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Slaying the Gerrymander, Part 1: How to Attack the Beast
Everyone hates the gerrymander, a beast named after a salamander-shaped district authorized by Massachusetts Governor Gerry in 1812. Most people agree that voters should choose their politicians, rather than politicians choosing their voters (John Oliver, Eric Holder, and Arnold Schwarzenegger are all anti-gerrymandering). Many anti-gerrymander crusaders hope they can defeat the beast by taking the line-drawing pen away from legislators and handing it to a commission or a computer—someone without...Read more » -
Weekend Reading 7/21/17
Aven This isn’t something to read, but if anyone has been curious about what really went on at Standing Rock and what it was like there, a documentary produced by a group of Washington veterans is premiering this Sunday at the Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival. Tickets available here. (Full disclosure: my husband is one of those veterans, and he contributed both some footage and an interview to the...Read more » -
Some Neighborhoods Losing Population, Despite the Boom
Denny-Blaine, Madrona, and Leschi are among Seattle’s most coveted neighborhoods. Laced with lush parks and beautiful houses commanding magnificent views of Lake Washington and the Cascades, they are closer to downtown than any other lakefront neighborhoods. Yet for all their desirability, in the more than four decades since 1970—as Seattle’s population has increased by more than 130,000—the total population of these neighborhoods has decreased by more than 800 people, or...Read more » -
Not in YOUR Backyard: Cottages, In-law Apartments, and the Predatory Delay of HALA’s ADU Rules
When it comes to urban homes, it’s hard to imagine anything less threatening than granny flats. But surprisingly, in Seattle last year instill fear they did, provoking a handful of anti-housing activists to appeal proposed rule changes intended to spark construction of in-law apartments and backyard cottages. And in an exasperating turn of events, the appeal was upheld. Of all the 65 recommendations in Seattle’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda...Read more » -
Will Seattle Suppress a Key Parking Fix?
This is a convoluted story about an 11-page memo on parking meters. It seems a trifle at first—an obscure bureaucratic kerfuffle. But it’s not. The subject of the memo is a surprisingly large opportunity for affordable housing in Cascadia, and the memo—an exercise in obstructionism—reveals much about why progress on building desperately needed homes is infuriatingly slow. It also points to a chance still available to put housing for people ahead of...Read more » -
Weekend Reading 5/20/16
Keiko This animated map shows the increase of million-dollar homes in Seattle over four years. Did you know that seven percent of all single-family homes in the Seattle area are worth seven figures? That’s one out of every fourteen homes. And the median price for a single-family home in Seattle is now over $630,000. So how can people who can’t afford million-dollar homes (like myself) stay in the city? Seattle needs to get rid...Read more » -
And the Most Car-Sharing City in Cascadia Is…
Editor’s Note December 2016: Great news! BMW ReachNow car-sharing service has expanded its fleet to Portland with 360 vehicles and added 330 vehicles to its fleet in Seattle. We’ve updated the numbers below: Last month, BMW launched its car-sharing brand ReachNow in Seattle, expanding into North America from its half-million-member stronghold in Europe, and I’ll admit that even I, a car-free bike commuter, felt a little dzzzzt of mid-life thrill as I downloaded the...Read more » -
Why You Might Like the Temporary Portland Gas Tax
If you live in Portland, you have your May ballot in hand. Don’t just pick a presidential candidate and mail it in. Keep going: past all those unopposed judicial positions, yes, all the way at the bottom of the second page you’ll find “Measure 26-173: Temporary Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax for Street Repair, Traffic Safety.” You might not know it from this well-below-the-fold placement, but it’s important for sustainability, livability,...Read more » -
Exclusionary Zoning Robs Our Cities of Their Best Qualities
Seattle’s zoning has roots in racial and class exclusion and remains among the largest obstacles to realizing the city’s goals for equity and affordability. In a city experiencing rapid growth and intense pressures on access to affordable housing, the historic level of single-family zoning is no longer either realistic or sustainable. Strong words from the 2015 Seattle Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) report in support of its headline-grabbing recommendation...Read more » -
Weekend Reading 1/22/16
Alan When I was serving on Seattle’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) committee last year, I wish I had already read Harvard economist Edward Glaeser’s 2011 The Triumph of the City. It wouldn’t have changed my mind on any of the core issues before the committee. My analysis, forged over three decades of reading everything I have been able to find on urban sustainability, already agreed with Glaeser’s: that...Read more »