The Urbanist

A small number of cities across central Puget Sound are pulling along the entire region when it comes to keeping pace with long-term housing growth targets, according to new data released by the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC).

I was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to immigrant parents.

It cost me three dollars to get to City Hall the day I joined many others to fight for the future of Seattle transit.

The property owners behind a potential cross-laminated timber highrise project in Downtown Seattle aren't shirking away in response to considerable pushback against their project – they're going taller.

This week, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced a shift in the City’s strategy for addressing homelessness by executing a “neighborhood-centered, by-name” framework to help most effectively use the new shelter spaces that will continue to open next year.

Some voters in the 32nd district might be stumped filling out their ballots.

Is the promise of connecting Ballard to the rest of Sound Transit's regional network on the ropes?

In addition to our standard Seattle social tomorrow (October 22), we're joining Nilu Jenks (who we endorsed) for a canvass on November 1st in Northgate.

In the middle of a Seattle budget season marked by councilmember complaints and hyperbole, Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck has stepped forward to announce her “Seattle Stands With Survivors, Every Step” campaign.

Slow progress in advancing plans for the future of Aurora Avenue appears to be leading to mounting tensions between state legislators and the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).

Changes to state law intended to broaden access to more affordable types of housing are reverberating in some unexpected places, including within Puget Sound's smallest jurisdictions.

The temperatures are dropping across Puget Sound this week but the weather is still great for getting outside, especially in the weeks before the time change and the full arrival of the Big Dark.

The City of Bremerton is debating how to use the newly completed, $4 million Quincy Square, located at the heart of downtown.

In the wake of accelerated immigration enforcement by U.S.

A new 20-unit apartment building in the Central District is set to make history as the first new development constructed by Seattle's three-year-old Social Housing Developer (SSHD).

Updated plans for the future RapidRide R bus line between Downtown Seattle and Rainier Beach released this week include only a few changes to previous iterations of the project, with significant stop consolidation still planned along much of the eight-mile

After being unable to reach a contract agreement with the Washington State Department of Public Defense (OPD), the venerable Washington Appellate Project (WAP) may have to close its doors at the end of the year.

This midterm election will be a big deal, and not just because Democrats could retake Congress from Republicans and provide a check on Trump’s power at the federal level.

Seeing a street festival take over University Way NE through the heart of the U District is a common sight throughout most of the year.

Anthony E.

The Seattle City Attorney’s Office (CAO) has announced two new programs affecting its handling of misdemeanor criminal cases in Seattle: a new community court called Connections Court and a new repeat offender system called the High-Priority Repeat Offens…

The next phase of zoning changes planned to implement Seattle's twenty-year housing and job growth plan are on track to be delayed another year, according to a city briefing provided last week to the city's planning commission.

Pierce County voters have a big decision to make this November.

Sound Transit has officially reached the 30% design milestone on the West Seattle Link project, celebrating the occasion by releasing a new flyover video that shows renderings of the entire 3.9 mile planned light rail line between SoDo and Alaska Junction.

The Bellevue City Council is on the cusp of approving a pair of new funding sources to bolster transportation infrastructure later this fall, but the fight over what exactly those new dollars should fund is far from settled.

Depending how the November election goes, the residents of the 46th Legislative District in Northwest Seattle could have a new state representative after Rep.

Last week, two newly released reports highlighted the vulnerabilities and sloppy implementation surrounding the Seattle Police Department’s (SPD) real-time crime center.

Civic leaders in Mukilteo are advancing a vision for a transformed front porch for their city, work that could turn a collection of vacant, underutilized lots into a "vibrant waterfront village" with public amenities.

This month, in addition to our standard Seattle social (October 22), we're hosting a Northshore Social in Bothell on October 13.

King County Executive Girmay Zahilay has proposed to advance a significant portion of the funding for Seattle's RapidRide R Line, in the hopes of achieving an "accelerated delivery timeline."

The due date is approaching for engineering firms to submit cost-saving ideas for the Ballard Link light rail extension, but some transit advocates are criticizing Sound Transit's process and questioning whether the agency is actually open to new ideas and

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has unveiled proposals that would represent the largest expansion of paid on-street parking in the city at least a decade, impacting the Alaska Junction and Upper Queen Anne business districts.

We urban planning and transit enthusiasts tend not to think of the street in terms of narrative.

Do arterial roads belong in city parks?

How Seattle’s permitting system results in inequitable requirements for historically redlined communities.

What had been billed as a "small community event" turned into a major party Wednesday as hundreds of transit fans converged on Sound Transit's newest light rail station in North Seattle to celebrate its grand opening.

Fees for building and land use permits in Seattle are set to see double-digit increases for the second year in a row, as the city grapples with lower permit volumes amid a bleak development environment.

Everywhere in King County, tens of thousands earn poverty-level wages in stores, restaurants, hotels, healthcare facilities, and as janitors, landscapers, and more.

Kettle floats deeper housing cuts to pay for it.

Today, Pinehurst Station is officially a stop on both the 1 Line and 2 Line, bringing another Seattle neighborhood into the fold of the region's growing light rail system.

It was the best times; it was the worst of times.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is making "dynamic changes" to its budget for the rest of 2026 all the way through 2028 to sidestep a major looming budget shortfall.

Last week, Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor made an appearance at Seattle Town Hall in conversation with Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson to promote their new book, End Times Fascism, which has become an international bestseller.

The tucked-away enclave of Clyde Hill is poised to create a new affordable housing incentive program, prompted by a legal challenge that city leaders have been attempting to settle for over a year.

Train riders across the Pacific Northwest are just a few days away from a new era of regional train travel, with the first set of next-generation Airo trains poised to enter service this Wednesday.

Ray Delahanty of CityNerd did a video on the 2 Line, now that the light rail corridor spans Lake Washington connecting Seattle, Bellevue, and Redmond – and stretching north to Lynnwood in a segment overlapping with the 1 Line.

Our tour guides will be local advocates who made Pinehurst Station possible and those fighting for more housing nearby.

South Sound transit advocates and elected officials came together Thursday night in Tacoma to officially kick off the campaign for a ballot measure that could transform bus service across Pierce County.

This Wednesday, September 30th, North Seattle communities will celebrate as Pinehurst Station opens to riders.

The Sound Transit Board of Directors voted unanimously to grant agency CEO Dow Constantine a three-year extension on his contract on Thursday.