# On Monday, Senator Maria Cantwell's office announced that the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has been selected to receive over $25 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation for a suite of street improvements intended to improve safety, as part of the new Safe Streets for All grant program funded by the Infrastructure Investment and| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The Washington Traffic Safety Commission held a difficult conversation last week around its longstanding goal of ending fatalities and serious injuries in traffic by the year 2030: whether that goal has now slipped out of reach. Washington's "Target Zero," established in 2000, with Washington one of the very first states to commit to ending traffic| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The gaps in Seattle's current complete streets legislation are becoming more apparent as the city moves ahead with a repaving project on one of the city's busiest and highest speed corridors, with minimal adjustments planned to slow traffic or make space for other modes of travel like walking or biking. The repaving project, which will| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is proposing changes to one of the most dangerous streets in the city, 4th Avenue S in SoDo, on a relatively ambitious timeline in the wake of several fatal crashes nearby just this year alone. The changes are relatively minor, quick-build type changes, but they do illustrate how SDOT| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has announced they are planning to convert one lane of northbound Rainier Avenue to a dedicated transit lane between Columbia City and Mount Baker later this year. A planned extension north through a heavily congested section near I-90 to reach to the soon-to-open Judkins Park Station in the median| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Within 18 months, the posted maximum speed limit on nearly every single arterial street in the city of Seattle will be 25 miles per hour. That was the boldest action on the list of safety improvements announced by Mayor Jenny Durkan yesterday, in response to a big uptick in traffic violence. More than two years| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has announced plans to implement a new kind of pedestrian improvement that other cities have begun to add to crosswalks to reduce the frequency and severity of collisions between people walking and rolling and people turning left in vehicles. The improvement, which is referred to as a "hardened centerline"| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The idea of encouraging more residential development around Seattle's stadiums had been put on ice in 2023 with the adoption of a citywide maritime and industrial strategy. Nelson's bill reignites that debate just as the council starts to consider the Comprehensive Plan.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# District 2 Councilmember Tammy Morales announced Wednesday morning that she will resign in January, saying she has been undermined and frozen out of legislating by the more conservative-leaning Seattle City Council majority. The resignation sets up another council appointment and a special election next fall.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Cost estimates on the four-station West Seattle Link light rail project have jumped from $4 billion to upwards of $5.6 billion. It will fall on the Sound Transit board to find a way forward.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Momentum has been building around Reconnect South Park, a community-led effort to address how SR 99 slices through the neighborhood located near the Duwamish River in southwest Seattle, separating residents from their own community center, library, and elementary school. But one of Washington's highway megaprojects, SR 509 "completion" project, part of the $2.38 billion Puget| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Despite the fact that LIHI's proposed affordable housing project has been advancing for nearly three years, public opposition has kicked up in recent weeks. The new campaign contends that such a prime Bainbridge Island site isn't appropriate for affordable housing.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Bainbridge Island and its picturesque downtown of Winslow is poised to see significant changes thanks to new state laws, as the Bainbridge council grapples with how to plan housing growth for the coming decades.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# All but one councilmember asked the Low Income Housing Institute to come back with a design that eliminates around a quarter of the planned affordable homes, after intense criticism of the height and parking ratio of a 92-unit proposal.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# While 2023 was dubbed the 'year of housing,' 2024 could be a second act, with unfinished business left to tackle. In 2023, the Washington State Legislature focused its attention on increasing the state's housing supply with a fervor not seen in decades. And that attention paid off. Laws were passed that will soon require cities| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Kenmore could be flushing $30 million in grants and the 100 affordable homes they were intended to fund. Following a marathon public hearing that ran until late Tuesday morning, the Kenmore City Council voted 6-1 this week to reject a development agreement that would allow Plymouth Housing to construct a facility that would create a| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Phase two of the One Seattle Plan had included additional housing density around 30 existing commercial centers like Tangletown and Madrona, but now those changes won't be discussed until after this fall's elections, pushing key housing actions into 2026.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The Washington State Legislature approved a 7% to 10% cap on rent hikes Sunday, after the proposal faced a rollercoaster of obstacles over the course of the 105-day session.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Three years in the making, HB 1491 would require Washington cities to zone for apartment buildings near rail stations and rapid bus stops. A compromise around housing affordability mandates finally paved the way for the bill's passage in both chambers.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The state's 60-day legislative session wrapped on March 7 with only a few housing bills headed to Governor Inslee's desk. Rent stabilization, transit-oriented development, lot-splitting, and a builder's remedy all failed to pass.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Shoreline becomes the largest city in King County to let builders decide how much parking makes sense within the specifics of a site, rather than requiring an arbitrary number. The 6-0 city council vote follows a watershed state bill tackling parking earlier this year.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Five major bike safety projects are all opening within a few months of each other, filling in critical gaps in Seattle's network. But most of the credit for ensuring that Hot Bike Summer happened in the first place goes to previous city leaders.