Posted Tue, Apr 24, 5:18 p.m.

I'm aware of that. Currently, we are zoned for 3x the residential units and 2.5x the employment space forecasted for 2024. This does not count the significant upzoning occurring in South Lake Union or the 130,000 parcels now eligible for ADU/DADU in the city. We still have adequate zoning even ...

Posted Tue, Apr 24, 12:58 p.m.

When we discuss density, those who argue it today -- particularly the folks on Seattle's Planning Commission -- forget we decided where to put Seattle's density two decades ago. They also forget all the data available to us showing this decision is working. We have planty of zoning room under ...

Posted Thu, Mar 29, 9:12 a.m.

Thanks so much for this illuminating account of those events. Fascinating. - David Miller

Posted Fri, Jan 13, 9:34 a.m.

Kent was a Seattle treasure. It's no coincidence that most of what people outside Seattle praise about our city largely came about due to the concerted volunteer efforts of the people who were in the room celebrating his life. Kent's consistent drumbeat about taking care to not abandon what makes ...

Posted Tue, Dec 20, 8:47 a.m.

Will Roger EVER get a story right? FACT: This is not about density. The Sustainable, Livable Roosevelt Plan (SLRP) created by the neighborhood has MORE density than the Mayor's proposal. FACT: The Roosevelt neighborhood lobbied VERY hard to get the station in their business district. This is not a case ...

Posted Wed, Nov 23, 9:25 a.m.

When the Democrats we elect as the majority party in the Legislature do not have the courage to pass a budget that balances cuts to critical services and education with revenue-generating sources, the Legislature has the moral responsibility to provide more flexible revenue-generating programs to the county and local level. ...

Posted Thu, Nov 17, 9:20 a.m.

McGinn is done regardless of his relationship with Occupy. The movement for a State Bank has been around since 2008. I'll give you the move to get Seattle to change accounts to a local bank, though that has also been proposed before. If you want to have an impact, decide ...

Posted Tue, Nov 15, 9:47 a.m.

Thanks, Knute, for this story. It give those who did not know Kent a nice picture of what he was about. When I told Kent I was running for City Council, he warned me about the process even as he thanked me sincerely for giving it a try. At various ...

Posted Thu, Nov 10, 8:44 a.m.

Having never seen Roger even once on the campaign trail, I'm not surprised he got this wrong. "Their message was simple to deliver: why pay more to drive?" That was never the message of the Streets and Sidewalks for Seattle Campaign. If that had been our message, our NO campaign ...

Posted Wed, Nov 9, 10:23 a.m.

The Families & Ed levy won because of Tim Burgess' strong insistence and hard work on a novel accountability program for spending. Voters could be assured of where the money was going and that money would be redirected if it was not achieving its desired goals. That kind of accountability ...

Posted Thu, Nov 3, 10:55 a.m.

I'd disagree the conversation about TBD Prop 1 has been muted. We're still fielding requests, less than a week before the ballot due date, to talk to groups. The Pro side is spinning madly, issuing flashy and expensive mailers filled with inaccurate information. We're just as madly trying to get ...

Posted Mon, Oct 31, 10 a.m.

The only time SDOT is safety conscious is when they cite their flawed interpretations of published safety studies as the reason why neighborhoods can't have painted crosswalks. If I had $100 every time I've heard a SDOT staffer tell a neighborhood resident "crosswalks are dangerous for pedestrians", we'd have enough ...

Posted Fri, Oct 28, 9:35 a.m.

The oversight and programmatic controls in this version of the Families & Education Levy are novel approaches to spending at City Hall. Instead of the typical spending pattern of shovelling money out to groups based only on aspirational goals and ill-defined deliverables, this levy funds specific goals and mandates specific ...

Posted Thu, Oct 27, 12:11 p.m.

The number of transit corridors that will be improved is as few as four, not eight, on two of the three spending plans released by SDOt in the last two months. Undisclosed at the time this was placed on the ballot is outside funding is required to do this. Speed ...

Posted Tue, Oct 25, 9:04 a.m.

"While the package is not perfect, we do not have the time to allow ourselves to let a quest for the perfect blind us to the good." That's what was said in 2007 when McGinn and O'Brien were fighting an imbalanced roads and transit measure. They won, and successfully brought ...

