Ryan Packer
Ryan Packer has been writing for The Urbanist since 2015, and currently reports full-time as Contributing Editor. Their beats are transportation, land use, public space, traffic safety, and obscure community meetings. Packer has also reported for other regional outlets including BikePortland, Seattle Met, and PubliCola. They live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
A SEPA appeal filed by a former council candidate means LIHI's long-planned 92-unit housing project won't be as competitive for state grants, but the nonprofit developer is optimistic that things can be quickly resolved and get moving again.
Occidental Avenue is the first major "People Streets and Public Spaces" project to move forward under the new transportation levy. Potential improvements have been mostly shaped by conversations with downtown power players behind closed doors.
While Bruce Harrell is touting a drop in the number of pedestrian deaths in Seattle last year, that number has shot up again in 2025. And despite his promotion of safety spending in a newly approved transportation levy, his legacy on the issue of traffic safety likely won't be known for years.
King County Metro has slashed the budgets for the K and R Lines by 20% to 25%, which could scale back planned reliability improvements and rider amenities. The move raises serious questions about the future of the overall RapidRide program.
The Washington Department of Commerce's appeal is the first to come directly from state government to enforce 2021's House Bill 1220, which requires cities to target future housing growth by income level. If successful, it will likely prompt a major change in how the city of nearly 9,000 plans for future residents.
The idea of a fare-free pilot on several Metro routes, to be implemented in 2027, came about as fares have shrunk as a percentage of Metro's overall sources of revenue. But the data suggests that dropping fares wouldn't be as big of a boon as continuing to focus on expanding transit service.
After pivoting away from an aggressive schedule for battery-bus adoption, King County Metro plans to focus attention on the tried-and-true trolley network. But limited staff, delays obtaining materials and permit timelines mean that trolley expansions will be some time coming.
Since voters approved West Seattle and Ballard Link in 2016, the two projects have been caught in a perfect storm of factors that led to the eye-popping cost estimates that we have today. While the path forward looks bleak, there are signs that Sound Transit is learning from its mistakes.