Seattle schools are often forced to reduce their playground space in favor of parking and circulation for private cars, but altering the city code could change that.

An analysis of recent retrofits at two Seattle schools shows that "if the Seattle School District had complied with the City requirement for private car storage in the recent retrofits at Magnolia and Queen Anne Elementaries it would have obliterated all outdoor play space and a significant amount of indoor education space." Margaret McCauley argues that city code requiring Seattle schools to replace playground and activity space with surface parking and car traffic doesn't address the needs of bike riders and pedestrians and takes away valuable outdoor space.
With low-income families less likely to own cars, devoting "scarce land resources to circulation for privately owned cars is inequitable." McCauley writes that "encouraging a dispersed traffic pattern, where families (excluding the medically fragile of course) park remotely in the neighborhood and walk the final block with their kids, produces a safer setting" and encourages friendlier interactions than expecting families to "be able to easily drive to and from the school at arrival and departure times."
According to McCauley, a city code change that prioritizes "safe routes to school instead of a requirement for on-site parking and drop-off zones" would "allow Seattle’s School Traffic Safety Committee to focus efforts on safe routes to school rather than parking plans that are counterproductive to safety."
FULL STORY: Seattle City Code Requires We Pave Over Playgrounds, But We Could Change That

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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