Posted Thu, Oct 20, 10:42 a.m.

FWIW, reducing pay for Councilmembers turns them into part-timers. That's not working out so well for the School Board, is it?

Posted Thu, Oct 20, 9:20 a.m.

Districts and publicly-funded campaigns. 5 Councilmembers elected by districts, four elected at large. Commission sets the districts. Councilmembers work out amongst themselves who will be Distrcted and who will remain at large, backstopped by the Commission if the Councilmembers can't come to an agreement. Existing Councilmembers placed into a district ...

Posted Mon, Oct 3, 10:05 a.m.

Roger, you really need to give up the idea that because you once worked on neighborhood plans you're a neighborhood guy. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, out here buys it. The neighborhood movement is doing just fine, thank you, despite concerted efforts to kill it. Every day, committed VOLUNTEERS help ...

Posted Mon, Sep 26, 11:07 a.m.

Wall Street Reform: 1. Eliminate the dividend tax cut paseed during the Bush Administration. It single-handedly reduces investment in new ideas, hosed the IPO market, and financially rewards companies for hoarding cash instead of investing in the future. 2. Curb the use of leverage in our commodity markets as part ...

Posted Thu, Sep 22, 8:49 a.m.

"Should the deal somehow fizzle before then, it can be recast as a rally, and an angry mob of Pioneer Square architects, liquored up on chardonnay and armed with very sharp-looking eyeglasses, can storm the stadium." What a great line. Fair warning that I'm going to borrow it, with credit ...

Posted Tue, Sep 20, 11:49 a.m.

This is an excellent example of the knee-jerk reaction Roger and his ilk have to anything that comes from a neighborhood group. They automatically think it is wrong because they falsely believe neighborhoods don't believe in increased density. The SLR Plan (nicely called SLuRP by Sally Clark at last night's ...

Posted Tue, Aug 30, 8:55 a.m.

"Clearly a modest fee charged to the auto-dealerships (not on consumers or taxpayers, and not passed through to consumers) to fund sufficient auditor services is responsible fiscal policy regardless of one’s party affiliation, so I hope to attract GOP support for this idea." Reuv, you really need to spend more ...

Posted Wed, Aug 24, 12:31 p.m.

@fosterkelly - I'm aware of the added carrying costs that may or may not be implied as well as the costs of advocacy for upzones. I was trying to make a simple point for people who are reading this who think housing prices are simple economics 101. Either way, rezoning ...

Posted Wed, Aug 24, 8 a.m.

And let's dispose of this density=affordability thing, too. First define "affordability" as a house that sells below market average price for it's type. (Numbers are illustrative, not intended to represent current market conditions.) Example A Developer buys LR2 lot for $650,000 Developer builds townhome six pack for $900,000 Developer sells ...

Posted Wed, Aug 24, 7:09 a.m.

Roger reads the land use code and concludes we need more density? News alert: Dog bites man. DPD needs to be reformed to provide more certainty that the code interpretation they chose yesterday will be the same one they choose tomorrow. The problem isn't the code. The problem isn't neighborhood ...

Posted Tue, Aug 2, 8:47 a.m.

The surface option is NOT "much cheaper" for the citizens of Seattle. It is the most expensive option for Seattleites as the State has already said they will not fund a surface option. Surface-mess proponents need to quit harping on the downtown exit thing because removing downtown exits is exactly ...

Posted Thu, Jul 28, 9 a.m.

Seattle is unique in many ways, not the least of which is a forward-thinking plan adopted in the 1980s and subsequently copied all over the world. This plan concentrates in-city growth in urban villages to leave single-family homes intact. What Kent doesn't mention is RDG team members were behind the ...

Posted Thu, Jul 21, 10:24 a.m.

Roger, by no stretch of the imagination are you a "neighborhood advocate". Please quit referring to yourself as such. It tarnishes the long hours real neighborhood advocates have put in to make Seattle one of the most livable cities in America.

Posted Tue, Jul 19, 11:05 a.m.

Thanks for the info on the participants, "Guest". Not surprising there are no neighborhood representatives on there.

Posted Mon, Jul 18, 10:11 a.m.

Where is the roster of participants in this group?

Posted Fri, Jul 15, 12:36 p.m.

