In the progressive city of Seattle, Worldchanging's Alex Steffen finds the metro area falling behind other American cities with what is becoming an out-dated land use policy.
Steffen argues that the region's cities are not as sustainable as they'd like to think.
"The Seattle metro area's growth management is weak, its regional transportation plan is hopelessly out-dated, and the political powers that be are driving forward a number of major new highway projects -- including a waterfront tunnel and new cross-lake bridge -- that are bound to not only soak up scarce transportation dollars but also lock the region into further car dependence. Meanwhile, the State of Washington has fallen to the back of the regional pack in legislating the kind of incentive shifts that are driving forward green development, renewables, district energy, sustainable design and innovative retrofit programs in other states. Perhaps nowhere else on the West Coast are the politics of sunk-cost thinking so powerful, even in supposedly progressive circles."
FULL STORY: Future City: Seattle on the Threshold
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
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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.
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Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
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Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
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