Doug Trumm
Doug Trumm is publisher of The Urbanist. An Urbanist writer since 2015, he dreams of pedestrian streets, bus lanes, and a mass-timber building spree to end our housing crisis. He graduated from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington in 2019. He lives in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood and loves to explore the city by foot and by bike.
Since 1994, Seattle has conducted mandatory design reviews of most large development projects. Design review gives the public (and city planners) a chance to influence decisions that will affect their communities for decades. But this influence comes at a cost. Design review can add months to project timelines; sometimes,...
The early consensus among Seattle mayoral candidates around adding housing options in single-family residential zones excited urbanists and those looking to expand affordable housing opportunities. The six leading mayoral candidates said they'd support missing middle housing types in single-family residential zones across the city--or at least pledges to "explore"...
The Urbanist does not use the word NIMBY. Except I just did in that headline. Oops! Sorry, I was just so frustrated that “livability” activists are using transit on-time performance to stall much needed housing. Specifically, a project called Phinney Flats aiming to build 57 homes in Phinney Ridge...
Public comment closes Monday, August 7th, for the City of Seattle's Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) program Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Please submit your comments by Monday to have your voice heard. Here is the website.
The Urbanist covered the DEIS and its three studied alternatives when they were released...
The Urbanist has endorsed Cary Moon for mayor, and we're excited about the big changes she'd bring to Seattle. But Moon is not the only candidate who promises a break from the status quo. Nikkita Oliver is running on a platform that aims to center the most marginalized Seattleites, a...
Seattle Subway's Vision Map generated a great deal of attention and that's great for growing the transit-advocacy movement as we seek to build our success in passing ST3. That said, some neighborhoods were conspicuously missing from the vision, such as First Hill and Belltown. Generally, the principle in building...
Late last month, the Washington State Legislature took rushed steps in passing two bills that deal with the Growth Management Act (GMA). One of the bills more widely allows construction of schools in rural areas--a decidedly bad idea--while another significantly modifies the approach to developing land capacity analysis reports...
The Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) program has approved 7,518 affordable units, as of the end of 2016. 855 affordable units were officially added to Seattle's MFTE rolls in 2016, while one building with 12 affordable units saw its tax exemption expire along with the rent restriction. The 163 buildings...