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Seattle City Budget

Two police SUVs are parked behind metal barricades blocking traffic from Market Street.

Op-Ed: The Seattle Police Department Has an Efficiency Problem

SPD’s refusal to offload low-priority calls is undermining its ability to solve serious crimes. Over recent decades, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) has increasingly handled...

Video: The Urbanist Seattle City Budget Workshop

Contributing Editor Ryan Packer and reporter Amy Sundberg broke down the 2024 budget proposed by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and set to be amended...
Old Ballard Avenue street view with street cafe seating.

Council Pushes Transit Ambassadors, Cafe Streets in 2024 Budget, But Not Streetcar Connector

The Seattle City Council is set to consider a slew of transportation-related amendments to Mayor Bruce Harrell's proposed budget for 2024, in an annual...
Yellow front of a streetcar passing in front of brick buildings.

Harrell’s Transportation Budget Focuses on Downtown But Leaves Out the Streetcar

Transportation was essentially a footnote this week as Mayor Bruce Harrell announced his proposed changes to Seattle's 2024 city budget, with housing, police tech,...
Mayor Harrell at a podium with people behind him. He is talking about funding programs for the homeless.

Harrell’s 2024 Budget Leaves Big Questions on Safety and Looming Shortfall

Durable solutions to police accountability, public safety, drug treatment, and homelessness all remain elusive and vaguely defined. On Tuesday, Mayor Bruce Harrell released his 2024...
Downtown Seattle wall with City Hall sign on it and buildings in the background.

The Chamber of Commerce’s Seattle Budget Fix Is Slashing City Services and Freezing Wages

While running government like a business is a dream of chambers of commerce, businesses don’t freeze wages and spending when they need to hire...
Recreation of the Seattle flag. Cent sign on a blue back ground with text "Penny Wise Pound Foolish"

Op-Ed: Seattle is the Capital of Toxic Frugality

Next week is standardized testing at the kiddos’ school. The normal seven-class-a-day schedule will be reorganized to allow morning and afternoon blocks long enough...

The Urbanist Podcast: Debunking the JumpStart Tax Holiday with Ron Davis

In this episode, co-hosts Natalie Argerious and Ray Dubicki welcome Ron Davis to talk about a proposed JumpStart Tax Holiday in the city of...