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# With monthly ridership now exceeding 200,000 on the 2 Line, Downtown Redmond Link has clearly kicked things into a higher gear. Having a light rail station so well integrated into a growing urban neighborhood is likely part of the recipe for success.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Over 1,500 people have been seriously injured or killed in crashes along Rainier Avenue S in the last decade. The upgraded transportation levy approved by voters last fall represents an opportunity to truly transform the street... if city leaders grab it.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# To meet a state deadline, the Seattle City Council legalized fourplexes or sixplexes across the entire city via the adoption of an interim code Tuesday. The move is just a prelude to a bigger fight over urban density, as Council advances Mayor Bruce Harrell's broader growth plan.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Juarez, who represented District 5 from 2016 to 2023, will immediately become one of the most experienced members of the council. But she pledged to defer to former Councilmember Cathy Moore when it comes to the city's growth plan, a move that likely worries housing advocates.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Shoreline has seen significant growth in housing around its two light rail stations, but this week the Shoreline Council showed clear reluctance to allow increased density throughout the rest of the city.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# When Shoreline's south light rail station opens on August 30, two major projects intended to connect riders to the station will still be under construction. They will boost station connectivity once open.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# A planned overhaul of Shoreline's 175th Street is prompting a call for a reset after complaints over tree removals. City leaders don't appear ready to back off the planned multimodal improvements.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# A popular neighborhood cafe bill that sailed through the Washington House has run into problems in the Senate, mostly dealing with the question of local control. The Association of Washington Cities and the City of Bellevue have lobbied against the bill.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# To keep buses moving as lanes are set to be shut down on I-5 over a three-year period, the Seattle Department of Transportation is set to convert peak-hour bus lanes to all-day. But the city isn't calling the change permanent.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# A few months before construction on RapidRide I Line between Renton and Auburn was set to begin, King County has still not been able to acquire portions of 25 properties needed for the bus project. Now it's considering a measure of last resort: condemnation.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Sammamish will study increasing the upper limit on housing in its Town Center to 4,000 units, after nearly two decades of anemic growth under a previous growth framework. The 6-1 vote came after a significant amount of community opposition and misinformation.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The City of Seattle quietly dropped speed cushions and other traffic safety treatments from long-made plans after months of radio silence. The backpedal received swift pushback from some District 2 city council candidates.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Light rail riders are poised to be able to take 1 Line trains all the way to Downtown Federal Way before the end of 2025, thanks to work accelerating the grand opening. That will pave the way for a full opening of the 2 Line across Lake Washington by spring of 2026.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Bothell becomes the first city in either King or Snohomish County to fully eliminate off-street parking mandates in order to reduce costs for homebuilding. The move clearly solidifies the city as a leader on housing and land use reform.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Two votes next week will align the City of Seattle with Sound Transit, opening the door to West Seattle Link Extension permit applications later this year. The move comes right on the heels of an overhaul of the city's land use code's light rail provisions.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The proposal for a 0.1% sale tax hike comes in response to structural issues with King County's budget, and would generate around $100 million annually. Half would fund maintenance on unincorporated roads, and the other half is likely to go to safety upgrades at Metro.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# More than one-third of WSDOT's two-year budget is set to go toward highway widenings and extensions, in the face of a significant maintenance backlog impacting Washington's state and local roads.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Despite being a longtime parking reform leader, Seattle is set to require off-street parking, even as it unlocks significant housing capacity near transit. This will make housing harder to build.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Plans for a new connection between Wilburton and Downtown Bellevue are coming into view, as the City starts to look at how it can keep the project moving forward.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The feds are awarding $25 million to nearly close the funding gap for a segment of Eastrail over I-90 and $5 million to advance design on the last segment of the trail in Woodinville.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# A narrow four-member majority caved to housing opponents as the Bellevue City Council finalized zoning changes impacting the city's lower density residential areas. Scaling back an ambitious proposal that increased flexibility for builders, Bellevue is only set to exceed the state minimum in a few areas.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Despite heavy attention on challenges funding transportation at the state level, shortfalls are projected to hit transit agencies and city transportation networks hardest. With few tools available to raise progressive transportation revenue at the local level, the future looks bleak without reform.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# If approved, Initiative 2117, repealing 2021's Climate Commitment Act, would put $2.39 billion in funding for transit agencies across the state over the next 16 years at severe risk of evaporating.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# The release of the city's final environmental review of the One Seattle growth plan is likely to be followed by an appeal, in an attempt to stop neighborhood-level zoning changes. But while an appeal may add time, it's likely to ultimately fail.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# The Eastside will have light rail service for the first time, as East Link launches Saturday. The Urbanist has everything you need to know about this momentous occasion.