2020 in Review: Our Annual Report

2020 did not pull its punches, and yet we at The Urbanist did our best to roll with them. We’re proud of how we persevered.

As the pandemic hit, we had to cancel our in-person monthly meetups. By May, we switched to an online format and hosted 12 events over the course of the year. Some of highlights included Shaun Scott’s talk in June, Erica C. Barnett in November, and a special subscriber drive kickoff with Charles Mudede and Cary Moon in September.

Rain, shine, or quarantine, we published at least one post per day, tallying 672 for the whole year. Not bad, all things considered. We recapped the most popular articles in our annual greatest hits article. We also grew our team of contributors, advanced new advocacy campaigns, and won new legislative victories.

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Here’s some of our accomplishments this year:

• Recruited three new boardmembers: Erin Fried, Amy Gore, and Kelli Refer;
• Added three new writers: Ray Dubicki, Brandon Zuo, and Christopher Randels;
• Promoted a writer to editor: Shaun Kuo;
• 672 articles published;
• 12 events hosted;
• 7,000 reads on our primary endorsements;
• Joined coalitions and fought to get:
  • $214 million per year JumpStart Seattle progressive payroll tax;
  • Cut SPD budget by 18%;
  • $30 million for Black Brilliance Project;
  • Georgetown-to-South Park Trail fully funded;
  • Increased Prop 1 transit measure 50% to $39 million per year;
  • Passed Prop 1 with 80.3% of the vote;
  • 27 miles of open streets to help people get around safely during the pandemic; and
  • We argued for 130 more miles of open streets.

The economic recession stole momentum and derailed long-made transportation plans. King County Metro has slashed service by 15% and struggled to maintain bus and rail operator staffing at times. The King County Council abandoned plans to run a countywide transit measure augmenting bus service, as Seattle did in 2014. Most Sound Transit timelines were pushed back a year and likely more if regional leaders don’t act to provide funding or at least bonding capacity. The seven new RapidRide lines promised in the Move Seattle Levy have been whittled down to two and a half after Rainier RapidRide was shelved and Roosevelt RapidRide shortened to not include Roosevelt. None of the promised RapidRides will be delivered during the Durkan administration due to numerous delays. 

Progress on the Bike Master Plan is sputtering with Transportation Chair Alex Pedersen and the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) focusing attention on repairing the cracked and sagging West Seattle Bridge.

From the wreckage of 2020, we’ve also wrenched victories. 

We backed JumpStart Seattle, joining a broad coalition marshalled by Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, with the goal of Covid relief and investment in affordable housing, homelessness services, and equitable development. Together we succeeded in passing a progressive payroll tax on the largest companies in the region that is expected to raise $214 million per year. Mayor Jenny Durkan opposed the plan. Nonetheless, she was all too happy to raid JumpStart revenue to fill holes in her 2021 budget and scrape together something approaching her $100 million investment pledge to communities of color. As such, JumpStart prevented deep social service cuts that would have worsened suffering from the pandemic. It was a lifesaver.

Some budget cuts are welcome. The Urbanist joined the Decriminalize Seattle coalition, which called for 50% of the Seattle Police Department (SPD) budget to be redirected to community-based health and public safety programs. The protests this summer were a wakeup call for White allies to do more and heed Black leadership. We endorsed the Solidarity Budget, which sought divestment from police and greater investment in communities of color, and fought Durkan Administration efforts to divide us. That unified front succeeded in getting a 18% reduction in SPD’s budget, which led the nation, though divesting from racist policing does not stop there.

After Mayor Durkan proposed a much smaller replacement for the Seattle Transportation Benefit District, we led the charge with the Move All Seattle Sustainably (MASS) coalition to double the measure, as did Councilmember Tammy Morales. With some Council colleagues hesitant, we ended up at a 50% boost, which still could save nearly 100,000 service hours. Advocates that unified behind the package, and Proposition 1 passed with a resounding 80.3% of the vote. Without that decisive action, bus service cuts would have been even deeper and the reduced fare program for students, seniors, and public housing residents may have disappeared.

Moreover, we and our MASS partners reversed key Durkan transportation cuts and pushed the City to dedicate more street space for people walking, rolling, and biking by rolling out open streets, which cities like Paris pioneered to great effect during the pandemic. Our pressure helped convince SDOT and Mayor Durkan to launch their “Stay Healthy Streets” program that upgraded existing neighborhood greenways by closing them to through car traffic. The program grew to 27 miles, but SDOT began turning some streets back over to cars, starting with its most popular open street: Lake Washington Boulevard. 

We continue to press the City to pedestrianize streets, especially in key corridors like Lake Washington Boulevard and in our densest neighborhoods, and add more durable diverters and signage. The Stay Healthy Streets program isn’t perfect, but it was a powerful reminder that a much more livable and accessible city is there for the taking. We need only the political will and an adequate supply and ‘streets closed to cars’ signs and diverters.

Supporting our friends at Futurewise, we also geared up for a fight to improve the Growth Management Act (GMA) and make sure single-family zoning reform is on the docket during Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan update. The Washington Can’t Wait campaign is seeking to pressure state legislators into passing GMA reform this session to ensure efforts aimed at climate action, affordability, and equity can move forward. Growth management and comprehensive planning should encourage wiser and more equitable decisions rather than hindering them.

Finally, we pointed out that the design review program continues to cause unnecessary delays, like a Queen Anne Safeway project that could provide 323 homes when it’s finally approved and built. We pitched our readers to apply to join a design review board in hopes of improving outcomes. We support deeper change than the modest reforms passed in 2017 and the emergency measures implemented during Covid.

Pandemic or not, we need to keep building both market-rate and social housing to provide enough homes. More people continue to move to Seattle than leave, despite all the ‘Seattle is Dying’ hype. Our housing crisis is far from over.

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The Urbanist’s Greatest Hits of 2020