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There are many reasons to love Vancouver, BC. It is a great international city with tremendous cultural diversity. Some of us truly see Vancouver as a bold leader in accommodating growth in sustainable compact communities. Personally, I like the fact that the Queen is on their money and they call the Mayor, “Your Worship.” Now there is one more reason to admire Vancouver—especially all you density devotees out there: secondary...

Conservative Northwest think tanks, I am calling you out. I want you guys to talk about parking policy. Yeah, you heard me: parking policy. By my count, there are 5 prominent right-leaning, market-oriented think tanks in the Northwest: Discovery Institute and Washington Policy Center in Seattle; Evergreen Freedom Foundation in Olympia; Cascade Policy Institute in Portland; and Fraser Institute in Vancouver, BC. Each of them prominently features a devotion to free markets...

Chuck Wolfe over at Crosscut posted a really useful rundown of planning ideas for Seattle’s next mayor. Among other things, Wolfe urges Seattle’s next leader to consider bigger and bolder ideas when considering land use. The biggest and boldest idea is scrapping traditional zoning in favor of innovation and flexibility. Growth can bring advantages with it—walkable neighborhoods, aggregated demand for transit, less impact on the climate and environment. So, some...

In what would be easily the world’s biggest carbon tax shift, French President Sarkozy has begun advocating for robust carbon tax coupled with rebates or tax reductions: The tax would be initially based on the market price for carbon dioxide emissions permits, which is now euro17 ($24.74) per ton of carbon dioxide, Sarkozy said. At that level, the government expects to raise euro3 billion, which will be entirely returned to...

Quick opinion polling note as we roll into the autumn Congressional session. According to brand new data from ABC News/Washington Post, support among American voters is running strong—about a 2-1 ratio in favor (57 percent to 29 percent)—for the changes to US energy policy proposed in the Waxman-Markey legislation that will soon go before the Senate. Significantly, more people think these changes would add jobs in their state than believe...

During Washington’s last legislative session, I wrote glowingly about a bill introduced by Representative Hans Dunshee that would have sold $3 billion in bonds for energy efficiency retrofits in public schools across the state. It didn’t pass. But what appealed to me was that this idea is a 3 for 1 deal. A win, win, win. It could reduce climate changing emissions, create much-needed green jobs in local communities (reviving...

This fall Washington voters will have yet another Tim Eyman initiative to consider. Eyman is a local initiative machine, having worked on at least 15 other initiatives to the people—and one referendum—on topics ranging from taxes and the size of government, to eliminating affirmative action. A new report from the Washington State Budget and Policy Center  takes a closer look at Eyman’s latest effort, I-1033. I-1033 is reminiscent of another...

Which is the better place to live, Portland, OR, or Vancouver, BC? Well, Vancouver keeps getting high marks in international surveys of urban livablity. Yet a few weeks back, the BC-based online magazine The Tyee ran a series of lively and well-written articles by Christine McLaren arguing Portland bests Vancouver on some key measures of quality of life. Since I live in Seattle, I don’t really have a dog in...

You may have already heard of  Walk Score—an endlessly entertaining internet tool that lets people discover how pedestrian-friendly their neighborhood is.  Walk Score ranks neighborhood “walkability” based on the mix of stores and services that are within walking distance of any home in North America.  If you haven’t already, you should check it out—but only if you’ve got nothing pressing to do, since it’s pretty addictive. Now, the good folks...

I spoke with Ken Robinette this week head of Idaho’s fourth largest community action agency, the South Central Community Action Partnership. He updated me on the latest work going on to spend stimulus funds for weatherization in Idaho and nationally. Robinette attended the national conference of community action agencies in Indianapolis last month where leaders in weatherization gathered for trainings and updates on stimulus funding. The news from Idaho is...