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Researching the region’s most pressing sustainability challenges

We provide citizens and decision-makers with the policy analysis and practical tools they need to advance an economy and way of life that are environmentally sound, economically vibrant, and socially just.

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All Sightline Institute research is available to you to cite, use, and share, per our free use policy.

Housing + Cities

Parking Reform Alone Can Boost Homebuilding by 40 to 70 Percent

More evidence that parking flexibility is key to housing abundance.
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Democracy + Elections

The History of Washington’s Wandering Election Day

Despite intending to choose a voting day that’s best for voters, timing could still be easier—and legislators can fix that.
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Democracy + Elections

A Magic Boost for Low-Turnout City Elections

Seattle’s 2024 special city council election showed just how easily local voter participation could skyrocket.
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Democracy + Elections

Reintroducing: Your Local Library, a Critical Tool for Democracy

A Q&A with author and advocate Shamichael Hallman on how public libraries can help us rebuild civic trust and connection—if we redefine our relationship with them. 
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Democracy + Elections

Election Reform Measures Lost; Election Reform Didn’t

What to learn—and what to leave behind—from the 2024 ballot measure losses in Cascadia.
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Climate + Energy

Lessons for Washington State Leaders as Another US Oil Refinery Closes

In a state home to five oil refineries, a forthcoming, taxpayer-funded study can answer some central questions.
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It’s Time for Cascadia to Start Pruning the Gas System and Electrifying Whole Neighborhoods

Early efforts in California, Colorado, and New York offer lessons to get started.
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Washington’s Refinery Communities Just Got a Transition Boost

A quarter-million-dollar budget proviso will fund a study to map opportunities beyond oil.
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The Northwest Needs More Midsize Solar

While distributed solar can’t solve the region’s transmission woes alone, Idaho and Washington would be smart to follow Oregon’s lead in boosting it for a cleaner future.
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What Washington, DC, Can Learn from the Other Washington about Climate Policy

Six lessons from the Evergreen State for America’s national leaders.
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It’s Time to Stop Subsidizing New Gas Pipes

Regulators across Cascadia should end line extension allowances, the subsidies ratepayers finance that expand utilities’ pipeline infrastructure.
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Is There a Future for Gas Utilities? It Could Be Heating and Cooling Your Home (from the Ground)

“GeoNetworks” are being piloted in New York and Massachusetts. Cascadia should be next.
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Approval Voting Is a Risky Prospect for Seattle

It’s a novice system when it comes to real-world elections, where ranked choice voting is a battle-tested pro.
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San Juan County (WA) Council Blocks Ranked Choice Voting and Other Charter Amendments from November Ballot

In a setback for county residents and democracy reforms sprouting up across Cascadia, Councilors claimed without explanation that the amendments did not comply with provisions of the Charter.
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In Alaska’s Special Election, a Bipartisan Mindset Makes Sense

Pandering to the center is actually a viable strategy in the race to serve out Rep. Don Young’s term in the US House.
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A Guide to Alaska’s August 16 Election

One ballot, two elections: The pick-one midterm primaries and the ranked choice special election for US House are on the same ballot.
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A Berry Alaska-Style Election

Practice Alaska’s new election system—with the state’s iconic berries!
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Why Alaska’s Top-Four Open Primaries Are Better Than Top-Two

Santa Claus is on the ballot, but that’s only one of the reasons.
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Four Ways Context Matters for Wildfire News Coverage

Reporters can help people see the forest, even when the trees are on fire.
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Blazing a Trail: The Vital Role of Wildfire Hazard Maps

Sophisticated and high-resolution maps such as Oregon’s are essential tools for thriving in a fiery future.
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What’s Misunderstood about Indigenous Cultural Fire Is Sovereignty

Lessons from the Karuk Tribe.
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Oregon’s Land Use Law Creates Wildfire-Adapted Communities

Bend residents have shown us how.
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The Best Wildfire Solution We’re Not Using

Three ways to curb the sprawl that traps us on a wildfire treadmill.
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We’re Stuck on a Wildfire Treadmill

And to escape, we need more fire, not less.
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What Does It Take to Pass Statewide Zoning Reform?

