Biking in Bellevue: Bellevue is planning to build out more trail along SR-520 and is reviewing options for bike lanes on 116th Avenue NE.
Hail to the Chief: Paulo Nunes-Ueno has been named as the new head of the Seattle Department of Transportation’s newly formed Transit Division. Nunes-Ueno is a long-time advocate for safer streets and transit.
New parklet: Second Avenue has a brand new parklet between Pike and Pine. It stretches half a block and integrates well with the bike lane.
Body cams: It looks like body cams are coming to the Capitol Hill patrols soon. This is a good step for keeping the public and officers honest.
Small adaptive reuse: It’s a tiny example of reusing a small space, but this red-brick boiler room is now a sweet guesthouse.
Clean streams: The Environmental Protection Agency is committing over $300m to cleaning up the Duwamish River once and for all.
Tandem garages: Pugetsoundscape shares the various pluses and minuses of different garage layouts, particularly in Snohomish County.
Blank screens: It looks like two more cinemas will be shutting the doors for good come January. Say goodbye to the Harvard Exit on Capitol Hill and the Varsity Theater in the University District.
Growing jobs: We all know Amazon is huge in Seattle, and it looks like it will grow even larger. By 2019, there could be as many as 71,500 employees–or at least enough room for them.
Inspiring: Even if you’re not the churchy type, this new Nordic church is pretty beautiful.
How economics works: There’s a lot of talk about taxation and how to do it right, but one of the most discredited economic theories is trickle down economics. The ultimate version of trickle down was tried in Kansas recently and has been a disaster while California raised progressive taxes and it’s been a boon.
Taking the train: In two charts, here’s why Northeast travelers take the train more than flying the friendly skies.
Move the people: It may seem contradictory, but slower speed limits actually move more people.
Bellevue budget: The City of Bellevue has passed a $1.46bn budget that has some great projects in it like infrastructure for the Spring District.
Updating the comp plan: The Department of Planning and Development needs more time to craft their Comprehensive Plan update, dubbed Seattle 2035. Look for adoption in 2016 instead of summer 2015.
ORCA on monorail: The City Council wants to explore options to add ORCA integration for the monorail. For riders, this could induce more usage as a real daily public transportation choice.
DC gets the good things: Arlington County, Virginia is exploring a sidewalk level cycletrack while the District of Columbia analyzes options with the Feds for a unique oval street to serve all modes and users.
Stephen is a professional urban planner in Puget Sound with a passion for sustainable, livable, and diverse cities. He is especially interested in how policies, regulations, and programs can promote positive outcomes for communities. With stints in great cities like Bellingham and Cork, Stephen currently lives in Seattle. He primarily covers land use and transportation issues and has been with The Urbanist since 2014.