Alex, you can think ethically all you want but the state has been clear they won't pay for the street option -- as clear as the Attorney General and City Attorney have been that the cost overrun provision isn't enforceable. As for the rest, po-TAY-to, po-TAH-to. You can argue all ...

Posted Fri, Jul 15, 10:13 a.m.

I think Cary Moon is a great person and was thrilled when she won the Muni League award in 2009. I don't see this as an attack piece against Cary, but a topic the MSM should be writing more about concerning the contradictions in the anti-tunnel campaign. They love the ...

Posted Tue, Jul 5, 9:32 a.m.

When I read the headline on my email I thought, "Oh my gawd. Run to the window and look at the flying pigs because I actually agree with something Roger said." Whew, close call. Locating Seattle's schools in mixed-use development won't magically solve the problem we have in this city. ...

Posted Wed, Jun 15, 3:17 p.m.

@sjenner - The city issues the bonds, so the city is always on the hook for repayment. Roger's use of TIF suggests these bonds will easily be paid back through increased property taxes. As you note, using TIF requires three things to happen: 1. The properties in the upzoned area ...

Posted Wed, Jun 15, 9:44 a.m.

In the first three months of 2011, LINK had 1.65 million boardings. That works out to about 18,363 per day or about 9,184 people who ride it twice a day (to and from work). I'm aware there are a number of assumptions that could be incorrect in that math, but ...

Posted Thu, Jun 9, 11:36 a.m.

@nick - This is a view (increased energy prices create a move back to urban cores) widely held and reflected in the Puget Sound Regional Council's long-term population forecasts for urban areas. Fortunately, Seattle and most other urban areas in the Puget Sound region are already adequately zoned to handle ...

Posted Thu, Jun 9, 7:22 a.m.

These demographics are no surprise with the "experts" favored land use form actively trying to decrease in Seattle single family homes with meaningful protected private personal space (yards) that families desire. The more single family we push out of Seattle, the more we build in the 'burbs. As Seattle land ...

Posted Thu, May 12, 7:51 a.m.

As a graduate of WWU (Communications, 1990), changes to these programs need to proceed with caution. While many made fun of the "Outback of Da Farm" approach of Fairhaven, those of us who wandered into Fairhaven classes even briefly got a picture of its unique role in shaping WWU's vibe. ...

Posted Tue, May 10, 8:36 a.m.

This is interesting, but I suspect people are worried about more recent history of the Mormon church backing Proposition 8 in California, depriving gays and lesbians of their constitutional right to civil marriage. I'd hope the same people who object to branding every Muslim a terrorist would object to branding ...

Posted Thu, Apr 21, 8:55 a.m.

@NickBob -- Thanks for the thumbs up. It might have been too snarky for the gold star. I tend to get that way when I read poorly-researched articles.

Posted Wed, Apr 20, 8:39 a.m.

The irony of an uber-density advocate writing about the harms of sidewalks makes for a rather humorous morning. Who needs a comics page! So much for creating pedestrian friendly and walkable communities. If Roger did his homework before he wrote, he would know that the lack of sidewalks is a ...

Posted Fri, Apr 15, 8:56 a.m.

Trade Chone instead. Slide Ryan to third. Put Jack Wilson back at short. Bring up Ackley in May so he doesn't get his full season. Put Wilson in the 2 hole. Wilson is a guy who can always make contact and think more about the team than himself -- something ...

Posted Thu, Mar 24, 5:54 p.m.

At least one of the commenters here should read the court decisions that ran against the PPACA, particularly Judge Vincent's decision. A couple of things are revealed. Judge Vincent does not believe WA state has standing in the case. There is an entire section on standing, and WA state was ...

Posted Fri, Mar 4, 11:49 a.m.

@animalal - This adds nothing to overall District payroll. That's the point. It's always attractive and easy to say, "Get rid of the bureacrats" but someone has to run the store. The district has evidenced no ability to do that for a decade or so and the School Board hasn't ...

Posted Thu, Mar 3, 5:11 p.m.

I thought a long time about SPS paying Board members and for new staff. Seven competitive salaries, benefits, offices, staff and related overhead is about a million dollars out of the school budget every year. The cost to the City would be about half that under what I was thinking ...

Posted Thu, Feb 24, 11:29 a.m.