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# The City of Shoreline has been working diligently to prepare for the arrival of Link light rail in the city, as Sound Transit works toward opening two local stations in 2024. Along with substantial land use changes to accommodate new residents along Shoreline's transit corridors, a number of transportation projects intended to improve access to| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Seattle's land use code is ill-equipped to handle the scale of permits that will be required to approve the city's next light rail lines. This proposed overhaul is intended to ensure transit remains on schedule.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# A quiet change to the spending categories in Seattle's dedicated transit funding measure mean that the City of Seattle will be able to hire dozens of staff to work on different aspects of Sound Transit planning.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Seattle's largest civic campus and most centrally located swath of public open space has a new leader, following city council's unanimous approval for Marshall Foster to become the head of the City department that oversees the Seattle Center. Foster had been selected by a City search team after serving for nearly a decade as the| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Late changes to add curving nine-foot-wide bottlenecks and remove bollards will hinder the new bike path. On Seattle's waterfront, visitors are now able to get a fairly good idea of the final form the long-planned redevelopment will take even though a final ribbon-cutting is still close to two years away. The Overlook Walk and the| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# In September of last year, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) Director Greg Spotts took the megaphone at a rally of around 100 people on bikes at the Harbor Island site where Robb Mason had been killed while biking through a crosswalk three months prior. Spotts had been on the job for less than one month.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# In the final weeks of 2019, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) was facing down the fact that the city would end the year with the most traffic fatalities in more than a decade. The department’s Vision Zero coordinator appeared in front of a city council committee that December along with SDOT Director Sam Zimbabwe| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# With housing advocates and the Port of Seattle divided on the issue of allowing housing near Seattle's sports stadiums, councilmembers are being forced to pick sides, after Sara Nelson reintroduced the proposal earlier this month.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The Seattle City Council has selected SPD crime prevention coordinator Mark Solomon to fill the District 2 vacancy created by the resignation of Tammy Morales earlier this month. He'll serve through November.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Declining state transportation revenue and increased project costs are on a collision course. Long-promised highway projects, court-ordered fish culvert removal, and badly needed investments in transit, active transportation, and traffic safety are all fighting for a shrinking pie.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Despite significantly increased costs, the Sound Transit board is full steam ahead on advancing West Seattle Link to full design. What could that mean for the entire Sound Transit 3 plan?| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Ballard Link is still in planning, eight years after the passage of Sound Transit 3. With the environmental review process essentially starting over, major action on the project isn't expected until 2025.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Offering a bold vision for Downtown Seattle that could include as many as 7,800 new homes, King County has released a full strategic plan for how it might redevelop its civic campus.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# On top of recommending a focus on building homes near transit, the new report also supports a number of proposals in front of the legislature to reduce housing costs, including parking reform and rent stabilization.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The bill could result in a builder's remedy to force resistant jurisdictions to allow apartment construction. Representative Jessica Bateman (D-22, Olympia) has filed a brand new bill that seeks to push local governments to increase housing production, especially those that have set up a regulatory gauntlet to restrict homebuilding. Dubbed Washington's Housing Accountability Act, House| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# East Link light rail expansions set the stage for boosting housing and transforming streets to overcome car dependence. The next year will be a pivotal, signaling whether Eastside cities are executing an urban transformation or falling back into old exclusionary patterns, ceding regional leadership back to the other side of the lake.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The two bills represent two major pillars among a variety of housing measures approved during the 2025 legislative session, with a focus on both housing supply and stability for existing tenants.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Big changes are coming to the Washington State Senate in 2025, including the elevation of incoming Senator Jessica Bateman to a high profile post as head of the Housing Committee, a symbol of the continued salience of the issue.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Last week, the Washington House passed HB 2160, which has the potential to open up significant areas around transit for new homes. Hurdles remain to win passage in the Senate, including objections to the bill's requirement that 10% of new units be affordable.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# In a letter approved this week, the Seattle Planning Commission expressed disappointment that the draft One Seattle Comprehensive Plan doesn't go much beyond state mandates, and pushed for changes to make the housing plan bolder and more forward-thinking.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# With the Seattle City Council set to consider amendments to required zoning changes this week, the city's planning commission highlighted the danger of adding on additional requirements including affordable housing mandates and changing thresholds for infrastructure upgrades.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# In approving a unanimous update to its Comprehensive Plan, the Shoreline City Council is set to go well beyond the minimum requirements of state law in pursuit of creating additional housing options and more vibrant neighborhoods.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# A rally Saturday in Lake Forest Park served to highlight the threats to the SR-522 bus rapid transit project, which will connect Shoreline to Bothell. In order to open in 2028 as planned, construction needs to start this year.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Though it was amended to exclude cities with less than 20,000 residents, Senate Bill 5184 still represents one of the most robust statewide parking reform packages to move forward in any state. It now must pass the House.