Assessments of mitigation strategies in four domains—household energy, transport, food and agriculture, and electricity generation—suggest an important message: that actions to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions often, although not always, entail net benefits for health. In some cases, the potential benefits seem to be substantial. This evidence provides an additional and immediate rationale for reductions in greenhouse-gas […]
All that newly elected King County Executive Dow Constantine has to worry about is this: King County’s 2009 estimated population is 1,909,300—that’s about three and a half Seattle’s, and 29 percent of the State’s total population. The County produces just under half of the State’s total industry earnings. It covers nearly twice the land area […]
Which mayor’s race does the following describe? [Both candidates] want the same things: better schools, improved public safety, sustainable economic development, accessible parks, affordable housing, livable neighborhoods. To win the November 3 election, both candidates may go so far as to endorse motherhood — perhaps, if the polls get really close, apple pie. Seattle’s, perhaps? […]
Don’t forget about the Futurewise/GGLO/Transportation Choices Coalition Blueprint for Transit-Oriented Communities launch event tonight from 4–6pm at the Pike Brewing Company in Pike Place Market, followed by a gallery opening reception from 6–8pm at AIA Seattle on First Ave between Virginia and Stewart. More info here. And at the risk of getting everyone all hot and bothered, […]
What you best be doing next Tuesday, October 27, from 4 to 8pm, is this: Drinking beer and talking the wonk about transit-oriented communities. Because that’s when there’s gonna be a release party and AIA exhibit opening for a new report called Transit-Oriented Communities: A Blueprint for Washington State, written by Futurewise and its partners […]
(Editor’s note: Chuck Wolfe is a land-use attorney and an affiliate faculty member in the UW Department of Urban Design and Planning. Chuck is a frequent contributor to Crosscut, but wanted to take walk on the wild side with the following post, adapted from this longer version.) >>> On Sunday, the Seattle Times asked how […]
[ The West Seattle Bridge ] (Editor’s note: In the comments on Cary Moon’s tunnel post there was much discussion about options for transit service and McGinn’s proposal for light rail to West Seattle, and Joel Horn, former executive director of the Seattle Monorail Project, was asked to weigh in these questions: So what options ARE […]
Head spinning from all the conflicting stories around the tunnel proposal and Surface/Transit/I-5 in this campaign season? Here’s a record-straightening summary of what has gone on in the recent nine months and where we are now. Some very big problems are emerging for Seattle in this deal. Whatever you thought in January, you should be […]
Sightline has a post up on land use patterns and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that makes my day cause it saves me the trouble of writing the same piece. Â Some argue that restructuring our built environment to be more compact and location efficient is not a practical strategy for cutting GHGs because it is […]
Most Seattle sidewalks are not photogenic. But to some of us, they are exciting nonetheless. The sidewalk in the photo above didn’t exist a few months ago. Back then, if you wanted to walk on Pine Street between one of the city’s most densely populated neighborhoods and downtown, you could only cross I-5 on the […]
Author Paul Hawken has a word for people who can’t shut up about how the whole world is going to hell: doomers. But during his keynote address to the Sustainable Industries Economic Forum in downtown Seattle on Thursday, he spoke in defense of them. Because doomers play a key role: they make designers do a […]
(Editor’s note: The following is a letter from Cary Moon to friends and supporters of PWC, reproduced here with permission.) >>> Dear friends, It’s been a while since I wrote to share news with PWC friends and supporters. The politics around this viaduct decision were already tricky, and continue to get weirder. Here’s a recap […]
The Seattle Planning Commission recently sent two letters to the City Council that demonstrate its potential to provide a voice of reason in debates over planning policy.  The first letter recommends passing the cottage housing ordinance, with the important caveat that the 50 unit per year limit be removed, as was discussed in this HAC […]
For those who have recovered from the mayoral primaries, you may have noticed that the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill, otherwise known as H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, has moved on to the Senate… and the debate over how best to dilute it is about to start. The Bill is huge. It is 1,428 pages of […]
A good overview of transit-oriented development in the Seattle metro region by Clair Enlow.  Though in my humble opinion the subtitle “TOD finally catches on” is a tad sanguine.
I’ve been dreaming of a new City of Seattle department:Â The Office of Sustainable Urbanism. The kind of department a visionary new Mayor of Seattle might be inclined to establish. The Office of Sustainable Urbanism (OSU) would supercede and absorb the Office of Policy and Management, the Office of Sustainability and Environment, and probably DPD’s […]
Publicola just reported that online news and opinion non-profit Crosscut.com is set to receive a $100,000 grant from the Gates Foundation. And they’ve also hired a new deputy editor, who will hopefully pay a bit more attention to the credibility of what they publish.  Coincidentally, this past week saw two land-use-related pieces that show Crosscut’s […]
To read more about how sustainable development is the “root of all our problems” check out this entertaining article in the Deweese Report, a free (not surprising) publication put out by the American Policy Center.  The article is off-base in so many ways, I wouldn’t even know where to begin a rebuttal. The conspiratoriall tone is […]
(aside from a reprimand from dan bertolet, this is the other notice I received yesterday) Â
Last Tuesday Crosscut published a piece by Kent Kammerer that is premised with a blatant fabrication.  Kammerer writes: Not long ago a representative from Futurewise and a realtor said that Seattle’s population will double by 2040. The first clue that the above statement is not on the up and up is that there are no […]