It's a shame McGinn missed the opportunity in the State of the City speech to make a concrete proposal. Instead he decided to kick off his 2012 election campaign. Tina has a point here. The adults on City Council need to step up because it won't happen from the Mayor's ...

Posted Thu, Feb 10, 9:48 a.m.

The problem in defining "urbanism" is where to draw a line. In Seattle, we did that 30 years ago by creating the urban village system. We decided to plan for our growth by creating dense, walkable, and livable populations centers within our boundaries. These population centers would be where we ...

Posted Mon, Jan 31, 7:57 a.m.

Tools to deal with the concurrency mandated by the GMA but ignored by many cities, particularly Seattle, are welcome. I'd feel a lot more comfortable if this aspect of the law: "The city COULD use the bond proceeds to build infrastructure that would both accommodate new people and, potentially, ameliorate ...

Posted Fri, Jan 7, 8:50 a.m.

Name a dense city where it is cheaper to live than a non-dense area. I was asked this question once and am curious to hear your answer, mhays. And, respectfully, you don't appear to understand where trees are in Seattle. 69% of Seattle's trees are in single family zones. 25% ...

Posted Tue, Jan 4, 8:16 a.m.

@Shoreline - Perhaps, then, they ought to unionize? Public employees make less money than people with similar responsibility in the private sector. Except in rare cases, the fact they are employed in the public sector subjects them to professional and public scorn. True, their benefit packages and retirement programs are ...

Posted Tue, Dec 28, 10:41 a.m.

As someone who had the pleasure of teaching a 300-level business writing and communications course in the UW system, I can say without a doubt students are not well prepared for college or professional communications by whatever K-12 training we are giving them now. Writing in the business world is ...

Posted Tue, Nov 2, 8:25 a.m.

Two items... First, lose the apostrophe in Grays Harbor. It doesn't exist. Second, @crossrip needs to look up LID rules. Perhaps he/she will discover people can only subject THEMSELVES to LIDs. They cannot be externally imposed.

Posted Mon, Nov 1, 4:51 p.m.

My wife and I flew out Friday and back on Monday specifically to attend the event. Why? Good question and one that we heard being asked all around us. When asked, people often responded with stories. Some of those stories were popularized by shouting media/entertainment channels accusing "The Other Side" ...

Posted Wed, Oct 6, 11:27 a.m.

Voters say they want clear-thinking centrists. To get such a man or woman, they have to pay close attention to what is said on the campaign trail. This is why centrists and generalists are doomed to failure. Here's why: A tiny percentage of people pay very close attention to the ...

Posted Mon, Sep 13, 9:46 a.m.

That can start right after Seattle starts billing the rest of the state for all the money we generate but don't get to keep.

Posted Sat, Sep 4, 3:08 p.m.

@R on Beacon Hill - This discussion was front and center. It was the most common question asked at the forums I attended. A number of people transitioned from the levy campaign to working on how to better fund operations. This effort was hampered by the ill-advised acceptance of Tim ...

Posted Wed, Sep 1, 10:38 a.m.

I'm with ruffner. Let's retain a portion of the viaduct so people can get above the pier-end buildings and see the water from the park. The structures also provide a built-in rain shelter for the 10 months a year (OK, I'm exagerrating a little but this has been a terrible ...

Posted Mon, Aug 30, 10:04 p.m.

Doc, one of our levy criteria was to fund projects that would be operations neutral or improve operational costs. Some of the projects do create operational savings. The levy as a whole is not operations cost-neutral. To do that, you would have to have very little new development and almost ...

Posted Mon, Aug 30, 2:22 p.m.

Jordan's article misunderstands the Levy process, and is therefore wrong on a couple of levels. If there is truly no need for a park on Phinney (or the other examples), Council can reallocate the money. This ability is built into the levy. Reallocation advice comes from the committee overseeing the ...

Posted Mon, Mar 1, 8:29 a.m.

"Their noses are not all the same!" Another hysterically memorable line. A very fun musical.

Posted Wed, Feb 10, 10:09 a.m.

The author outlines with facts one reason why Greg Nickels is no longer Mayor of Seattle. After eight years of seeing our city lose urban forest cover and being green in press release only, it was time for him to go. The media focused only on the easy stuff they ...

