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.
Gentrification: The New Yorker asked Is Gentrification Really A Problem? The article seemed to suggest no but, yes. Yes it is. The piece goes into a history of the word "ghetto" and highlights some important academic literature that suggests displacement may actually be lower in neighborhoods that are growing/gentrifying....
On Wednesday evening, Philando Castile's life ended in his car as he bled out from five bullet wounds still buckled in his seat following a broken taillight traffic stop gone wrong in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. On Tuesday, Alton Sterling was executed (with six shots in the back) by Baton...
Sound Transit has finalized its Sound Transit 3 (ST3) package outlining the next 25 years worth of high-capacity transit investments. Most of the lines have been pretty well discussed, but one that is less so is SR-522 bus rapid transit (BRT). For a relatively paltry $387,000,000 or so, Sound...
Parking To Plowshares: At the site of a surface parking lot at Melrose and Pine, SolTerra is planning a 7-story tiered mixed-use building with first-floor retail and a top level restaurant space right next to the I-5 trench (and potentially future freeway lid.)
Ongoing Housing Crisis: Kriston Capps writes that...
It's no secret that Seattle is in the midst of a housing crisis. Zillow estimates that Seattle's median rent is up 12.1% from 2015 to 2016. Seattle's median rent has now reached the intimidating height of $2,429. That rate of rent jump led the nation, as other markets, apparently,...
Here we find ourselves again: trying to untangle a web of lies, insanity, and inanity courtesy of the crack editorial board at The Seattle Times led by publisher and CEO Frank Blethen of Mercer Island. The Blethen Family Singers opined Sunday that it was time to slow down rather...
The Ballard Historical Society has completed their crowd sourced, street inventory of Ballard buildings built before 1965. The survey area extends from 8th Ave NW to the Bluff, 58th St, and 85th St. All told, some 7,200 building were photographed with smart phones by over 100 volunteers who gave well over 1,000 combined...
A (Road) Diet That Really Works: Early data shows that Rainier Avenue (the city's most deadly street) has seen 15 percent fewer collisions, 31 percent fewer injuries, and no deaths since SDOT instituted a pilot program road diet in a one mile stretch though Columbia City and Hillman City last...