Election 09: Suburban voters are coming back to their GOP home
Posted Wed, Nov 4, 12:22 p.m.
Educated, affluent, secular suburbanites had been swinging to Obama and the Democrats. No more.
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Suburbia
Crosscut most recent
This camp is your camp
Posted Thu, Oct 15, 6 a.m.
Using a state pilot project, the Cascade Land Conservancy has made it possible to preserve historic Hidden Valley Camp for future generations. It's more than a win for holding back sprawl, it also saves an incubator of the Northwest's conservation ethic.
READ MORE 3 COMMENTS
Seattle, toward a 'MetroNation'
Posted Thu, Oct 15, 6 a.m.
Brookings' Bruce Katz argues in a UW talk that this "metro" can help lead the U.S. toward a new, more prosperous economy.
READ MORE 14 COMMENTS
The bully of Puget Sound
Posted Fri, Sep 18, 6 a.m.
Seattle has a great international brand, but locally, the Emerald City image is tarnished. New leadership could give us a fresh start.
READ MORE 24 COMMENTS
How to craft a better Seattle
Posted Tue, Sep 15, 6 a.m.
The Future Shack awards suggest some design principles that could help us shape the city and region for the better.
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Why Seattle won't grow as fast as planners say
Posted Tue, Aug 11, 6 a.m.
The common claim that the city's population will double by 2040 is bogus. Historic factors and our own failures at building to a broad market are the main reasons.
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Future Shack or Future Schlock?
Posted Tue, Jul 14, 6 a.m.
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?
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The Great Vancouver vs. Seattle Debate
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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Mud fight on the Skagit
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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Does 'smart growth' also create more sprawl?
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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In Olympia, moderate Democrats now call the tune
Posted Thu, Apr 30, 6 a.m.
The liberal agenda fared poorly and business interests did surprisingly well, despite the lopsided Democratic majorities. Here's why.
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Is Seattle's growth unstoppable?
Posted Mon, Feb 23, 6 a.m.
Walling off migration is not possible. But there are ways to downsize our ambitions to a Lesser Seattle, which might be good for America and the environment.
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The Rise of Pugetopolis
Posted Fri, Feb 13, 6 a.m.
Our population has quadrupled since 1950. Where are all those people going?
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Suburbs: cul-de-sac communes or apocalypse?
Posted Fri, Feb 6, 6 a.m.
As Puget Sound sprawls, the debate continues over how to reclaim, redeem, or raze the suburbs. To rethink the burbs, you first need to recognize their virtues.
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Seattle: Coming back to earth
Posted Thu, Oct 9, 4 a.m.
Some good news about right-sizing the city, and saving money, too.
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The future of 'nowhere'
Posted Mon, Aug 18, 5 a.m.
Urban planners love to hate the suburbs, but what's going to become of them? Will Bellevue eventually become a post-carbon ghost town or a new urban hybrid? Some reflections on the urban/suburban debate.
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Vision 2040 for Pugetopolis
Posted Tue, Jul 29, 3 a.m.
An urban geographer uses un-rose-tinted glasses in peering into the crystal ball. He finds that we will not be able to do much about growing income segregation, congestion, gentrification in Seattle, and leapfrog development. Nor will rail transit help make things better.
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The 100-year gamble to save our quality of life
Posted Thu, Jul 3, 5 a.m.
A close look at the ambitious "Cascade Agenda," which hopes to preserve the central Puget Sound region's natural systems from a Pugetopolis that sprawls all the way to the Cascades. The mechanisms are known, but it's not clear they can work well enough or soon enough.
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Transit train wreck: The case against more light rail
Posted Sun, Jun 22, 10 p.m.
The recent former state secretary of transportation has been riding buses a lot lately and crunching numbers, and he's convinced light rail to the Eastside and more Sounder service has no place in a big new transit plan. He thinks an advanced bus rapid transit system is the best way to serve millions of people and smartly manage urban growth. Part 1 of 3
READ MORE 39 COMMENTSSocial progress in White Center
Posted Tue, Jun 10, 9 p.m.
The neighborhood is the focus of several programs designed to boost test scores, encourage early learning, improve living conditions, and provide a positive example of community pride and success that can be applied elsewhere. Part 2
READ MORE COMMENT NOWOther media
Blog posts
High-speed sprawl?
Posted Sat, Aug 22, 11:06 a.m.
An economist is skeptical about the goals and benefits of Obama's rail vision.
MORECan the suburbs be recycled?
Posted Wed, Jan 14, 1:07 p.m.
New thinking about what to do with old sprawl in the 21st century.
MOREAll I want for Christmas is a suburban swinger
Posted Sat, Dec 20, 11 a.m. 2008
From Republicans to The Stranger, everyone wants to grab a piece of crab grass.
MOREWhat is it about Bellevue and Nazis?
Posted Wed, Nov 26, 9:39 p.m. 2008
Two cases link the suburban city with Hitler and the holocaust.
MOREBallard natives for Rossi, and other signs of the times
Posted Tue, Nov 4, 11:40 a.m. 2008
Change taking place in one Seattle neighborhood, as seen on election day.
MOREA suburban sucker's bet
Posted Mon, Aug 25, 2:46 p.m. 2008
An interesting follow-up to my story last week on the future of suburbia is a profile of Merced, Calif., in the Aug. 24 issue of The New York Times. Skeptical that some burbs might become the new ghost towns? Check out the picture of the Riverstone housing development that accompanies this story, of an unfinished project baking in the sun and dirty air of a boomtown gone bust.
MORETo lower housing prices, look at Chicago
Posted Tue, Jul 29, 5:31 p.m. 2008
Median condominium prices in Chicago, notes Harvard urban economist Edward Glaeser, are $232,000. That's very low, even a shade under those in Trenton, N.J. (The King County median price for condos is $285,000.) What do those smart urbanists in Chicago know about affordability?
MOREHow to be a modern mayor: the Denver model
Posted Tue, Jul 22, 11 a.m. 2008
Denver is about to have its 15 days of fame, as host to the Democratic National Convention next month. I suspect one star of the show will be Mayor John Hickenlooper, my idea of the best mayor in the nation. NewWest.net recently did a good interview with the mayor, and it's a fine introduction to his winning style. It's also an audio interview.
MOREHelpful policy tips for Dino Rossi
Posted Wed, Jul 16, 12:23 a.m. 2008
So far, not a lot of policy is coming out of the Dino Rossi campaign, but it may be very interesting when it does. That's because the Republicans are getting pretty desperate for bold new ideas to turn around their national tailspin. I'll give some examples below.
MORESausage Links, blame-game edition
Posted Thu, Jul 10, 1:05 p.m. 2008
David Goldstein at Horse's Ass says everyone has missed the boat about the latest mess surrounding the "top-two" primary. The Seattle Times blamed the parties. The parties blamed the state. Others blamed the lawyers. Goldstein, however, says the person to blame for what could be the "most monumental legal fuck up in state history — one which puts the legitimacy of our entire 2008 election in jeopardy" — is state Attorney General Rob McKenna.
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