Posted Tue, Nov 17, 10:44 a.m.

"It’s frustrating the media tend to rank candidates by how much money they can coax out of contributors, implying that money is the best indicator of how much trust people will give to a candidate." I'm with you here, Kent. The ONLY press candidates get in the early part of ...

Posted Thu, Nov 12, 12:38 p.m.

In addition to Dwight, I would consider the other department head Mayor McGinn would be a "flaming idiot" to replace is Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher. The Mayor-Elect would do well to remember the only way we were able to put together the Parks & Green Spaces Levy he pointed to ...

Posted Mon, Nov 9, 9:01 a.m.

I ended up watching the event on KIRO. The other channel I started on annoyed me from the beginning by not picking a motorcade spot and sticking with it (the whole point is to see where all the cars came from, right?). I didn't use the remote until the other ...

Posted Fri, Nov 6, 8:39 a.m.

"Except in Seattle and King County, that is, where high taxes, big-government regulation, and an increasingly business-unfriendly climate again carried the day." Anyone have any idea what he is talking about here? I assume he isn't talking about Hutchinson's loss as this was about qualified and not qualified (with Hutchinson ...

Posted Wed, Oct 7, 9:32 a.m.

If you spin down the dial (or press the left arrow these days, I guess) 0.4 you'll hit Nathan Hale High School's 89.5, perhaps the most influential dance/club radio station in the country.

Posted Thu, Sep 17, 9:06 a.m.

This article is a good example of why biotech leaders need to pay attention to local races. Having someone in local government -- and by "local" I mean from the city through to the state -- who understands the business cycle of development stage biotechnology would be helpful. John makes ...

Posted Tue, Aug 4, 9:57 a.m.

I wonder if it would have been appropriate for Ted to at least talk to the candidates before publishing an endorsement piece? He might have discovered that not only have I pushed back on the Mayor, I've won. When the Mayor is going down the wrong path, the fact I ...

Posted Tue, Jul 28, 7:42 a.m.

Nothing in I-1033 prevents the state, counties, or cities from setting aside money in rainy day funds. — timeyman Wrong on two accounts. At the state level, Article 7, Section 12 mandates a 1% contribution to a rainy day fund. There is no question the contributions should be larger. Without ...

Posted Fri, Jul 17, 11:52 p.m.

Tim -- Nice try, but you fail on two accounts. The 1% rainy day fund will go on as you note, but we learned in this economic downturn that we have to put more into that fund voluntarily. This is impossible under your initiative as it limits it only to ...

Posted Fri, Jul 17, 10:17 a.m.

This legislation encourages fiscal irresponsibility. In strong economic times, the government collects more revenues. We can all agree government screwed up recently by not banking more of this cash for rainy days like we have now. Putting cash away in good times is the smart thing to do, as all ...

Posted Tue, Jul 7, 9:03 a.m.

As long as Bruce maintains Western's focus on teaching before publishing, WWU will be in good hands. Twice, for thankfully short periods, since I arrived as a freshman in 1985 WWU leadership decided they needed to be a "research university." Now Western has always generated its share of excellent research, ...

Posted Mon, Jul 6, 10:18 a.m.

The best thing that could happen to oncology drug development is to retire Richard Pazdur. His iron-fisted control over the Office of Oncologic Drugs (OOD) has resulted in dramatically increased expenses for new oncology drugs, a complete lack of flexibility, an over-reliance on biostatistical analysis, flouting of Congressional mandates & ...

Posted Sun, Feb 15, 10:53 a.m.

Bob is a stand-up guy who effectively represents his constituents. He is one of those rare politicians who tell it like it is, making sure that people -- assuming they listen -- know where they stand on issues facing county council action. He'd be an excellent interim Executive. - David ...

Posted Fri, Feb 6, 9:09 a.m.

"Folks also move there, believe it or not, to be closer to nature: to have a yard, a view, some land, more trees." If more people responsible for Seattle land use planning actually talked to people who have left our city -- you know, to find out why instead of ...

Posted Wed, Feb 4, 9:19 a.m.

Speaking of 13,000... Did anyone find it odd that the number of employees for King County is 50% larger than the number of employees for HUD?

Posted Tue, Feb 3, 9:36 a.m.

