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Event: Building the Affordable City
Seattle is at a crossroads: will we grow into an affordable, thriving city for the many? Or an elite playground for the wealthy few? Please join Sightline on September 20th for a special event: “Building the Affordable City.” Leading voices on urbanism, Kim-Mai Cutler of San Francisco and Daniel Kay Hertz of Chicago, will discuss their respective cities’ struggles and successes with growth and change, and the potential for Seattleites to strike a...Read more » -
Panel: Does Big Money Have Too Much Influence in Politics?
Last fall, Sightline Institute executive director Alan Durning joined Western Washington University (WWU) political science professor Sarah Weir, as well as Washington Policy Center president Dann Mead Smith in a panel discussion of campaign finance in American politics, moderated by WWU’s Paul Dunn. Below is the full panel discussion. You can also watch it here. The discussion includes a lively debate on the role of money in politics and whether publicly...Read more » -
How Seattle Killed Micro-housing, Again
Last year, I described how Seattle killed micro-housing through a series of legislative actions and administrative policy shifts that enacted a virtual ban on congregate micro-housing, pushed developers to build a larger and pricier form of micro-housing known as Small Efficiency Dwelling Units (SEDUs), inflated the size of SEDUs through new rules on minimum unit sizes, and denied SEDUs access to incentive programs that would make their rents more affordable....Read more » -
Event: Sightline Talks Money in Politics in Bellingham
A series of free panel discussions next week will cover several salient topics in the wake of the 2016 elections. The annual Ralph Munro Institute for Civic Education at Western Washington University this year takes on: money in politics and campaign finance; media, elections, and public perception; the homelessness crisis; and mass incarceration. Sightline Institute executive director Alan Durning will join Whatcom County Councilman and WWU political science professor Todd...Read more » -
How Seattle Killed Micro-Housing
Micro-housing—dorm-room-sized apartments in desirable, walkable neighborhoods—isn’t for everyone, but it most definitely is for Anna Rogers. Anna is a recent college graduate who grew up in the suburbs of Seattle and now works a retail job while looking to start a career that harnesses her passion for politics. Thanks to a building called OneOne6 on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, Anna can afford to live her twenty-something dream of her own private...Read more » -
Top 10 of 2015
Wow, what a big year for Sightline! We helped pass a historic democracy reform initiative in Seattle, dove into urban policy issues to create more affordable housing, and continued our fight towards making polluters pay in Cascadia and beyond. Plus, the Thin Green Line grew stronger than ever this year, thanks to Sightline exposing the torrent of terrible financial news for the coal industry, our continuous leading research on oil...Read more » -
Video: The Power of Small
Since when did tiny houses need their own TV show? Average residential space per person in the United States has soared nearly 400 percent since 1950. In his keynote address at the 2015 Build Small, Live Large conference at Portland State University last month, Sightline Institute director Alan Durning discussed how living small has not only been normal until very recently but is still normal for the vast majority of...Read more » -
Ten DIY Christmas Trees that Reuse, Recycle, Upcycle, and Craft
Editor’s Note December 2017: Are you looking for something festive to place presents under? Here are ten green alternative trees that reuse and recycle. Do you have a favorite DIY tree that we missed or other holiday traditions that make your celebration more sustainable? Add them to the comments below. Happy holidays! Now that we’ve addressed the carbon footprint question on real versus fake Christmas trees, we couldn’t help but wonder...Read more » -
How Building Small Means Living Large
In Alan Durning’s keynote address at the 2015 Build Small, Live Large conference at Portland State University last month, Sightline Institute director Alan Durning discussed how living small has not only been normal until very recently but is still normal for the vast majority of the globe. And check out the following for more information about building small: Alan’s 2013 ebook, Unlocking Home, discussing several key obstacles to affordable housing that...Read more » -
Weekend Reading 10/23/15
Kristin Canada’s Liberal Party Victory is a big deal for democracy—the Liberal Party vowed to get rid of Canada’s undemocratic first-past-the-post voting system. If it does, the US and UK will look pretty lonely, clinging to an outdated voting system. But the UK’s shockingly undemocratic election results might be creating momentum for reform there, too. Why does the US have gerrymandered districts and barriers to voting that let one party...Read more »
