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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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Housing + Cities

Parking Reform Legalized Most of the New Homes in Buffalo and Seattle

Studies from two very different cities showed the same result.
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Housing + Cities

Anchorage Adopts Model ADU Reforms

Alaska’s largest city just deregulated bonus homes in a big way, a step to right-sizing its housing options to locals’ changing needs.
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Democracy + Elections

Ranked Choice Voting Would Help Oregonians Vote for their True Favorite

HB 2004 in Oregon’s House of Representatives could bring voters more voice and more choice.
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Housing + CitiesMessaging + Strategy

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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Climate + Energy

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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Housing + Cities

Habitat for Humanity Goes All In for Multifamily Housing

But it needs relaxed parking mandates, widescale zoning reform, and public funding to make the most of the opportunity.
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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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One of Washington’s Anti-Climate Initiatives, 2066, Eked Out a Victory. Why?

And how leaders can still help families and businesses electrify for safer, cleaner buildings in line with the state’s climate values.
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Four Ways Gov.-elect Ferguson and Washington Lawmakers Can Build on the State’s Big Climate Win

After Washingtonians overwhelmingly voted to keep the Climate Commitment Act, their leaders have powerful opportunities ahead.
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Correcting the Record on Initiative 2066

What the Seattle Times editorial board got wrong about the Washington ballot measure.
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The Contradiction of a Split Vote on Washington’s Anti-Climate Ballot Initiatives

Initiatives 2066 and 2117 are closely linked, but polls and endorsements diverge.
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(Re)explaining Washington’s Climate Commitment Act

Understanding the cap-and-invest law that Washington Initiative 2117 would repeal.
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In Some Cities, Most Voters Put Someone They Want on City Council—But Not Portland

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Voters in Southwest Portland Neighborhoods Have More Influence on City Council Elections than Those East of 82nd Avenue

Voters in neighborhoods with more people of color are less likely to elect their preferred councilors.
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Portland: Why Risk Gerrymandering When You Could Go Proportional?

Un-gerrymandered districts would keep racial groups in the minority across the city.
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Want to Give Portlanders of Color a Voice on City Council? Districts Won’t Help

But proportional ranked choice voting would reliably give voters of color a voice in City Hall.
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Everything You Wanted to Know about Portland Charter Review but Were Afraid to Ask

The third ever Charter Commission is meeting right now to propose amendments to Portland’s city charter.
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Some Good News on State Voting Rights Bills

Most states are moving to make it easier to vote, but a few states are moving backwards.
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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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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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Three Ways Anchorage Leaders Could Unlock More Homes

The ordinances under consideration offer commonsense solutions to address the city’s longstanding housing shortage.
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Parking Mandates Are Keeping Kids Out of Daycare

But cities can ditch these arbitrary rules and help families out of the daycare desert.
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In Race after Race, People Keep Electing Pro-Housing Politicians

Contrary to some misconceptions, most voters seem to understand that housing is good.
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To Fix Inclusionary Zoning, Fund It

Lessons from places that are solving the biggest problem in abundant housing politics and policy.
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Vancouver Shows Just How Much it Costs to Ban Apartments

Driving problems from inequality to sprawl to pollution, restrictions against anything but single-detached houses have to go.
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Hurricane Harvey 1 Year Later: How to Talk about Climate Change and Weather

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How Sarcasm Can Improve Your Climate Change Conversations

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Climate Change is Wedge Issue for 2018 Midterms, Polls Indicate

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More Homes, All Shapes and Sizes, for All Our Neighbors

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Three Steps to Better Climate Conversations

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Talking Housing Affordability: Getting from “Me” to “We”

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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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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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