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Public Health

Seattle’s Salt Addiction

Treating roads with salt has many negative environmental impacts. Why are SDOT and the City of Seattle so proud of how much salt is...

Highway Viaducts Are Bad and Seattle Is Better Without One

We've seen a lot of wistful eulogies for the Alaskan Way Viaduct. This is not one. I hope the viaduct's concrete spirit burns in...

Who’s Afraid of “Trunk-or-Treat”?

As American families abandon traditional trick-or-treating for "safer" alternatives like Trunk-or-Treat, a rare opportunity for neighborhood community engagement is lost. Halloween collects its more than its...

SDCI Delivers Vacant Building Monitoring Report

A year after the city adopted new vacant building maintenance and demolition laws, the city council received a monitoring report and briefing on the...

Mayor Durkan Renews Seattle’s Quest for Regional Partnership on Homelessness

On Thursday Mayor Jenny Durkan announced a new regional partnership to combat homelessness alongside King County Executive Dow Constantine. Mayor Durkan said consolidating provision...
A rendering some a row of trees and lawn on a lid over 405.

Pollution Impacts Heighten the Need for Lids or Freeway Removal

As the region prepares for Sound Transit 2 (ST2) investments to come online, several cities are increasing zoning capacity near future light rail stations....

Building the Compassionate City

We shape our cities, and afterwards our cities shape us, to paraphrase Winston Churchill. In this, he eloquently drew a line between the built...

Protected Bike Lanes Guard Cyclists from Pollution

As a relatively new cyclist and resident of South Seattle, the recent The Urbanist piece about the downgrading of protected bike lanes frustrated me. The...