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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.

Democracy + Elections

Voters Want Fewer Elections: Here’s How to Do That

California, Arizona, and Nevada have shifted to even-year elections, boosting turnout and saving money—with lessons for other states.
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Housing + Cities

Washington Lot Split Bills Would Create Starter Homes, Support Community Stability

HB 1245 and SB 5364 advance affordability, financial security, wealth-building, and other benefits for Washingtonians in all kinds of communities.
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Housing + Cities

Washington Bill Would Boost In-law Apartments Throughout the State

Evidence is more conclusive than ever that the reforms proposed in HB 1337 are effective.
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Housing + Cities

The Vast Potential of Pairing Transit and Homes in Washington State

SB 5466 could support hundreds of thousands of needed new homes closer to where residents work, learn, and recreate.
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Climate + Energy

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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Housing + Cities

New Washington Bill Would Legalize More Homes and Businesses by Transit

Eliminating parking mandates is a simple solution to a big problem.
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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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Montana’s Plurality Problem

Political gamesmanship and the spoiler effect prevent majority winners in some of the Treasure State’s most impactful elections.
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Despite Candidate Dropouts, Alaska Elections Are Becoming More Competitive

A dozen candidates removed themselves from 2024’s general election, but voters still have plenty to choose from.
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Ranked Choice Voting Already Passed Its First Test in Oregon

Benton County and Corvallis transitioned smoothly to the revised method.
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A Guide to Alaska’s November 2024 Election

Ranked choice voting for president and other offices, plus deciding on whether to keep open primaries and ranked choice voting.
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An “Incredible Explosion in Participation”

Democracy Vouchers have fast unlocked a much larger, more diverse group of political donors, says scholar Jennifer Heerwig, who will speak at Town Hall Seattle on October 17.
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Open Primaries and Ranked Choice Voting Strengthened Moderate Republicans in Alaska’s Legislature

Fewer hardliners won office, leading to an overwhelmingly bipartisan Senate majority, a hard-fought win on education funding, and the ability to neutralize culture warriors.
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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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Unlock Middle Housing with Parking Reform

As long as parking is required, smaller, lower-cost homes are still illegal.
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The Missing Piece of Oregon’s Housing Package: Legalizing Apartments

Gov. Kotek’s SB 1537 will do several useful things, but no longer directly lifts any local bans on apartment buildings. What happened?
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Now Fully Funded, Portland’s Affordability Mandate Should Be a Model

Underfunded inclusionary zoning fails, but fully funded programs can be a boost to below-market housing and a fiscal bargain.
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British Columbia Just Took First Place in Pro-Housing Policy

In just one month in 2023, the province legalized fourplexes, allowed apartment buildings up to 20 stories near all transit stations, eliminated public hearings for plan-compliant buildings, ended parking requirements in transit-oriented districts, and announced that it is considering single-stair reform.
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A Housing Agenda for Oregon: More Homes without Higher Prices

The usual way to get more homes built is wait for prices go up. But there is another way.
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Inside Minnesota’s People over Parking Act, with Chris Meyer

Making the case for statewide elimination of parking mandates.
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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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Sightline news picks

Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.

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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Only have a few minutes each week? Our weekly wrap-up delivers the latest Sightline research and solutions, plus top headlines to keep movers and shakers in the know. 

Sightline month in review

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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. 

Issue insights from Sightline experts

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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