If you read the article, you'd know they need all that money to pay salaries for council executives that are well beyond the averages for non-profit organizations. I was a Scout in the early 80s when the push to move out long-term volunteers in those positions started. The goal was ...

Posted Thu, Jan 29, 8:59 a.m.

When you reduce smoking deaths, which tend to be early deaths, deaths from other causes will go up. Why? Because we all die. As smoking has decreased, overall life expectancy has gone up. It is not a 1:1 relationship, but it has contributed. And if you really think lack of ...

Posted Wed, Jan 7, 8:13 a.m.

Waldo Hospital isn't gone yet. If the community can convince a King County judge in February that the Mayor's permit granters should do something so revolutionary as follow their own permitting and environmental laws, then perhaps someone will take a fresh look at developing the site in a more environmentally ...

Posted Tue, Dec 30, 8:24 a.m.

I think you are confusing the official Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, the department "pro-neighborhood" Nickels kneecapped in one of his first official acts as Mayor with Kent's SNC -- a breakfast club of concerned citizens around the city who meets to hear from electeds and policymakers once per month.

Posted Mon, Dec 29, 8:22 a.m.

...density. They get what we promised them concurrent with the density, and we don't have any problems." While I'm sure not every instance of densification in Pierce County is as rosy, Mr. Ladenburg's approach was a stark contrast to the approach here in Seattle -- build it first and let ...

Posted Mon, Dec 29, 8:21 a.m.

The normally good reporting of Mr. Brewster stumbles here. The Thornton Creek Alliance (TCA) was a separate group from the surrounding neighborhood community councils. Their tactics ruffled many feathers, but no rational person can deny the outcome is a better, more environmentally sound development. Neighborhoods and businesses in the area ...

Posted Wed, Dec 10, 10:50 a.m.

One of Tim's positive aspects is you rarely have to guess where he's at on an issue or why he's doing what he's doing. To some, that's abrasive but I usually find it refreshing. Tim's biggest challenge is he needs to pause a bit more often and remember his neighborhood ...

Posted Sun, Oct 26, 7:19 p.m.

The parks levy requires a study on the safety of synthetic turf be conducted before money is spent. If the study shows synthetic turf is not safe, then no money may be spent on it from the levy. Friends of Greenlake have endorsed the replacement of the sand fields near ...

Posted Fri, Oct 24, 9:53 a.m.

As a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee that constructed the levy measure, I can say with certainty the choices we made were based on YEARS of city process. Over a decade of planning -- by neighborhoods, Parks, and other groups -- have been reflected in over a dozen different ...

Posted Fri, Oct 3, 10:58 a.m.

High comedy: I'm not sure which is funnier: 1. "knowledgeability" 2. "Palin shone through as highly intelligent..." I think Gov. Palin is not stupid. I would not go so far as to call her "highly intelligent."

Posted Thu, Oct 2, 12:13 p.m.

Requesting support for home grown plans: The Maple Leaf Community Council submitted comments on the proposal prior to its passage, requesting three simple changes that would allow neighborhoods left out of the "chosen" list for updating to create home grown plans. The letter focuses on three items: 1. Make core ...

Posted Tue, Sep 30, 12:26 p.m.

RE: Stock Market Up/Oil Prices Down: First, the 200 points on the Dow this morning is a reflexive structural action resulting from positions market makers at the NYSE were required to take at the close yesterday due to the massive influx of "sell on close" orders. This was not natural ...

Posted Thu, Sep 18, 9:36 a.m.

I hope this was intended as sarcasm: This group on the FOMC are a bunch of morons. They made the same mistake Greenspan made in 2000 when they didn't break the backs of the global macro bears this time last year by lowering interest rates and rallying the market enough ...

Posted Wed, Sep 17, 10:10 a.m.

RE: Options: The public park on top would make it less of a wasteland. So would small business spaces facing the waterfront. If you've been to San Diego, you know the area around that center stays virbant with or without convention traffic. Smart design could take care of this. I ...

Posted Wed, Sep 17, 10:06 a.m.

RE: IF money was no object...: Nope, nothing modest about it. Like I said, if money were no object...

Posted Wed, Sep 17, 10:03 a.m.

