[ 1933 Seattle streetcar system overlayed on current urban villages, by leesroberts, via STB ]
One of the biggest benefits of expanding light rail in the Seattle area is the effect it will have on land use patterns. Because fixed guideway transit is a catalyst for focusing development in a bullseye around stations. In the words […]
“The global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than through the current banking crisis, according to an EU-commissioned study.”
So reports the BBC, citing the newly released “Teeb” report, that estimates the annual cost of forest loss is between $2 and $5 trillion, or about 7% of global GDP. Those are staggering […]
Sterile rather than soulful, this is the all-business blue that fills your screen when you boot up windows; a blue that looks as if it was color-matched to the utilitarian blue of the generic blue tarp you can see in the bottom left of the photo. (Not that you asked…)
At 19th and Yesler, this is […]
[ The Madison Street corridor on Capitol Hill as seen from the Bank of America Tower ]
In the last decade or so, a whole lotta building has sprouted around the Madison Street corridor on Capitol Hill. In this photo: Trace Lofts, The Braeburn, The Pearl, 1301 East Union, Madison Market, 1700 Madison […]
For which type of housing might we expect to see increased demand in the coming months and years? Trick question, cause if the economic inequality trends of the last two or three decades continue, the answer may well be both.
But hey, no need to dwell on that. Walk two blocks north of here […]
Dig this blindingly white new 3-pack at 24th and Grand in the central district. The photo was taken from the street, so one presumes there will soon be a big fence going in above the rockery. Please, let it be a white fence.
Hugeasscity’s Askimet comment spam filter is on the fritz, and has been blocking all comments. For now I have turned the filter off, so you should have no problem posting comments. I have tried to manually approve all the previously submitted legitimate comments, and I apologize to anyone who’s comment may have been inadvertently […]
In the commentary below, Robert Steuteville, editor and publisher of New Urban News, makes the case that anti-density NIMBYs are a “societal plague.” As has been noted numerous times on this blog (e.g. here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here), Seattle is not immune. And we shall soon find out if […]
The recently completed $107 million renovation of Garfield High School was the most expensive ever undertaken by the Seattle School District. To put that in perspective, the price tag on the new downtown Four Seasons condo/hotel is $120 million. QWest Field cost $360 million, of which the public covered $300 million.
The photo above […]
The August 25 issue of American Conservative randomly ended up in my hands the other day, and a perusal revealed two riffs worth a read. You have to subscribe to see the content online, but oddly, both articles are available for free at findarticles.com.
In a piece entitled Future Perfect, Brian Kaller posits that yes, peak […]
Apropos the discussions of affordable housing here and here, on Tuesday October 7 at 5:30 p.m, the Seattle City Council will hold a public hearing on proposed incentive zoning legislation that would tie increases in allowed building heights to the provision of affordable housing. This PI piece provides a good overview.
The two main points of contention are […]
This 4-unit project designed by Hybrid Architects is under construction on Remington Court just off 14th Ave in the Central District. Details here and here, and current status below:
HyBrid is known for pushing the edge in advanced design construction, and past work includes the Inhabit modular housing project (with Mithun), and a bucketload of container […]
Looking south along MLK Way near Cloverdale St, the new light rail line seems disappear off into the boondocks — not a scene many would readily identify as urban. This is about seven blocks south of the station at Othello.
This ain’t no North Capitol Hill. Imagine one of those sleek white Sound Transit […]
[ David Vandervort Architects ]
The Issaquah net-zero energy homes project broke ground on Monday, just three months after Howland Homes took over the project from Noland Homes. Check out the project web site for a graphical explanation for how net-zero is hoped to be achieved.
