New digs: The Seattle Opera unveils plans a new $60 million venue at Seattle Center.
In jeopardy: A proposal for a new Amtrak station in Tacoma gets a major setback this week after negotiations for space at Freighthouse Square fail.
New commuters: New Census data reveals some interesting data on how newer Seattleites are choosing to get around the city.
New projects: A new 130-unit apartment building is under construction in Greenlake and AvalonBay goes back to design review for a 24-story tower in Belltown.
Accessible voting: King County will quadruple the number of ballot dropoff boxes.
Tips from the UK: Four ways to grow an urban tech industry that benefits the local economy.
Bold thinking: An American-based architecture firm proposes a very futuristic city of towers in Tokyo Bay, one tower could reach a mile hight.
Induced demand: The data unequivocally shows that commuters don’t stop driving to work until free parking subsidies are taken away.
City talk: Mayor Ed Murray held the annual State of the City speech this week; Capitol Hill Seattle Blog shares the full text and video of the event.
Put it to use: New York City has a lot of vacant properties (as many as 1,100 viable sites), which is why the NYC Comptroller is looking at those for affordable housing sites through land banking.
H Street: Seattle just barely nudged out DC on the extremely delayed streetcar battle, but the District will launch their H Line next week!
Damage control: Governor Jay Inslee changes tune on I-405 HOT lane tolling with plans to add more general purpose lanes and reduce tolling hours.
Decluttering: Barcelona wants to curtail advertising in public spaces with a 20% reduction by July 2016.
Mover and shaker: Vulcan drops $30.9 million to redevelop 6 acres in the Central District at 23rd Ave E and Jackson St. The company also went before the design review board for a 14-story residential and office tower in South Lake Union.
Complex solutions: Emily Badger asks experts to wade into the discussion on how to make expensive cities affordable for everyone again.
Copenhagenize: Copenhagen is planning to deploy 380 intelligent traffic lights that will help buses and bicyclists speed along faster.
Maps of the Week: Another judgemental map, this time for the Bay Area. An amazing set of artistic GPS bike rides captured on maps. And, a beautiful map that depicts all of your favorite British television shows.
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.