Let's not fool ourselves about 'walkability'
Posted Fri, Jul 3, 6 a.m.
Walkable neighborhoods take more than density and sidewalks. You have to create conditions where small stores can survive.
READ MORE 8 COMMENTSCrosscut articles of the past 10 days with the most clicks.
Crosscut articles of the past 10 days with the most reader comments.
Crosscut blog posts of the past 10 days with the most clicks.
Posted Fri, Jul 3, 6 a.m.
Walkable neighborhoods take more than density and sidewalks. You have to create conditions where small stores can survive.
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Posted Fri, Jul 3, 6 a.m.
Even in hard times, there are signs that livable Seattle can still make progress despite, or even because of, the challenges of the economy
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Posted Wed, Jul 1, 6 a.m.
The battle for candidate endorsements reveals some ideological divides between local environmentalists, developers, and independent thinkers who wonder if all urban growth is good.
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Posted Thu, Jun 25, 6 a.m.
Fremont is a classic in-between neighborhood in Seattle, full of houses that reflect individual builders slowly adding homes of character over the past century. You just have to wander away from the main streets to find them.
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Posted Wed, Jun 24, 4 a.m.
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.
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Posted Mon, Jun 22, 6 a.m.
Is the civic grass greener on the other side of the border? Two urban experts each make the case for the others' home town.
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Posted Thu, Jun 18, 6 a.m.
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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Posted Wed, Jun 17, 6 a.m.
The residential megablocks of the past few years didn't work out financially or in terms of urban design. Here's a better idea, crafted to a Capitol Hill opportunity and inspired by an Amsterdam neighborhood.
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Posted Thu, Jun 4, 6 a.m.
Which is more threatened: wetlands or farmlands? And bear in mind that Skagit Valley farmland is perhaps the finest dirt in the world.
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Posted Tue, Jun 2, 6 a.m.
The Canadian city, enjoying a renaissance, is pedestrian-paced and happy in its diversity. Seattle has urban islands, but in Toronto one fascinating ethnic quilt flows right into the next.
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Posted Wed, May 27, 6 a.m.
Urban density, a Seattle and Portland mantra, is supposed to constrain sprawl, but a new analysis suggests that vital, dense cities produce bigger suburbs too.
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Posted Sun, May 24, 10:58 a.m.
We are losing our historic brain cells, one bungalow at a time. Much of what needs to be preserved isn't architecturally special by itself, but it has earned a right to stay with us, and the civic cost of wrecking and replacing is often too high.
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Posted Thu, May 7, 6 a.m.
It's a small library near a small town, but it's turned into a pitchfork battle over urban land use. The lordly King County Library System is learning a lesson about messing with local parks boards.
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Posted Thu, Apr 30, 11:15 a.m.
Cary Bozeman may have insulted Seattle's leadership, vision, and downtown icons with his blunt critique of the city, but he's mostly right.
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Posted Mon, Apr 27, 6 a.m.
Many of the world's cities are shrinking, and some urban planners say that's a great opportunity to redesign and re-green urban spaces. Forget smart growth. The new trend is "smart decline."
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Posted Mon, Apr 20, 4:24 p.m.
Stimson Bullitt, broadcast executive, enlightened developer, and 'man of parts,' dies at 89, leaving a remarkable family legacy. His watchwords: Be stubborn in the big things. Never boast.
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Posted Thu, Apr 16, 6 a.m.
A candid look at the efforts to preserve Puget Sound and surrounding lands discovers inconvenient truths. Population growth is not going where planned. Studies replace courageous action on Puget Sound. And land use loopholes invite blockbuster developments in rural areas.
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Posted Fri, Feb 27, 6 a.m.
A feisty newspaper that carried on the Edward Abbey tradition in Moab, Utah, is closing. It's a sign, along with too much good coffee, of change in the West.
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Posted Tue, Feb 24, 6 a.m.
Can a man who makes a career out of critiquing the professional work of others find happiness in a home of his own design? And what's with that tiny bathroom?
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Posted Tue, Feb 24, 6 a.m.
Is the best way to protect Mother Earth to grow housing in the shadow of transit? Maybe not.
READ MORE 31 COMMENTSPosted Tue, Jun 30, 6 a.m.
More thoughts from the Seattle and Vancouver urban debaters on what makes their cities livable, or not.
MOREPosted Tue, Jun 23, 8:57 a.m.
And what it tells us about local design problems
MOREPosted Wed, Jun 3, 9:40 p.m.
The bidding war over Frank Russell Investments is a classic illustration of greed overcoming regional planning.
MOREPosted Wed, Jun 3, 6 a.m.
Excuse the term, but here's how the region breaks down in terms of class structure
MOREPosted Wed, Apr 1, 3:03 p.m.
The problems with Tamarack Resort in Idaho, where the author worked, suggest that we should stop building such playgrounds for the wealthy.
MOREPosted Thu, Mar 26, 6 a.m.
Kennewick area is third fastest in the nation last year, while Seattle area is 100th, well behind Portland
MOREPosted Mon, Mar 9, 9:37 p.m.
Conspicuous consumption is going out of fashion.
MOREPosted Mon, Feb 9, 12:30 p.m.
The historic legacy of the original New Deal is endangered while we debate the the benefits of a new New Deal.
MOREPosted Fri, Jan 30, noon
Not only are jobs getting scarcer, but costs are still rising. What is it about recessions that the government doesn't understand?
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