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Ugly by Law
Cars have shaped much of the North American West, including Cascadia, where drive-through restaurants, shopping centers, highway strip malls, and single-family neighborhoods miles from commercial services dominate much of the urban and suburban landscape. Less obvious to the casual observer is the impact that parking regulations have had on architectural forms. Cities have established parking regulations, often called off-street parking minimums, for each possible land use. When you build a...Read more » -
What’s in Your Garage?
I have not owned a car in seven years, but I do own a garage. It’s pictured above. In fact, I am legally required to own an off-street parking space; that’s written in the land-use code for my city, Seattle, as for virtually every city. The driveway that leads to my garage, meanwhile, eliminates almost exactly one parking space from my street. Parking in front of a driveway is illegal,...Read more » -
WSJ on Vancouver’s add-on dwellings
Today’s Wall Street Journal includes a front-page feature on Vancouver, BC’s secondary suites and laneway houses and a video interview with Conor Dougherty, the author. The piece includes a nice Sightline quote; we were a major source for it. (Unfortunately, the full article is behind a pay wall.) To get a sense of how America will pack more people into its cities, head north to an alley that runs behind...Read more » -
Faces of Sightline, Then and Now
In the spirit of reflection that comes along with any special anniversary, Sightline staff have taken a moment (a very humbling moment) to dig up photos of ourselves from twenty years ago. You might compare them with our current staff photos to appreciate yet another facet of the organization’s improvement over the course of our two decades’ time. Who’s up first? Our fearless leader, Alan, who joked that, in fact,...Read more » -
Ambre Energy: Caveat Investor
Would-be coal exporter Ambre Energy faces mounting financial, regulatory and other challenges that make it highly unlikely that the company will deliver on its promises.Read more » -
Congrats, KC
Well this is cool: Sightline’s longtime friend, KC Golden, just won a Heinz Award for his work on climate and clean energy policy. It’s a well-deserved honor for one of the Northwest’s leading lights. We’re pleased as punch for our pals at Climate Solutions where KC serves as policy director. Here at Sightline, we’ve been fortunate to work closely with KC on a range of initiatives over the years. In...Read more » -
Legalizing Clotheslines
Elizabeth Morris and her family bought their house in the High Point neighborhood for a reason. It’s been touted internationally as Seattle’s premier “green community” and for mixing Seattle Housing Authority rental properties and private home ownership. It’s a compact, walkable, mixed-income, energy-efficient, green-built neighborhood peppered with bicycle commuters and rain barrels. So Morris was shocked to find that at High Point, clotheslines are banned. “Homeowners have even been warned...Read more » -
Replacing an Unsafe Fire-safety Test for Couches
Editor’s note: This post is a compilation of a series of posts on toxic couches, taken from Sightline’s latest report on Making Sustainability Legal. This week, California’s Governor announced an end to the 12-second rule—a move which should pave the way to homes that are better protected from both fires and hazardous toxics. Sightline will be keeping a close eye as the state considers alternative flammability standards. The test is...Read more » -
Getting Out of Work’s Way
I got my Oregon Food Handler’s Badge. It took 52 minutes online and cost $10. Now I can work legally in Oregon restaurants! If, however, I wanted to work braiding hair African-style in Oregon, or kickboxing for prize money in Washington, or selling timeshares in Montana, or promoting concerts in Alaska, or as an athletic trainer in Idaho or as scores of other things across the Northwest, I’d have to...Read more » -
Does “BC” Mean “Bans Clotheslines”?
British Columbia prides itself on a commitment to renewable energy. Yet many British Columbians are forbidden from stringing up the simplest of solar devices: the clothesline. These laundry-drying bans are written into the bylaws of strata corporations, which govern most of British Columbia’s condominiums, apartments, duplexes, and townhomes. Condos are a big and fast-growing housing choice in the province. In just 20 years, the percentage of Vancouverites dwelling in them...Read more »
