Stephen Fesler
Stephen is a professional urban planner in Puget Sound with a passion for sustainable, livable, and diverse cities. He is especially interested in how policies, regulations, and programs can promote positive outcomes for communities. With stints in great cities like Bellingham and Cork, Stephen currently lives in Seattle. He primarily covers land use and transportation issues and has been with The Urbanist since 2014.
100 bucks: Where you'll get the most and least value out of your $100 in the US.
Big projects: New residential tower going up near Amazon's HQ and new Vulcan apartments breaking ground in the University District.
Still delayed: The Washington State Department of Transportation says that Bertha is still delayed, but...
Sound Transit is making substantial progress on the Northgate Link and South Link extensions. This week, two key milestones were reached with tunneling work and the placement of final elevated guideway segments.
Pamela, one of two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) mining the underground Northgate Link extension, broke through to the Roosevelt Station Station pit. Her arrival marks the...
Transit App pushed out an updated version of the app for iOS (Version 3.7) and Android (Version 3.7.1) users on Tuesday. The latest update focuses on optional alarms, bike lanes, and an improved trip planner.
Users can now set alarms for specific transit trips or routes. Setting up a transit alarm...
Ballots are in the mail, and that can only mean one thing: it's election time! The upcoming August Primary will present voters with some important local measures and a wide slate of candidates. Washington uses an open, top-two primary system where voters can cast their vote for any candidate that appears on...
Dotted across Seattle are scores of commercial districts, often lining the city's major thoroughfares. They are the centers of community where people assemble, conduct commerce, and exchange ideas. From North Seattle to South Seattle, they are steeped in history, diversity, and character. No two are exactly the same; they are...
Human settlements are built on the bedrock of food access. Without adequate sustenance, urban environments cannot flourish. People will travel long distances to ensure that they are adequately fed, and so it's no surprise that rural and suburban dwellers will often traverse many miles to the nearest food source. But urbanities would appear...
The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) recently released a report highlighting data from the 2014 Regional Travel Study and previous studies. The report compared the results from the previous studies in 2006 and 1999 by looking at travel habits of respondents. The studies analyze all modes throughout the region by aggregating data from from subareas. As a...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh0NZYtiiZ4
Seattle just extended the citywide Play Streets pilot program until April 2016. Play Streets, in a lot of ways, are similar to block parties. Streets are closed to through traffic so that the space can be used in a variety of ways. It's not uncommon to see kids play basketball...