# 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.
# 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 final state budget approved by the legislature left many lawmakers disappointed, and eager to start to work on ways to restore painful cuts and reform the state's broken tax code.| 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.
# 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.
# 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.