Seattle Center is a dumb idea: This wouldn't place Seattle in the range of "mid size conventions centers" because no booker in his/her right mind is going to split the same convention between sites miles apart. Even if we fork over for another streetcar to link the two, it would ...

Posted Wed, Sep 10, 11:52 p.m.

RE: Can we really enforce this?: Good issues! The BG issue is a little different in that the trees were cut on public lands. For trees cut on private lands, I think the enforcement would be easier. This is just like land use codes. Not everyone gets a permit, and ...

Posted Fri, Sep 5, 11:42 a.m.

IF money was no object...: Scrap the site, which was a dumb idea even at the time for anyone looking ahead. With the overhead removed, stack I-5 through the area to remove the bottle neck. Instead of running the northbound and southbound lanes next to each other, run them in ...

Posted Mon, Aug 25, 12:19 p.m.

Interesting article: This is a good article on the subject provided the reader has some background in the application of land use codes. That's not supposed to be a criticism. Just the opposite, in fact. It's nice to see the writer assume some level of familiarity and intelligence in the ...

Posted Mon, Aug 25, 10:05 a.m.

Almost, but not quite: . Why "almost, but not quite?" "Any reporter who covers environmental affairs in Seattle has heard this refrain from local activists: Mayor Nickels may sound green, but he's really anything but." I was expecting the author to actually have some content in here that related to ...

Posted Wed, Aug 20, 4:01 p.m.

Almost, but not quite: The first poster's suggestion exacerbates the problem. Make bus service more attractive and riders will come. Riders will NOT come when you make it more difficult to park your car. The only thing you accomplish by doing that is creating a vocal, entrenched, and very powerful ...

Posted Thu, Aug 14, 8:42 a.m.

Wondering about the big stuff: Invariably, stories about bamboo show the versions with the large-sized stems -- the one they actually make stuff out of. Does that stuff grow here? If so, where can I get it. And most importantly, as a fellow bamboo nightmare holder, does it come in ...

Posted Wed, Aug 13, 9:05 a.m.

Irony Alert: I can't believe you let Nickel's comment go by unchallenged! His DPD has allowed the cutting of Waldo Woods, a larger grove of trees in the Maple Leaf neighborhood. Despite nearly 400 letters, an op-ed piece in the Seattle Times, and numerous personal requests for help from Maple ...

Posted Thu, Jul 31, 9:50 a.m.

RE: I'm not sure Chicago's the best comparison: . Upzoning is NOT the answer. In fact, you get exactly the opposite effect. Seattle is already zoned at 3x the amount of housing capacity we need for expected 2020 population. The idea that increasing that to 6x or 9x will solve ...

Posted Wed, Jul 30, 11:28 a.m.

RE: Seattle is too slow: Apparently you've never been a critic of the Mayor and tried to get a seat at the table to determine future public policy.

Posted Tue, Jul 29, 9:27 a.m.

I don't get it: "Seattle traditionally has supported any measure identified with parks. So the levy has at least an even chance of passage – even though it could not be worse-timed, from an economic standpoint, for property owners already highly taxed and hard pressed by rising food, energy and ...

Posted Fri, Jul 25, 9:42 a.m.

Thoughts on new directions: An interesting article. The BMGF is already drawing significant numbers of non-profits and NGOs to our area. It's an interesting economic proposition to see if a local economy can thrive based upon the typically low salaries (except for executives) and large numbers of unpaid intern positions ...

Posted Wed, Jul 23, 12:07 p.m.

Thanks for an accurate article: The Times has let their editorial board bias against this measure color their A-section reporting. I'm glad Crosscut didn't make the same mistake. A few good-to-know facts... The expiring ProParks levy cost the average homeowner $104.53 in 2007. The new levy costs the average homeowner ...

Posted Mon, Jul 14, 8:33 a.m.

Convert townhomes into cottage housing adjacent to SF: Peter is right. Toss out the code that allows these townhomes as the transition housing between single family and higher densities on transit corridors, neighborhood business districts, and urban villages. Substitute a form of cottage housing. Other jurisdictions have managed to create ...

Posted Thu, Jun 26, 11:59 a.m.

RE: xcuse me: Uh, Art? There were community representatives in that group, too. Some of us suggested operational changes to the process to make it more fair and predictable for both sides. Knute - McCullough is spinning you, and I hope you'll correct the mistaken information in this article or ...

