The City of Seattle just released its 2008 greenhouse gas inventory, and in most of the media reports, the results get distilled down to this headline:Â Seattle’s emissions are seven percent below 1990 levels. Or perhaps even further distilled to:Â Seattle is meeting the Kyoto protocol. Sure sounds good, but the reality is much more […]
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 […]
Usually they’re contemptible scars on the urban fabric, like the eye-popping piece of work in the photo above at 2nd and Union in Seattle. But they don’t have to be. The garage shown below is in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood, and isn’t it the most adorable thing? Here’s another in Boston’s downtown office core: Excited […]
[ Rendering of the Wallace Vision Line by J. Craig Thorpe ] Getting the highest return on transit investments hinges on the creation of high-performing transit-oriented communities (TOC) around the stations.  And the easiest way to make sure that doesn’t happen is to site stations next to large freeways. Yet this is exactly what newly […]
Starbucks. I like you. But we’ve got to talk. Listen, ‘Bucks. (You don’t mind if I call you ‘Bucks do you? Cool.) You’re good. You’re a meeting place. You’re local (2-0-6 in the coffee house!). You’re a gathering hall, a “third place” as Bertolet would say. You’re chill. And you’re a reliable source for the […]
Gone East to Railvolution in Boston. They have lots of transit and narrow streets in this city. Exciting posts will surely be forthcoming.
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, […]
Five former members of the Viaduct Stakeholder Advisory Committee just issued the following press release in response the viaduct earthquake scenario video that was made public yesterday by the Washington State Department of Transportation. >>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEATTLE, WA — Oct. 26, 2009 Yesterday the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) released a dramatization […]
I have been trying to think of an analogy, a parable maybe, to explain the absurdity of a waterfront tunnel to replace the viaduct. I think I have one. This should also clarify the term “backward looking,†I used to describe tunnel advocates. That term is not intended to be an insult or some kind […]
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 […]
Because Mike McGinn said that if elected Mayor he would honor prior agreements made by the City’s elected representatives. The sun has set on hugeasscity. >>> UPDATE: Please note that I grew up in the Boston area where sarcasm is well-used. UPDATE 2: I better spell it out: Sarcasm is when you say the opposite […]
(Editor’s note: The following was excerpted from Jabe Blumenthal’s voter recommendation email, which came my way via facebook, and is republished here with permission. Much of this will be familiar territory for HAC readers, but nonetheless, it’s good reinforcement from yet another thoughtful voice, and more fodder for the intentionally redundant HAC tunnel blitz.) >>> The […]
Not that I expect to reach many deep-bore tunnel fans in the hugeasscity echo chamber, but for any of you out there who are still unsure, I hope you will consider the many reasons why the Seattle City Council should not rush to approve an agreement this week.  The many remaining uncertainties and unanswered questions […]
[ The deep-bore tunnel would provide no access to the downtown core from SR-99. ] The deep-bore tunnel is the loose cannon of Seattle’s upcoming mayoral election. In the primary, the tunnel energized Mike McGinn’s supporters while it drove many greens away from the Nickels camp, and was arguably the single most important issue that […]
(Editor’s note: The following post was copped from Sightline with permission from the author, Eric de Place, who, as is generally the rule with the whole Sightline crew, has a brain that is far too big for his own good.) >>> Will the deep-bore tunnel — the current choice by the city and state to replace […]
[ Susan Hutchison and Dow Constantine facing off at the Seattle Aquarium last night. ] Did I forget that I had just taken a hit off the crack pipe, or did I actually hear Susan Hutchison say that Metro’s $100 million plus projected annual budget shortfall should be addressed by cracking down on unpaid fares? […]
Please join fellow sustainability and built environment leaders for a fundraiser in support of Mike McGinn. As a leader at the Sierra Club, he fought against highway expansion and last year Mike lead the successful effort to pass the Parks and Green Spaces Levy. Rather than sinking billions of dollars in auto-dependent infrastructure, Mike wants […]
[ 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 […]
As has just been reported at Publicola, Elizabeth Campbell and The Citizens Against the Tunnel filed a lawsuit today to stop the deep-bore tunnel. Check out the gory details here (3 MB pdf). Campbell’s group supports a new elevated solution to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, but that is irrelevant to the case being made […]
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 […]
