Search Results
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Modular Construction: A Housing Affordability Game-Changer?
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Summer Update from the Thin Green Line
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Portland’s Latest Smart Idea: Meters That Charge What Parking Is Worth
Every time someone parks a car on the street outside Steven Lien’s downtown Portland shop, an invisible clock inside his business plan starts to tick. If they’re stopping by his men’s underwear store, of course, he’s happy. If they’re not, he’s eager for the minute they’ll finish their errand, get back in their car and move along. “I can definitely say that when we get more turns on the parking...Read more » -
Climate Change Could Ruin Drinking Water Plans for Lake Tapps
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Small Homes, Big Climate Dividends for Cascadia
This article is part three in a mini-series about the climate benefits of ADUs. If you are eager for more, check out part 1 and part 2. My son has chubby feet. There’s (almost) no getting around them, literally: most shoes simply do not fit. Luckily, a certain chain kids clothing store actually carries a line of shoes that fit his chunky trotters. And even more luckily, the store had...Read more » -
Weekend Reading 7/13/2018
Eric Sierra magazine profiles one of the heroes of the Thin Green Line, “The Unstoppable Don Steinke.” Increasingly, archeological evidence indicates that ancient peoples didn’t necessarily live short lives. To the contrary, they commonly were vigorous and healthy right through their 60s and into their 70s. Kelsey H. Full disclosure: as a very-recently previous female journalist, I tend to gravitate toward articles that discuss the journalism industry. Regardless, one of...Read more » -
Small Town Silicon Smelter Plan Tees Up Big Questions
Northwest communities have been fighting an onslaught of dirty energy proposals for nearly a decade, from coal terminals and oil pipelines to petrochemical refineries and natural gas facilities. Many of these projects marketed themselves as environmentally responsible, but they were all, in one way or another, expansions of the fossil fuel industry. They were dirty. But what to make of a big industrial project proposal—one that uses coal and creates...Read more » -
Weekend Reading 6/22/2018
Eric Freight trains may someday soon stretch as long as three miles. Writing for the Washington Post, David Moscrop makes the case that Canada is not your utopia. It’s good context for American readers who may be struggling to make sense of Justin Trudeau’s grotesque support for the Trans Mountain Pipeline (which isn’t mentioned in the article) or climate science-denying Doug Ford’s recent election to premier of Ontario. Vox explains...Read more » -
If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home by Now: How Neighborhoods Can Kick Car Habits
This is part two in a three part mini-series about how accessory dwelling units—in-law apartments and backyard cottages—change the urban carbon footprint. You can read part one here. Zoning in most Cascadian cities is anti-climate. Single-family zoning—the most sprawling residential zoning type—plasters swaths of the region’s urban areas. Seattle is prime offender: over half of its land is covered by single-family zoning. Bellevue, Bellingham, Eugene, Portland, Salem, and Spokane...Read more » -
The Voting System Democrats and Republicans Are Afraid Of
Maine Governor Paul LePage called ranked voting “the most horrific thing in the world” and said he would not certify Maine’s primary election, which used ranked ballots. In a world that includes genocide and poverty, not to mention deep fried twinkies, what could make LePage call ranked choice voting “the most horrific thing”? Well, ranked choice voting would have forced LePage to win a majority before he could become governor. LePage was elected with less than 40 percent of...Read more »