Posted Thu, Jun 26, 11:39 a.m.

RE: A school of science and research or propaganda?: Amen. Besides, we already have an effective Environmental College in the area. It's called Huxley College of the Environment and it has been turning out ground-breaking environmental research out of WWU since its founding in 1970. http://www.wwu.edu/huxley/ If it hasn't already, ...

Posted Mon, Jun 23, 10:40 a.m.

Fiscal intelligence required: When outcomes and data points are largely uncertain, flexibility is required. Rapid Bus Transit (RBT), with dedicated travel lanes, is a perfect precursor to decisions on locating light rail lines. RBT is a fraction of the expense of light rail. The costly portion of the RBT infrastructure, ...

Posted Fri, Jun 20, 11:24 a.m.

RE: sit still save carbon: "Next green idea to bite back: carbon footprint checklists for new construction" Prescient, if anyone bothered to look at them. The spreadsheet needs significant work to account for tree loss due to construction, differentials among different building materials (concrete is less green than renewable wood ...

Posted Thu, Jun 19, 11:54 a.m.

RE: A consideration for increasing members of Democratic Party in Eastern Washington?: Or, alternatively, bring those folks over to the Western Side to learn from them how we could broaden our tent to include their views.

Posted Thu, Jun 19, 10:01 a.m.

Copper strips/pipes: Credit my wife for this one, doubly so since during the entire installation process I thought she was nuts. This works best on raised beds, but can be adapted to ground beds if you ring them with a partially-buried 2x4 or 4x4 first. Go to your hardware store ...

Posted Mon, Jun 9, 10:51 a.m.

Carbon impact of Waldo - now and proposed: Since March 31, Seattle has required every SEPA-eligible project to file a carbon checklist. It makes for interesting comparisons. For the purposes of the comparison below, I corrected (lowered) the checklist filed by the developer to fix their calculation error. For the ...

Posted Mon, Apr 28, 9:29 a.m.

Participate or comment: I admit I'm a relative newcomer to the Seattle political process -- relative, at least, to the folks I've recently been working with who've dedicated a good portion of their lives to trying to make Seattle a better place. Whether it's fresh eyes or 'youthful' (if you ...

Posted Thu, Apr 24, 10:58 a.m.

RE: Zoning capacity, changing times: The 2007 Buildable Lands report was an eye opener for me. There is capacity for 3,137 units of housing in single family zones and 30,538 units on multi-family/multi-use lands that is currently vacant. This 33,675 unit capacity is VERY near Seattle's 2022 population-based growth target ...

Posted Thu, Apr 24, 10:38 a.m.

"...developers forming their own governments?": "...especially when we live in a world where, as Noble pointed out to me, developers are essentially trying to form their own private governments?" Can you provide a little more context to that comment?

Posted Wed, Apr 23, 12:05 p.m.

Zoning isn't the problem, so don't fall for that "solution": Seattle is already zoned to accept 3x the number of housing units necessary to meet its projected 2022 population targets. It is already zoned to just shy of 2x its commerical space necessary for projected 2022 job growth. These surpluses ...

Posted Tue, Apr 22, 8:37 a.m.

Wrong way to provide long-term boost to bio business in WA: From a public policy standpoint, boosting financial support for small businesses is one of the most efficient jobs generators up and down the educational and financial spectrum. I'd typically support such financial incentives well before yet another tax break ...

Posted Thu, Apr 10, 9:49 a.m.

One word: Business: The Puget Sound Business Journal is the reference newspaper for business in this area. They do a fantastic job I'm willing to pay to see and, judging by the fact they are on the desks of nearly everyone whose offices I visit, lots of other people are ...

Posted Wed, Mar 19, 5:53 p.m.

Why only six stories?: I guess I am not sure why they would limit these to just six stories. In an area intended for light rail and already one of the better-served for transit and urban services, why not up the density? As long as the buildings can be sited/designed ...

Posted Wed, Mar 12, 11:26 a.m.

Shortage of specific housing types: Families want single family homes with yards. They are in short supply in Seattle. We are not building more of these, and zoning pressures and desires for mega homes continually decrease supply. The resulting demand pressure increases the housing prices for these homes. What we ...