The rendering above shows what appears to be an […]
Anyone who pays even the slightest attention to such issues in Seattle has doubtless heard the oft-repeated edict: Our single-family zones are sacred. Discussions of future growth are almost invariably predicated in a tacit assumption that single-family is untouchable, that Seattle’s single-family zones will remain as they are from now until the end of […]
Hugeass we have a problem. I think. If you have been experiencing significant delays connecting to this blog lately, please leave a comment. And likewise if everything seems to be normal. And if it’s so bad you can’t wait for the comment page to load, if you would be so kind as to send an […]
In the land where every last quark of creative artistic energy is, or is soon to be culture-mined and commodified, to experience authentic human expression is a gift. And that, by the way, is why Burning Man still matters, but also why it was so awesome to see novaTRON last Friday night at Lo-Fi, […]
Skeptical? This list of debunked myths might help. The debate is endless, and no, Proposition 1 is not perfect, but no mass transit package ever will be.
The City of Seattle always ranks near the top of U.S. cities for educational attainment. But all those big brains can be a curse, because […]
For Seattlites seeking inspiration on how to plan for transit-oriented development (TOD), the edge-city just across the lake may seem like an unlikely place to find it. But in 2007 the City of Bellevue completed a planning effort for the area east of downtown known as the Bel-Red Corridor that is well worthy of emulation. […]
At the risk of giving the impression that I might possibly take any of this design and development wonkishness seriously, below is a piece I wrote for the August 2008 issue of Urban Land magazine. Apologies for the small print, but since the piece is only available online to paying ULI members, I only have […]
[ Conceptual rendering of Footprint at the Bridge project — Johnston Architects ]
The Bridge Motel enjoyed a well-publicized, dramatic demise, and potentially, what’s to replace it will also warrant some notoriety. Not for the design–though since it is being designed by Johnston Architects it will likely be well done–but for the project’s […]
“What the Greatest Generation handed down to us — the richest, most powerful, most self-sufficient republic in history, with the highest standard of living any nation had ever achieved — the baby boomers, oblivious and self-indulgent to the end, have frittered away.”
Pat Buchanan, who penned the riff from which the above quote was taken, is an […]
Sadly no, that “all electric vehicle” is not “zero pollution,” and the people who make them should stop asserting otherwise. Yes, an electric car generates no emissions at the “tailpipe,” but alas — and you heard it here first! — electricity does not self-reproduce. That is not to say electric vehicles have no merits — […]
[ Candela rendered elevations by Olsen Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects ]
The Candela Hotel and Residences (renderings above) at 2nd and Pike is in the design review process, but just a block and a half to the north, the 1 Hotel and Residences has only made it as far as a bare hole in the ground dug in […]
[ Photo taken 9/13/08 ]
[ Rendering from Veer Lofts website ]
Check out reality versus intention for Veer Lofts, located at 9th and Harrison in South Lake Union, developed by Vulcan, designed by Johnson Architecture. Obviously, the first thing they need to do post-haste is paint the bottoms of the decks orange.
I like […]
“No disrespect to you bikers! Much respect!”
That graffiti pretty well captures my sentiments for the people who made this place happen: Under the freeway between North Capitol Hill and Eastlake, I-5 Collonade Mountain Bike Park is an absolutely brilliant reclamation of previously useless urban land.
The park occupies 7.5 acres owned by the Washington […]
[ Rendering of the proposed 6-story mixed-use building at 23rd and Union, via CD News ]
Developer Jim Mueller has been granted a contract rezone raising the maximum building height from 40 to 65 feet for his site on the SW corner of 23rd and Union, see PI coverage here. It’s good news for […]
The weird thing is how it took so long for cab companies to take heed of a very simple equation: higher gas mileage = more profit. Is there some competitive advantage to larger cabs — perhaps simply because people prefer them? — that has made gas-guzzlers like the Ford Crown Victoria the urban […]
…in the face of the Republican political steam roller of death. Today’s MoveOn.org email — subject: “disgusting” (oh my, but such strong language!) — hopes to enrage us with the news that “John McCain and Sarah Palin are repeatedly deceiving, manipulating, and flat-out lying.” Yawn. Whining about the other side playing dirty doesn’t win elections.
Today’s […]