It’s a highly dubious proposition: The facebookers already know about this, but I’ve invited the entire HAC universe to meet for drinks and wonky urbanist geek chit-chat, Thursday July 9th, 8pm at the Twilight Exit, 2514 East Cherry Street, in the Central District. FB invite is here. Why the Twilight? It’s three blocks from my […]
This section of 5th Avenue between Union and University could well be the best piece of streetscape in all of downtown Seattle. All it takes is a few basic ingredients: small-scale storefronts, wide sidewalk, mid-block crossings, street trees, human-scale lighting. The 5th Ave roadway is fairly narrow here—three travel lanes and no parking—which makes crossings […]
Erica beat me to it, but I can’t possibly not comment on  this bit of Seattle Times lameness regarding Seattle’s proposal to allow “backyard cottages” in single family zones. The set up of the piece—describing the perceived horrors of the proposal from the point of view of just one person who may or may not ever actually be impacted in any […]
A DJC article published on July 1 considered the design of Seattle’s waterfront post-Viaduct. Its central premise is that the design of the public space should happen before the alignment of the surface road is determined. Makes sense. This is a rare opportunity to create a space that can take advantage of all the waterfront […]
Over at SLOG Dominic’s got a rundown of the new Pike/Pine Conservation Overlay District. In the photo above is the building at the corner of Union and Broadway that has been exempted from the overlay district, effectively giving the green light for the Polyclinic to demolish the existing building and redevelop the site. This is […]
It’s time to rename the 4th of July. Last night as I watched the fireworks with hundreds of others from the steep slope of Boston Street on the west edge of Capitol Hill, my feeble hyperactive brain began to drown in thoughts of how I was witnessing last gasps of of dying way of life. […]
Is the deep-bore tunnel replacement for the Alaskan Way viaduct a done deal? Game over? Should all those petulant whiners who don’t like it just suck it up and get over it, grow up and move on? Seattle mayoral candidate Mike McGinn has a pithy response to that question: if he is elected, the tunnel […]
 I recently visited our fine neighbor to the north – Vancouver, and unfortunately had to do most of my getting around by car. This afforded me lots of time, as I sat in traffic on just about every street I traveled in the Downtown area, to reflect upon Gordon Price’s famous adage that “congestion […]
In an informal poll here are the top reasons people listed on why they don’t like going to community meetings… Top 10 reasons why people hate going to community meetings 10. I hate sitting in stinky dark gymnasiums when it’s sunny outside 9. Don’t like listening to people ramble on and on and on and […]
Disclaimer: The following is the sole opinion of Dave and doesn’t necessarily represent the views of anyone else past or present at hugeasscity (but probably does). Last night I had the pleasure of being invited for a leisurely bike ride down to Mount Baker to attend an informational house party hosted by the McGinn for […]
Another warm and fuzzy piece of work by your friends at the phone company:Â the QWest Building at 2nd and Lenora.
[circa 1941, from Alfred Korzybski’s “Science & Sanity”]
James Hansen, widely recognized as the nation’s foremost climate scientist, was arrested today for protesting mountaintop removal coal mining. I’ve blogged about Hansen here and here, and was so moved by today’s news (via Alan Durning’s fb update) that I couldn’t stop myself from coming out of retirement for ten minutes. No doubt we’ll be […]
The Roosevelt discussion from a couple weeks ago got me thinking about how Seattle funds planning work. Seems like this slow down in development should give Seattle a much needed opportunity to catch its breath and plan for future growth, maybe put something smart in place, or at least something more streamlined than the behemoth […]
Urban planners love to talk about creating community. Churches like the one above do it. But they’re disappearing. Huh.
For a newsource that has made some pretty wacky statements on urban growth in Seattle, like this, and this, and this, and this, and this, I was delighted to read this lead story on Crosscut today, suggesting a dense and innovative revision for the T. T. Minor property in Capitol Hill. Park space! Limited parking! […]
I  have this dream. Others share it, too. Northgate Mall as we know it today: vast surface parking lot, underused retail, no housing on site, pedestrian dangerland, becomes a memory.  In its place is a vibrant, attractive, walkable, mixed-use community with retail, housing (including affordable housing), office space and open space. Northgate Mall was the […]
The easy, safe, reliable, known quantity: Or the challenging, complicated, unpredictable unknown:
Since the destruction of the 500 block of East Pine – former home to Capitol favorites like the Cha Cha Lounge, Bus Stop, and Kincora Pub – to make way for another bread loaf of a condo development, the block has been anything but “vibrant.†The project has been put on hold, hastily paved over, […]
