The installation of a protected bike lane on West Marginal Way SW, finally connecting the last gap between the Duwamish Trail and the West Seattle Bridge Trail, helped boost usage along the corridor by more than double, according to new Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) figures. Despite strong opposition from freight and business advocates, SDOT installed the 0.4 mile connection in April. The pushback did delay the project, with...

Flat Fare Push Shows Sound Transit Is Embracing a Self-Defeating Suburban...

The agency is squeezing riders who take short trips to subsidize long rides and a suburb-focused service profile. Sound Transit is poised to...

Sound Transit Preps 2024 Budget Updates Facing a Strained Financial Plan

Sound Transit is in the midst of its budget season when agency policymakers decide on priorities for next year and manage the...

Seattle’s Second Highway Lid over SR 520 Is in Trouble

A 70% cost overrun is jeopardizing the Roanoke lid and the bike and pedestrian benefits it would bring. A megaproject that was set...

Op-Ed: State Model Code Could Give Middle Housing a Shot

In House Bill 1110, the Washington State Legislature read the will of the people and demanded that we tackle the housing crisis...
Three bike-wielding cops form a barricade around a sweep with a large contingent of officers behind

Seattle’s Pioneering Bike Cop Experiment

An excerpt from my new book, Heartbreak City, shows how Seattle kicked off a nationwide bike policing trend. A distant frontier city that...

Two Visions for South Tacoma’s Future and the Pursuit of Environmental...

How a proposed (and now permitted) large industrial development intersects with plans to engage South Tacoma Way in community-led planning. Residents of South...

Sunday Video: Chicago’s Big Mistake In Selling Its Paid Street Parking

Chicago sold its on-street paid parking spaces for a small proportion of their value for decades. The city, however, is reeling from...

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Join The Urbanist for Post-Election Panel on November 29

Join members of The Urbanist Elections Committee as we break down the 2023 general election at an event on Wednesday, November 29. The panel will take...

Liveable Kirkland Presents History of Exclusion Talk on December 2

Do you wonder how the Kirkland-of-today came to be? In 2017, Richard Rothstein’s riveting book, The Color of Law, documented how the continuing segregation of...

Break Down the Seattle City Budget with The Urbanist on October...

The leaves are turning, Halloween is approaching... that can only mean one thing in Seattle city government: Budget season is here -- a time...

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The Urbanist Podcast: Vote Up to the End

It's time to vote for Seattle City Council, a housing levy, and elected positions all over King County. The Urbanist has published its general...

Guest Podcast: Recycling America’s Railroads into Trails

The Urbanist Podcast is on summer break so we thought we'd share with you a guest podcast on a topic near and dear to...
A photo of King County ballot drop box on a sunny day.

The Urbanist Podcast: All About 2023 Primary Endorsements

Primary election ballots are arriving in the mail and due by August 1st. In the run up The Urbanist Elections Committee has been hard...

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