The Urbanist

NEW STORY // Metro Reopens Little Saigon Bus Stops, Citing Improved Safety https://lnkd.in/g2mhj8rY After a nearly three-month hiatus, a set of four bus stops near the intersection of 12th Avenue S and S Jackson Street in Little Saigon reopened today. King County Metro had closed the stops on December 16, 2024 in response to long-standing public safety issues. A month prior, the area made headlines as the epicenter ...

NEW STORY // Council Committee Greenlights SoDo Housing Proposal Despite Strong Port Opposition https://lnkd.in/gsFAhTMN Seattle Council President Sara Nelson's economic development committee voted 3-2 Thursday to recommend passage of a bill allowing housing in a small section of north SoDo near the city's sports stadiums. The proposal has been strongly opposed by the Port of Seattle and other industrial and maritime groups. Council is ...

NEW STORY // Op-Ed: Fund Washington Higher Education, Close Amazon/Microsoft Tax Loophole https://lnkd.in/gJH_sYcw House Bill 1839 would bring in over $200 million a year for higher education in by closing a tax loophole benefiting Amazon and Microsoft. In the recent February 11 election, Seattle voters backed social housing in a landslide and roundly defeated the attempt by Amazon and Microsoft to block a tax on excessive com...

NEW STORY // Join The Urbanist for Our March Social Events https://lnkd.in/gKreieJF The Urbanist is hosting a slate of social events in March, with some additions to our usual schedule. Our Seattle events will be part social hours, part calls to action as we are joined by the Complete Communities Coalition (CCC) to talk about the Seattle Comprehensive Plan and how we can make our voices heard by city...

NEW STORY // Trump Officials Delay Expected Approval Date for West Seattle Light Rail https://lnkd.in/gZrxMQdH The Trump Administration is subjecting the West Seattle Link Extension to additional scrutiny and that is pushing the estimated date for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to greenlight the light rail project by 30 to 60 days, Sound Transit announced this week. Originally expected in late February, the publishin...

NEW STORY // ORCA Pod and Sound Transit Reducing Select Fares on March 1 https://lnkd.in/gryXPbcF Sound Transit alongside Community Transit and the wider ORCA card pod will make some limited fare changes on Saturday, March 1. Sound Transit will slightly reduce the cost of ST Express bus trips and the ORCA card pod will make trial promotional prices for regional day passes permanent.? Last August, the ORCA ...

NEW STORY // Harrell Calls Musk, Thiel 'Smart Innovators,' Tells Downtown Businesses He's Fighting for Them https://lnkd.in/g_-TNAZk Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell went off script for part of his speech to the Downtown Seattle Association's "State of Downtown" gathering Tuesday at the Washington State Convention Center. Harrell praised a group of tech billionaires that donated hundreds of millions to elect Donald Trump as "some of the smartest innovat...

NEW STORY // Newcastle Mayor Pushed to Scrub Climate Change, Equity from City's Growth Plan https://lnkd.in/gNys-3in "Climate change is totally subjective," Robert Clark wrote to the Newcastle Planning Commission, as pushed Comprehensive Plan edits. Across Washington State, references to mitigating the impacts of climate change and responding to existing inequities and disparities stemming from past land use and transportation de...

NEW STORY // Results from The Urbanist’s Second Annual Reader Survey? https://lnkd.in/gq2JhqH8 Recently we asked for your input in our annual survey, and once more, the readers of The Urbanist have answered. This year, we had 459 responses to our reader survey. While we will spend the coming weeks and months interpreting your responses and how we want to grow to meet our audience's wants and needs, we want to s...

NEW STORY // Public Defender Nathan Rouse Makes Seattle City Attorney Bid https://lnkd.in/ghtDSQ8h Rather than symbolic punitive measures, Rouse wants to deliver public safety via holistic fixes. Public defender Nathan Rouse has joined this year’s race for Seattle City Attorney, touting his direct experience working within the criminal legal system as both a civil and a criminal litigator. Rouse said he decided ...