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# The vision that Bellevue has for parking-dominated Wilburton is thousands of new homes close to transit and trail connections. The question now is getting the details right so that development can be fostered, rather than stifled.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# Issaquah Rep. Victoria Hunt added long implementation timelines and additional exemptions to Washington's parking reform bill as it passed out of Local Government Committee on Friday. Bill sponsors still tout the policy's significant potential to reduce costs for homebuilding.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# King County Metro is projecting a significant budget shortfall by 2028 if its current spending plan is maintained, thanks to lagging sales tax revenue, increased costs, and ambitious fleet electrification plans.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# The appeals, filed by residents in Madison Park, Mount Baker, and Hawthorne Hills, seek to require additional environmental review, pushing back the City's plan to allow more housing.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# An updated version of Seattle's 20-year growth plan includes additional opportunities for housing density, but mostly retains the city's longstanding pattern of walling off lower-density areas of the city.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# The rent stabilization bill that the Washington State House approved this week scaled back other protections for renters, including a cap on move-in fees and late fees. The bill now heads to the Senate.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# An interim ordinance will allow Seattle to meet a state deadline, and decide how to allow four and six units on residential lots around the city. But exactly how to do that will likely be a hotly debated issue on the city council.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Track restoration work on the remainder of the 2 Line across I-90 is 80% complete, but any additional delays are almost certain to push a grand opening into 2026.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Months after the Sound Transit board voted to accelerate the construction of Sound Transit's NE 130th Street light rail station from 2031 to 2025, Sound Transit has announced that the earliest the infill station between Northgate and Shoreline South Stations will open is 2026. The delay was announced last week at Sound Transit's system expansion| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# A "Safe Systems" motion from King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci would prompt county government to harness the power of every department to help reduce deadly and serious-injury traffic crashes.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# The 3-2 vote in committee sets up a final decision later this month, but the Port of Seattle is suggesting they may take legal action against the move.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# The 30 to 60 days of additional review isn't unique to Sound Transit's light rail project, CEO Goran Sparrman said, but will nonetheless likely alarm many transit advocates and threaten the project's schedule.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Newcastle Mayor Robert Clark pushed to remove references to promoting racial and social equity as "vague," "subjective," and "irrelevant," and called climate change "subjective." Many of his recommendations were adopted by the Newcastle Planning Commission.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Dow Constantine pointed to past Sound Transit board members who have unsuccessfully tried to become the agency's CEO, and defended the process that has taken place so far to get to five finalists, including himself.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Praised for delivering Seattle's massive waterfront revamp, the Office of the Waterfront has faced criticism for being shadowy and unaccountable. Now it will become a one-stop-shop for Sound Transit permitting.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Democratic leaders are saying this is the year that the Washington State Legislature will finally pass rent stabilization, with momentum building behind Rep. Emily Alvarado's bill.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# A new bill introduced at the state legislature by longtime housing advocate Jessica Bateman would represent a sea change, limiting the ability of cities and counties to mandate high amounts of parking.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# The 2025 delivery plan for the first year of the Seattle Transportation Levy spells out a broad array of projects that will enter the pipeline this year.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Senate Bill 5184 would put a cap on out-of-control parking mandates. It passed out of the Washington State Senate's Housing Committee on Wednesday, clearing its first hurdle.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# The 1,300-page environmental review of the One Seattle plan shows that the Mayor's preferred plan would increase hardscape, tree removal, and greenhouse gas emissions, while decreasing affordable housing over broadly supported Alternative 5.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# House Bill 1491 would require cities to increase development capacity around train stations and bus rapid transit stops. But a contentious affordability requirement for that new development could be a sticking point.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# By the time the Seattle City Council convenes for the first meeting of the Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan on January 6, a group of residents from every single council district will have been pushing to scale back proposed zoning changes in their midst, all using similar arguments around lack of infrastructure and loss of neighborhood character.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# A new "Target Zero" safety roadmap for reducing serious injuries and fatalities on Washington's roads includes some clear, evidence-based recommendations. But implementation could be challenging given political realities.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Small but mighty Port Townsend appears to be the first city in Washington State to have fully ditched its off-street parking requirements.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Washington State's transportation chief Roger Millar is out after eight years, as Governor-elect Bob Ferguson prepares to take office. Widely recognized as a leader in progressive transportation policy, Millar will be tough to replace.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Passage of Seattle's transportation levy was all but assured Tuesday night, after initial returns showed two-thirds of voters in support.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Cities across the country are ditching arbitrary requirements around how many parking spaces must be built with new housing, but Spokane is the first major Washington city to take the plunge. Will others follow?| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
