weekly Focus: What is a “Striker” amendment? The winnowing continues as the deadline for legislation to
Explainer: What’s an Environmental Impact Statement?
An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) sounds like a highly technical and complex mechanism of governance. They take years, spiral into hundreds of pages with massive appendices, and get fought over in court. The truth is that EIS are a simple concept with plenty of spots that you can influence the
Acronyms for Action: TOPA Could Help Tenants Buy Their Homes
Seattle and Washington State want to maintain housing affordability and the other Washington (D.C.) laid the groundwork to do it via legislation providing tenants the right to buy their home. I recently attended a 2020 legislative preview hosted by Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness. Rep. Nicole Macri (D-Seattle)
Acronyms for Action: ISRD
What is the International Special Review District (ISRD)? The International Special Review District (ISRD) is where the future of the “look” of the Chinatown-International District of Seattle is determined. The most exciting part of sitting in any design review meeting is catching a glimpse into a rip in the fabric
What Is The PLUZ Committee?
(….and why do all these urbanists talk in this funny shorthand that makes me feel stupid…) The abundance of acronyms in land use discussions frequently leaves newcomers feeling left out and overwhelmed. Many urbanists seem particularly caught up in using shorthands, like FAR, TOD, MHA, ROW, and MIZ. Are they