# 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.
# 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.
# On Monday, June 23, the Seattle City Council is holding a public hearing on the One Seattle growth plan. Housing advocates must defend the 29 neighborhood centers in the plan and push to add more. Jazmine Smith lays out the case for these eight additions.| The Urbanist » Advocacy journalism for better cities.
# 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.
# 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.
# Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has shrunk the dimensions of eight neighborhood centers and six urban center expansions he proposed last year. The move chops dozens of blocks off the growth centers, limiting opportunities for apartments and affordable homebuilding and drawing criticism from housing advocates.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# As the Seattle City Council took its first look at Mayor Bruce Harrell's One Seattle Comprehensive Plan on Monday, Cathy Moore delivered a slow-growth manifesto, tinged with derision for renters, who she portrayed an unengaged and a detriment to neighborhoods.| 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.
# 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.
# For the last 30 years, Seattle has adopted an urban village approach to growth that has reserved 75% of the city for single-family zoning while concentrating growth into walkable urban centers. This has created de-facto housing segregation, where many people with disabilities can reside only in the minority of neighborhoods classified as urban centers, which are made expensive by their rareness.| The Urbanist - Examining urban policy to improve cities and quality of life.
# Housing advocates outnumbered opponents by a margin of 89 to 75 during a five-hour public hearing Wednesday on the One Seattle housing growth plan. Nevertheless, several councilmembers made it clear they sided with slow-growth advocates, rather than the majority demanding more housing options.| 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.
# 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.