25,000 friends: Sacramento is getting serious about maintaining and improving the city’s tree canopy.
Still shaking: Initial numbers on the Northeast Seattle bus restructure are out, suggesting many riders have transitioned to rail and adjusted their patterns.
Preserving local art: With growing wealth inequality increasing rapidly, retaining a cultural and artistic identity in Seattle is a challenge; local architect Mark Hinshaw explores a few ideas on how to nurture and keep these community assets.
Waste not, want not: A garbage crisis in Beirut led to more recycling.
Dueling giant: Rumors are abound that Apple is looking to enter the Bellevue office market.
Just how safe?: A new study looks at the safety of e-bikes, finding that they are less safe if coupled with higher speeds.
Breath of fresh air: Olso has a plan to slowly remove cars from its city center over the next three years.
False choices: State Senator Reuven Carlyle (D-36) came out against the Sound Transit 3 plan in favor of setting aside taxes to fund education. Friend of The Urbanist, Robert Cruickshank, delivered a response that Washington can have world class transit and world class education.
Go bike!: Seattle’s Summer Parkways event is happening today in the Rainier Valley.
100% green: Scotland produced enough electricity on Sunday with wind turbines to power the needs of the entire country.
Bathrooms for all genders: The bathrooms at Cal Anderson Park are going to get an overhaul, which just so happens to include conversion of them to all-gender bathrooms.
Bikeable intersections: Copenhagenize outlines three principles to make intersections safer for people biking.
Heading toward net-zero: Capitol Hill could end up seeing a net-zero energy apartment building married to a Craftsman mansion, but it’s not quite ready for blessing by the local design review board.
Losing the past: Knute Berger worries that as Seattle booms, the city is at risk of allowing historic and cultural resources to be tossed away.
Stroad or promenade?: Next City talks with local Seattle groups advocating for a more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly waterfront plan instead of a “highway on top of a highway.”
Global finance impacting housing costs: Charles Mudede and Cary Moon tackle part of the root cause for Seattle’s housing affordability problem in a four part series.
Map of the Week: A young researcher maps the racial makeup of Wisconsin cities and finds serious patterns of racial segregation.
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.