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Mossback

A TV sports marathon this Saturday

Sat, Aug 15, 12:25 p.m.

By Mike Henderson

Mossback, despite his aversion to TV, might want to stop by to the author's six-TV home for the must-see show of Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders, and Mercer Island Little Leaguers

Seattle Mayor: a bad career move

Fri, Aug 7, 6 a.m.

By Knute Berger

In some cities, the City Hall melodrama is the great show, with outsized characters and juicy stories. Here, it's a dull, dead-end job.

Snores of a summer political season

Mon, Aug 3, 6 a.m.

By Knute Berger

Our summertime primary has crisped Mossback's brain, making him strangely reliant on media endorsements

Solving a Chinese puzzle

Fri, Jul 24, 6 a.m.

By Knute Berger

Gary Locke seems to be hands-on in helping to solve the diplomatic problem of U.S. expo participation in Shanghai.

Joy ride

Wed, Jul 22, 6 a.m.

By Knute Berger

The new light rail line opens up new ways to see the city, and brings visibility to long-neglected and fascinating parts of Seattle.

Light rail does not a 'grown-up' city make

Mon, Jul 20, 6 a.m.

By Knute Berger

Seattle has acquired light rail and a strongman mayor, but that doesn't put us in the big leagues. In fact, we were more mature a few decades ago. And Seattle's civic DNA is about not imitating other cities.

Was the moon-walk misbegotten?

Thu, Jul 16, 6 a.m.

By Knute Berger

Forty years ago, we all experienced something we've tried to duplicate ever since: an inspiring global moment that was both scientific and spiritual. But even then, some of us were of two minds about the moon landing.

Future Shack or Future Schlock?

Tue, Jul 14, 6 a.m.

By Knute Berger

Two panels wrestle with the future of Washington's residential architecture, and especially the fabric of a growing Seattle. An overriding question: How much can good design solve the problems of density?

Walking the light rail line

Thu, Jul 9, 6 a.m.

By Knute Berger

Some impressions on transit, development, and change in Seattle's Rainier Valley, Mossback's youthful stomping ground.

Preserving a city's sacred sites

Tue, Jul 7, 6 a.m.

By Knute Berger

The loss of an historic church in Tacoma and the saving of several in Seattle offer lessons about the particular problems, and opportunities, of saving urban religious sanctuaries.

Strains in the green-growth coalition

Wed, Jul 1, 6 a.m.

By Knute Berger

The battle for candidate endorsements reveals some ideological divides between local environmentalists, developers, and independent thinkers who wonder if all urban growth is good.

In defense of the Rainier Club

Fri, Jun 26, 6 a.m.

By Knute Berger

Jim McDermott's Congressional earmark for historic renovations is hardly an outrage compared with the way taxpayers are asked to help the rich everyday. Particularly in the Northwest, we take federal largesse for granted.

Celebrating the Northwest's floating world

Wed, Jun 24, 4 a.m.

By Knute Berger

Maritime advocates are looking to have Congress declare most of Washington's coastline, including Puget Sound, a National Heritage Area. It could be a boon for tourism, preservation, and the marine industry itself.

The Great Vancouver vs. Seattle Debate

Mon, Jun 22, 6 a.m.

By Knute Berger

Is the civic grass greener on the other side of the border? Two urban experts each make the case for the others' home town.

Cabin fever

Thu, Jun 18, 6 a.m.

By Knute Berger

Architect Wendell Lovett designed a nuclear reactor building and the home of a space-junketing billionaire, but it's his little San Juans retreat that says the most about him.

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Knute "Skip" Berger is Mossback. In addition to writing for Crosscut, he is editor-at-large and columnist for Seattle magazine and a regular guest of Weekday with Steve Scher on NPR affiliate KUOW-FM (94.9). In 2011, he was named Writer-in-Residence at the Space Needle and is author of Space Needle, The Spirit of Seattle (2012), the official 50th anniversary history of the tower. He won the Washington State Historic Preservation Officer's Annual Media Award for his coverage of heritage issues for Crosscut in 2008. He is the author of Pugetopolis: A Mossback takes on Growth Addicts, Weather Wimps and the Myth of Seattle Nice (2009). A Seattle native, Berger has long been a writer and editor for local magazines and newspapers. He was editor-in-chief of Seattle Weekly, founding editor and publisher of Eastsideweek, and editor of Washington and Adventure Travel magazines. He worked for the Hope Heart Institute and the Washington State Centennial Commission. He lives in Seattle.