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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.

Our Work

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

Housing + CitiesMessaging + Strategy

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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Housing + CitiesMessaging + Strategy

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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Housing + Cities

UPDATED: 50 Housing Bills and How They Fared in Olympia

In 2023, Washington state leaders considered dozens of bills across the critical policy pillars of supply, stability, and subsidy.
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Democracy + Elections

Hey, Olympia! If You Let Them, Cities Could Double Turnout in Local Elections

The case for freeing Washington cities to run elections on Election Day.
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Housing + Cities

Yes, Oregon, There Is a Way to Build Enough Homes

The state has done it before—with more apartments and even a smaller construction workforce.
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Housing + Cities

With Flexibility Over Parking, Oregon Homebuilders Get to Work

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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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‘Majority Rules’ Brings Election Reform to the Big Screen

The documentary digs into Alaska’s 2022 launch of open primaries and ranked choice voting—and how the changes shook up the status quo.
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Ranked Choice Voting Is Simple—Election Laws Are Not

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When Do Cities Hold Elections?

A US Dataset on Election Consolidation
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Voter participation jumped when Alaska opened its primaries

2022 turnout for every candidate contest reached a decade high.
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Spoiler Alert! Majority Winners Are No Guarantee

Oregon’s past statewide and federal elections are full of spoiler candidates and non-majority winners.
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The Bizarre Red-Blue Politics of Election Consolidation

And the chance for stronger democracy it creates.
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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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Washington’s Most Parking-Burdened Towns and Cities

A new Sightline report details the arcane, arbitrary, and pernicious rules blocking homes and businesses across the state.
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Twice As Many Small Towns Have Eliminated Parking Mandates As Large Cities

Three hometown stories show why parking reform is for everyone.
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Five Reasons Four-Story Apartment Buildings Are Good

Especially in Oregon and the rest of the Pacific Northwest.
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Five Flaws That Would Destine WA’s TOD Bills to Backfire

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Can We Go Beyond Car Primacy—To Policymaking that Serves People and Places First?

Non-driver Anna Zivarts’ case for steering away from car dependency
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Audit Stretches to Find Trouble in Portland’s Affordability Mandate

Should people who qualify for subsidized housing get to have home offices? And other odd questions.
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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.
Read More

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.
Read More

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. 

Sightline weekly

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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

End of the month.

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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