Get your Urbanist beanie with a qualifying donation.
Today, we’re kicking off our two-week member drive, where we ask readers to chip in so we can sustain and grow our operation. This drive we’re also offering a new perk: Make a qualifying donation and score an Urbanist beanie. Read on to see how.
The Urbanist has grown a lot from its humble beginnings in 2014. From an all-volunteer organization of dedicated housing policy wonks, urban planners, and writers putting out an article every few days to full-time staff putting out multiple articles a day, hosting happy hours, panels, and endorsing candidates.
We are not done growing. Whether we are reporting, leading the advocacy charge, or building community, we want to make our vision for the region a reality: abundant housing, safe streets, ubiquitous rapid transit, and a strong, just, decarbonized economy. To do this, however, we need your support.
Seattle suburbs are a hotbed of urbanist potential, with city council seats up for grabs, light rail expansions, and ambitious housing proposals projects being announced. Shoreline, Montlake Terrace, and Kenmore are seeing a wellspring of grassroots urbanism and seeing victories like ditching parking mandates and increasing safe bike facilities alongside their rapid transit expansions. We want to be there for all of it, but it takes resources.
Our growing team and scope
The Urbanist hired its first full-time staff in 2018 thanks to the generosity of our readers. Since then, through a combination of ad revenue and generous subscribers, we have expanded to the full-time staff: Doug Trumm, our publisher; Ryan Packer, our contributing editor; Diego Batres, our (new) Director of Development and Events.
Doug and Ryan’s work is evident from the articles that go out every day, and the rapidly expanding events program is a testament to the capacity that Diego is adding to the team. In addition to our full-time staff, The Urbanist has several regular freelance reporters, as well as volunteer writers who generously submit their work to us.
To truly become a regional publication, we need to expand our coverage – deeper reporting on the Eastside and North Sound, across the water to Kitsap County, south to Tacoma, and even further down in Olympia. That means expanding our capacity – whether through more freelancers or hiring another part or full-time reporter.
So please, if The Urbanist has informed you, entertained you, challenged you, or educated you, if you find yourself looking at our endorsements, coming to our events, or using us as a resource in your advocacy, support us by becoming a member. We need reliable month-over-month income to make investments in the future of our publication and community.
And if that isn’t enough, as a limited-time bonus for this subscriber drive, we are offering Urbanist merch!
A majority of respondents to our annual reader survey expressed interest in merch. You asked, and we have delivered. To get your beanie, make sure you meet the criteria below, then fill out this form.
How to qualify for a beanie
Here’s how to qualify for a beanie, you must meet one of the following criteria:
If you are not already a subscriber:
- Start a new subscription at $15/month
- OR Make a one-time donation of $80.
If you are an existing subscriber:
- Increase your monthly donation by at least $10
- OR Make a one-time donation of $40
Thank you for your support, whether new or continuing, large or small. The Urbanist is committed to keeping our content free and accessible to all, and we rely primarily on generous donors to fund our efforts. Thank you for supporting our team, reporting, and vision for the future. We hope to see you at some of our upcoming events.
If you donate at the links above, gifts are not tax-deductible or eligible for most matching programs. However, The Urbanist Fund 501(c)(3) can accept tax-deductible gifts, unlike our primary 501(c)(4) arm.
Join us tonight (Thursday) from 6pm to 8pm at TeKu Tavern for our monthly meetup and drive kickoff.
Diego Batres
Diego is the Director of Development and Events of The Urbanist. He believes in making Seattle and the Puget Sound region a model example of good urban living for the rest of the country by expanding transit, ending our housing crisis, pedestrianizing our neighborhoods. He graduated from Seattle University in 2023, and currently lives in Seattle’s Central District.