Yearly Archives: 2025

Proposition 1A has won the special election to decide the fate of social housing in Seattle. After leading by 15 points on election night, Prop 1A continued to expand its lead in subsequent ballot counts, reaching a 20-point advantage on Thursday. Ultimately, it ended up being a 26-point win.

Seattle's land use code is ill-equipped to handle the scale of permits that will be required to approve the city's next light rail lines. This proposed overhaul is intended to ensure transit remains on schedule.

On Tuesday, King County Executive Dow Constantine unveiled his $1.5 billion proposal to renew the King County Parks Levy, which expires at year's end. The levy funds parks and regional trail expansions, educational programming at partner organizations, and operations and maintenance.

Proposition 1A grabbed nearly 58% of the election night vote tally, signaling social housing is on the way to victory in Seattle. The measure would tax big businesses to raise about $53 million annually to fund social housing.

The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce crafted the ballot language for Proposition 1B and pressured councilmembers to follow their plan to delay the social housing vote and put the competing measure on the ballot to siphon support, newly unearthed public records show. The centrists on Seattle City Council did as business leaders advised.

Join The Urbanist for our February social events in Seattle, Redmond, and Shoreline. Next up is our Big Time Brewery meetup on February 20.

Futurewise is challenging the validity of Mercer Island's Comprehensive Plan, alleging it's out of alignment with a number of state housing policies, including a requirement to maximize the area around its forthcoming light rail station.

Kirkland Connections is a new 24/7 mental health crisis center that could prove a model for the five crisis centers a county levy approved and funded in 2023. Such services are rare in the region.