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UPDATED: Fifteen Thoughts on the Coronavirus and Cities
UPDATE 4/17/20: Since publishing this I’ve been trying to keep up with the ongoing firehose of related stories and happenings in a big bad Twitter thread (click “show this thread” once it opens on Twitter): What did I get right? What did I get wrong? What did I miss? Threading through the 15 things…https://t.co/0ht4s9x14H — Dan Bertolet (@danbertolet) April 9, 2020 Here’s a cheat sheet to navigate the thread: 1....Read more » -
We Shouldn’t Need a Virus to Embrace Cash Benefits
Cash benefits will help people survive coronavirus lockdown and its fallout. Going forward, guaranteed cash payments give households the flexibility to respond to their needs in real time, with an eye toward unique circumstances and enough stability to open the possibility of long-term planning.Read more » -
Cities Cling to Laws That Shut Out Non-traditional Family Groups
UPDATE: The “Golden Girls Bill” (SB 6302) died when time ran out for it to get heard on the House floor before the cutoff on Friday, March 6. The gutting amendment passed by the House Committee on Local Government proved too much for legislators to repair in the limited time of a short session. Bad news for Washingtonians hoping for relief from the housing affordability crunch: state representatives, acting at...Read more » -
Eliminate the Senate!
Editor’s note, 2/24/20: Last summer, we wrote about a handful of Oregon Republicans leaving the statehouse—and the state—to thwart progress on climate change legislation. On Monday, they did it again. As one observer tweeted, “11 people representing just 36 percent of Oregonians are holding the legislature hostage.” We barely had time to file this one away. So, here again are a handful of suggestions from our research director for democracy...Read more » -
One of North America’s Boldest Housing Initiatives Has Reached Its End: Did It Work?
Last time, I mapped the political battleground of metropolitan housing shortages. This time, I draw lessons from an attempt to unleash abundant housing by assembling a different coalition. In the summer of 2015, long before the US national media noticed that something called the YIMBY movement had been born, before Minneapolis’s bold move allowing triplexes in its tree-lined neighborhoods of detached houses with yards and driveways, and before US presidential...Read more » -
Housing Policy Is… Salmon Policy?
Across the Pacific Northwest, urban sprawl is decimating salmon habitat. Fish scientists who study the effects of urbanization on salmon, steelhead and orcas are unanimous: To save these iconic and vital species we must prevent sprawling development from ruining the sensitive watersheds they depend on. And this realization leads to an inescapable conclusion: Limiting further sprawl means we must provide more homes for more people in already-developed parts of our...Read more » -
The Climate Clock Is Running Out
Last time, I asked what political strategies can circumvent the trench warfare of local upzoning and unleash abundant home building in low-carbon neighborhoods. In this article, I lay out the scale of the housing challenge in more detail. To grasp the daunting scale of the challenge of abundant housing in low-carbon cities, we could start various places, but let’s start with the clock. Because it is running out. The Intergovernmental...Read more » -
The Youth Climate Movement Loses in Court, Goes to Legislature
As Washington’s legislative session kicks into high gear, young people in the climate movement are planning to engage state government more seriously than ever before. January 24 will be Youth Climate Lobby Day when a range of youth-led groups will demand that the state declare a climate emergency and advance several pieces of clean energy legislation. Their political timing—and their somewhat confrontational style—seem appropriate, given the increasing urgency of climate...Read more » -
5 Reasons Portland’s Fourplex Legalization Would Be a Big Deal
Through five years of deliberation, Portland’s residential infill project has remained a simple concept: an anti-McMansion compromise that simultaneously lowers the maximum size of new buildings in low-density areas and allows buildings to contain more homes. As the proposal finally arrives at Portland’s city council today for the first of two high-stakes public hearings, it’s also the most significant zoning reform project in the United States or Canada. Over the...Read more » -
Strategic Messaging