The history of Seattle's opposition to car infrastructure is being commemorated while it's being made.

Knute Berger and Stephen Hegg write to update the history of Seattle's "ramps to nowhere"—the vestiges of the city's mid-20th century freeway building binge that came to a halt in a wave of environmental activism in 1972.
The most famous example of ramps to nowhere, and the subject of this exploration, are the remnants of the R.H. Thomson Expressway.
R.H. Thomson Expressway on and offramps had been built when the Evergreen Point Bridge — the State Route 520 floating bridge — was built in the early 1960s. They just sat waiting for the expressway to be attached. But they stood unconnected, like ancient ruins or garden follies. Instead of carrying cars, kids would jump off them into Lake Washington during warm summer days. They were used by swimmers and sunbathers. They were very expensive diving boards.
As noted by Berger and Hegg, the R.H. Thompson Expressway ramps to nowhere have taken on a symbolism attached to the civic activism that halted construction of the project. In the past, residents have advocated for the preservation of the ramps to commemorate those efforts. According to the article, one ramp will remain standing for that purpose, but the rest are coming down.
In a bit of synchronicity between past and present, the city of Seattle is currently debating the need to expand some of its existing bridges for cars, as highlighted in a separate article by the editorial board of The Urbanist. The Magnolia Bridge, "[s]erving a peninsula with some 20,000 residents and two other bridges over the Interbay railyard," is the perfect example of the tendency for elected officials in Seattle to push for car infrastructure as a matter of regional and even national priority (in that way, Seattle-area politicians certainly resemble politicians in other corners of the country). Clearly, the editorial board of The Urbanist aims to follow in the footsteps of their anti-highway forebears.
FULL STORY: An end to Seattle’s ramps to nowhere

Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.

Minneapolis Housing Plan a Success—Not for the Reason You Think
Housing advocates praise the city’s move to eliminate single-family zoning by legalizing triplexes on single-family lots, but that isn’t why housing construction is growing.

New White House Housing Initiative Includes Zoning Reform Incentives
The Biden administration this morning released a new program of actions intended to spur housing construction around the United States.

Proposed Transit Line Would Connect Downtown Tucson to Airport
Based on community input for a 15-mile transit line, residents want to see a focus on affordable housing development and anti-displacement measures.

Strip Malls as a Housing Solution
The American strip mall may be a dying breed of commercial development, but could the buildings serve a new use as sustainable housing?

Study: Most of Vancouver Is a ‘15-Minute City’
A large majority of Vancouver residents can access a grocery store in 15 minutes or less by bicycle or on foot.
Urban Planning Partners
Sandy City
Ada County Highway District
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Redwood City
City of Rohnert Park
City of Hot Springs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.