Ray Dubicki
Ray Dubicki is a stay-at-home dad and parent-on-call for taking care of general school and neighborhood tasks around Ballard. This lets him see how urbanism works (or doesn’t) during the hours most people are locked in their office. He is an attorney and urbanist by training, with soup-to-nuts planning experience from code enforcement to university development to writing zoning ordinances. He enjoys using PowerPoint, but only because it’s no longer a weekly obligation.
Seattle’s boundaries are ridiculous. In the north, the city is separated from its neighbors by the width of a street. In the south, the errant wiggles and tight bends of the boundary work to cut neighbor from neighbor while scooping up shreds of parkland.
Politically, the city lines are exactly...
Comprehensive updates pushing the 30-year-old Growth Management Act to be adaptive, inclusive, equitable, and actionable.
When the Washington legislative session begins in less than a month, the budget and the response to Covid will be at the top of the agenda. It is a tall order to break through these dual...
Yesterday’s report that Seattle’s housing prices rose 11.6% over where they were in November 2019 comes as zero surprise to anyone who has toyed with the idea of buying a house in the last year. Folks are hunkering down and fixing up. That extra room is an office and...
For the upcoming 2021 Washington legislative session, Futurewise is proposing several significant changes to the state’s Growth Management Act. Under its campaign called Washington Can’t Wait, the organization is proposing substantial changes to the law. Fitting this hot, tumultuous year, Futurewise is proposing amendments that will compel counties and...
SDOT's new BIRT and Ballard Bridge studies continue history of mistreating the industrial neighborhood.
Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) released two studies last week. Both looking at infrastructure in Ballard and Interbay, the studies lay out a blueprint for spending billions of dollars in transportation money. They are both categorical...
Puget Sound's long-term regional planning document has passed. Now the individual city planning begins.
On Friday, the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) adopted Vision 2050, the blueprint for growth and transportation investments in the four county region. As King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties are projected to add a combined...
After a long delay to start the program, the City of Seattle announced an even longer extension for restaurants and businesses to continue using public spaces for outdoor dining and retail. Seattle Department of Transportation’s (SDOT's) temporary street use permits will be extended through October 31, 2021.
The program to...
I. Those Left Out: Skyway and Bryn Mawr
It is budget season. Throughout Washington, cities are creating budgets that reflect the dual impacts of pandemic and economic recession. Tax revenue is down. Rainy day funds are depleted. Community groups are applying important pressure to reconsider how we spend our tax...