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Economics

A map of Washington State with a map of the country of Switzerland overlaid on top of it.

Workers Need Homes, So Why Isn’t Our Zoning Keeping Up With Job Growth?

When Bellevue boasted they would eat Seattle’s lunch last month, I am not sure they realized the housing crisis was on the full course...
Two young kids on trikes in an open street.

The Secret to Seattle’s Success is Social Infrastructure, not Low Taxes

The Jumpstart Seattle tax was a take-off-the-mask moment for Seattle that is still reverberating through Seattle politics. Some would have us believe low taxes...

Sunday Video: Why So Many New Buildings Are Covered in Rectangles

https://youtu.be/Ml-ZP-_e_o4 Vox explores why so many new buildings seem to prominently feature rectangular panels as exterior cladding.

Baltimore’s Harborplace: Elegy to a Dead Mall

Lessons from a one-time crown jewel of urban renewal. Recently I got to be a tourist in my hometown. The hard part about going back...
A photograph of a parking lot that has been painted with a brightly colored mural. Traffic cones mark the area surrounding part of the mural, and an A frame sign reads "pavement to parks."

Seattle’s Neighborhood Recovery Fund Open for Proposals

Awards up to $100,000 will be distributed to community-led projects aimed at reigniting the local economy during the Covid recovery. Have you ever dreamt of organizing...

Sunday Video: How The US Made Affordable Homes Illegal

https://youtu.be/0Flsg_mzG-M Vox digs deep into why American housing is so expensive, which runs the gamut from exclusionary zoning practices to a history of redlining.
A sign says 4,128 square feet of retail are available.

Seattle to Boost Downtown with Additional Street-Level Uses

On Monday, the Seattle City Council unanimously passed an ordinance to energize Downtown Seattle and South Lake Union (SLU) with new street-level uses. This...
A triplex in Magnolia. (Photo by Doug Trumm)

Conventional Conforming: The Quiet Hurdle to Increasing Density

How Federal Subsidy of Loan Interest Rates Block Missing Middle Housing Earlier in the pandemic, I was searching around Zillow. Looking at houses was a...