Brian Hanlon (California YIMBY), Mary Kyle McCurdy (1000 Friends of Oregon), and Alex Brennan (Futurewise) discuss recent zoning bills in their respective West Coast states and what it takes to build coalitions for legislative wins.
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Turning Environmentalists into Housing Advocates

Because “housing retention is climate work.”
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Gender, Sexuality, and Abundant Housing: Addressing Housing Precarity in the LGBTQ Community

Nancy Haque (Basic Rights Oregon), Esme D. Miller, Dan Reed, and moderator Sarah Mirk discuss the role that gender and sexuality have played—and continue to play—in access to affordable housing.
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Winning Abundant Housing: The UK, Germany, and France

It’s not just national vs. local control. It’s also the incentives for local authorities.
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The Present and Future of ADUs and Other Homes in Our Backyards

Kol Peterson (Accessory Dwelling Strategies), Annie Fryman (Adobu), Eli Spevak (Orange Splot), and Stewart Hulick (Urban Nest Realty) discuss what’s new in the world of ADUs and other backyard homes in a YIMBYtown 2022 panel.
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How First Nations and YIMBYs Are Changing the Housing Game in Vancouver, BC

Squamish Nation Council Chairperson Khelsilem and Abundant Housing Vancouver’s Danny Oleksiuk discuss a novel approach to homebuilding that benefits the Squamish First Nation community.
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Video: Housing Solutions Are Climate Solutions

In 90 seconds, how zoning for more home choices in our cities helps affordability and cuts climate pollution.
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Poll: Washington Voters Out Ahead Of Local Leaders On Zoning Reforms

Statewide survey shows broad voter receptivity—across partisan, demographic, and geographic lines—to zoning changes to allow more homes like duplexes and small apartment buildings.
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Video: Zoning for All Kinds of Affordable Homes

Cities need all kinds of affordability, both subsidized housing and naturally affordable, modest-sized, market-rate homes.
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Recipes for Successful Abundant Housing Communications

In this panel discussion, three expert communicators share how they’ve crafted compelling narratives, engaged coalitions, and garnered press attention for housing affordability and climate policy.
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How to Tear Down the Invisible Walls in Your City’s Zoning Code

10 tips for zoning reformers from a town that legalized housing.
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Americans Want to Vote As Trump Does (By Mail), Not As He Says

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Cut through the noise and get the news you can use. Sightline editors—real people—hand-pick headlines from 150+ outlets to keep you on top of the stories shaping our region’s communities, economy, and environment. Reader favorite; formerly known as Sightline Daily. 

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Get a month’s worth of solutions research and key headlines, plus a personal note from a Sightline team member connecting the dots and putting our work into the larger news context. 

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Hear directly from our team of experts. They take you on a deeper dive into Sightline’s solutions, translating their latest analysis and sharing behind-the-scenes context for the research—as well as what to watch for next. Delivered about monthly.

Housing + Cities

Parking, zoning, sprawl, pollution, property rights, commutes, rents, and home prices—they all intersect where a legacy of exclusionary rules and regulations restrict homebuilding and fuel our housing shortage. Hear from Dan Bertolet, Catie Gould, Michael Andersen, and others exploring solutions for low-carbon, affordable, accessible cities and towns.  

Climate + Energy

From electrification to decarbonization, carbon pricing to grid upgrades, Emily Moore and team decode the policy solutions to power a greener, more equitable, and robust economy for the region’s future.  

Democracy + Elections

Protecting voter choice and voice with clear-eyed, independent analysis and models of success—Alan Durning, Jay Lee, Shannon Grimes, Al Vanderklipp, and others send you the latest elections solutions and opportunities, from Alaska to Oregon and inland to Montana and Idaho. 

Farms + Forests

Where sustainability meets stewardship of our natural resources and food systems. Get dispatches from actual farms and forests—and the policy discussions that determine their health and climate impacts. 

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