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.
In this video, Jason Slaughter of Not Just Bikes walks through many of the common mistakes that America and Canada make when planning and investing in transit. Some of the big ones are banning transit-supportive densities, building vast park-and-ride lots, and making transit inaccessible for people wanting to arrive...
Snohomish County policymakers have advanced proposals that could result in urban growth area (UGA) expansions. In total, 1,283 acres could be added to the county's UGAs. The proposals are part of the county's mandated 2024 comprehensive plan update. This comes on the heels of countywide growth targets adopted in...
On Tuesday, Sound Transit announced it would be maintaining 10-minute light rail frequencies north of Stadium Station during its upcoming "Future Ready" maintenance projects. This major positive change stemmed from pressure by transit advocates (including The Urbanist) concerned with the rider impact of the earlier plan reducing Link service...
In early May, the Snohomish County Council signed off on two ordinances allowing more housing in urban areas. These steps in encouraging more urban infill housing will be important as the county marches forward in developing further policies as part of its 2024 comprehensive plan update that will look...
Out of touch: A study shows that transit governing boards do not reflect the riders that they serve (hello, Sound Transit).
Co-living banned: In Oklahoma city, co-living rentals have been banned.
Better bus streets: Chicago is pursuing a better streets for buses program.
Rebounding ridership: Houston's transit ridership has seen a big...
Ray Delahanty of CityNerd shares his list of the 10 best city parks in North America. The list is focused on parks largely situated in older cities that have good access to transit, are adjacent to neighborhoods, have bucolic bones, and offer a variety of amenities. Seattle does make...
This week's Transpo Notes roundup touches on a mix of bus, train, ferry, and driving stories, including:
A long-awaited University District bus stop opening; Coming fixes to a leaky U District Station ceiling; Explanation for why four-car Link light rail trains aren't the norm; Upgrades coming to a trolley...
In North America there is a prevailing line of thinking that the best place to raise children is in suburbia. Jason Slaughter (Not Just Bikes) discusses why his family won’t raise their kids in suburbs and why they moved to The Netherlands, which boasts the world’s happiest kids.