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Commentary

Urban Art: Elevating Aesthetics and Cultural Identity in Cities

The term “urban art” describes visual art forms that are created by and representative of city dwellers. While you may see pieces in galleries,...

The Urbanist’s Corrections and Regrets of 2023

Journalistic integrity demands we review the tapes for the last year, and own up to our failings. Here are the corrections and regrets for 2023.
An aerial photograph shows the port city of Bremerton from a height of nearly 10,000 feet.

Bremerton’s Enlightened ‘JCTP’ Plan Seeks to Break Free of Car Dependence

JCTP is Bremerton’s 30-year transportation vision. It gets a lot of things right, but has some gaps. The Joint Compatibility Transportation Plan (JCTP) is a...
A rainy downtown Seattle street scene with bus 590 approaching.

America’s Pessimism Isn’t Economic, Stupid – It’s Human 

Economists are trying to figure out the dissonance between a recovering economy and America's deep pessimism. They're looking in the wrong place.

How Link Service Could Be Right-Sized in ST3

Splitting up the four-line, 116-mile system into smaller segments allows greater frequencies with fewer traincars. Link is in trouble. Service planning estimates widely missed the...

Flat Fare Push Shows Sound Transit Is Embracing a Self-Defeating Suburban Identity

The agency is squeezing riders who take short trips to subsidize long rides and a suburb-focused service profile. Sound Transit is poised to implement flat...
Three bike-wielding cops form a barricade around a sweep with a large contingent of officers behind

Seattle’s Pioneering Bike Cop Experiment

An excerpt from my new book, Heartbreak City, shows how Seattle kicked off a nationwide bike policing trend. A distant frontier city that had only...

Two Visions for South Tacoma’s Future and the Pursuit of Environmental Justice

How a proposed (and now permitted) large industrial development intersects with plans to engage South Tacoma Way in community-led planning. Residents of South Tacoma who...