New bikeway: 5th Avenue in Belltown could get a new separated bike lane, additional green space, safer travel lanes, and better on-street parking.
Business affordability: It isn’t just housing affordability that’s an issue, the West Village in New York City is grappling with storefronts closing up due to skyrocketing rents.
An inside look: Capitol Hill Seattle Blog took a dive into Capitol Hill’s new underground light rail station.
NYC v Paris: A fun series of animated graphics that compare New York City to Paris.
Hometown hero: Seahawk Michael Bennett talks about biking and being active.
Maps of the Week: The age of every building Los Angeles, the density of vacant housing in Baltimore, and travel times between European countries.
Public pooping: Seattle may have finally found the answer to its public sanitation issues with a new public loo for Pioneer Square.
Uber cool: Uber is getting some light and airy new digs in San Francisco.
Being a gentrifier: A French sociologist who lived in Boston explores her experience with liberal gentrifiers and how they perceived their lives and communities.
Donut urbanism: One man’s perspective on how American urbanism is progressing and what it may be leaving out.
Revised: Sound Transit has a revised project list and conceptual study, which will drive the direction for Sound Transit 3.
Safety by the numbers: There’s compelling data out there that show wider lanes are just plain dangerous.
A village on the roof: Not so much reading, but a look at a brilliant way to design a roof for residents.
Ch-ch-ch-changes and closures: Seattle Transit Blog has highlights on King County Metro Transit’s June service change, which happens next Saturday. And, a notice for transit riders who use the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (it’s closed this weeked and the next); know your options.
Data mining: What one week’s worth of Craigslist Seattle apartment rental data looks like.
A Texas-size problem: Even Texas officials are beginning to recognize the problem with highway building, but it may have taken a 23-lane highway project to realize it.
Share what?: Greater Greater Washington explains why sharrows are actually quite useful as a traffic device.
TowIt: Start the public shaming; a new app is out there for those who want to turn in on-street parking violators.
Should you ever get hit: What you need to do if you get hit while walking or biking by a motorist.
Place-based initiatives: A discussion on the merits and failures of place-based initiatives to reduce urban poverty in communities.
Filling the empty: Cleveland has gotten creative by using common shipping containers, spiffing them up, and placing them in empty parking lots to make them shopping lots.
Ballard and King of the Stroad: Tom at Seattle Bike Blog explains how the Ballard Bridge could be improved and says that Mercer Street is one big stroad (street road).
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.