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.
Futurewise's Campaign to Update the Growth Management Act
For thirty years, Futurewise has lobbied and litigated throughout Washington to implement the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA). Now, under a new initiative called Washington Can’t Wait, the organization is focused on making substantial changes to the law, responding to the moment...
Using a pack of highlighters to show the absurdity of developing a private enclave in the city.
Last Tuesday, the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) held an online public information session to discuss the permitting process for redeveloping the Talaris campus. The proposal is to locate 65...
The Unique Urbanism of Disney’s Movie Cities
For those of us who adore movies, seven months of pandemic has been a difficult drought. We’re down half a dozen film festivals and two full seasons of blockbusters, beyond just the weekly joy of sitting in a dark room with dozens of...
During last week's discussion of subdivisions and the problem of slicing the city into tiny parcels, we asked for your help to find the strangest lot lines and parcels in Seattle and around Puget Sound.
Some of you have a deep affinity for the non-linear parcel. Goodness, you found some...
Puget Sound's strangest property lines.
While researching how subdivision screws around with Seattle's growth, we've found some pretty convoluted property lines. Can you find crazier ones? There is money involved.
While these are pretty crazed, we are certain that you can find better ones. Winner gets a $25 gift card from...
In debating the shape of our cities, the zoning ordinance gets a lot of the headlines. It gives us the bulk and height of buildings, the dimensions of our streetscapes, and the mix of uses in our neighborhoods.
But this emphasis on buildings overlooks the underlying land. Every zoning ordinance...
Following several months of discussion, the City of Seattle has received the first applications for opening street space to dining. Since the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) began taking applications on July 29th, 18 locations around the city have expressed interest in fully or partially opening nearby roads to...
Here’s the problem. Sitting through a presentation about the Ballard Interbay Regional Transportation (BIRT) Study, one finds themselves cheering for terrible options.
The issues are implacably difficult and balancing interests is complex beyond imagining. Interbay has a dozen bridges that are not earthquake or climate change ready sitting at the...