Seattle

Detaching the Family Car from Single-Family Housing

As parking reform takes to multi-family housing, the detached single family home has largely escaped discussion. Should it? Seattle (of course) is taking the lead. Also, is all of Minneapolis ready to eliminate parking minimums along transit lines?

July 14, 2015 - Streetsblog Network

Suburban Dead End

The End of Single-Family Housing? Seattle Housing Committee Creates a Stir

A draft report, by the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) Advisory Committee created by Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, includes language about single-family zoning that has provoked debate.

July 8, 2015 - The Seattle Times

$73 Million Expansion Underway for Seattle's Pike Place Market

One of Seattle's most recognizable locations began work on sweeping changes on June 24, 2015.

July 7, 2015 - The Urbanist

Children Playing

How to Keep Young Families from Fleeing to the Suburbs

Millennials are loving their center cities these days, with their lofts and bars and yoga studios. But what happens when Millennials start to have families and don't quite fit, physically or culturally, into city life anymore?

July 3, 2015 - Next City

Anti-Crime Measures for Seattle's Westlake Park: Foosball and Ping Pong

Call it tactical urbanism, call it reactivating spaces, call it good old fashioned fun—games like ping pong, foosball, and bean bag toss are central to plans to make Westlake park more hospitable.

June 29, 2015 - KUOW

Seattle Mayor to Create New 'Office of Planning and Community Development'

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced the creation of a cabinet-level Office of Planning and Community Development to address the city's explosive growth.

June 24, 2015 - The Urbanist

One Way to Vision Zero: Reward Good Behavior

A simple, innovative idea behind Seattle's Vision Zero initiative: good driving behavior should generate more positive outcomes.

June 23, 2015 - CityLab

Seattle Mixed Use Development

Seattle NIMBYs Protest Dense Development, Cite Eastern Bloc

A zoning bill has stirred up the fear that dense development projects will transform Seattle into a "Soviet cityscape." Residents accuse developers of using loopholes to squeeze in pricey, out-of-character townhomes.

June 23, 2015 - The Seattle Times

A Case Study in Planning for Inclusion and Affordability

New federal programs are enabling planning processes that deliver positive outcomes for a broader scope of the population. Seattle provides an example of how federal money is supporting the success of inclusive planning processes.

June 22, 2015 - Next City

Seattle City Council

Breaking Down the Seattle City Council's 'War on Density'

Recent legislation considered (with some approved) by the Seattle City Council Planning, Land Use, and Sustainability Committee takes anti-development politics to a new level in a city reacting to years of growth.

June 19, 2015 - Publicola

Seattle Streetcar

Seattle Confronts Its Transportation Bottleneck

By some measures, Seattle's geography makes other cramped cities like Boston and San Francisco seem positively agoraphobic. New Transportation Director Scott Kubly has vowed to keep Seattleites moving through its many bottlenecks.

June 15, 2015 - Grist

Seattle Bikeshare Proposal Would Expand Service from 5 to 42 Square Miles

Seattle is showing all indications of a city ready to take its bikeshare system to the next level.

June 14, 2015 - Seattle Bike Blog

Road Diet in the Works

24 Road Diet Case Studies from the U.S. Department of Transportation

Following a "Mayors Challenge" for bike safety by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation recently released a "Road Diets" report, providing a geographical diverse collection of case studies.

June 12, 2015 - Publicola

Seattle Searching for Answers on Affordable Housing

The city of Seattle has a stated goal of creating 30,000 new market rate housing units and 20,000 new or newly rent-restricted units in the city in the next 10 years. How to do so is the question currently before local officials.

June 10, 2015 - The Seattle Times

Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan Wrestles With Urban Growth

As increasing density and increasing housing costs raise temperatures all over Seattle, residents and planners are engaging in a comprehensive plan that will determine how the city grows over the next 20 years.

June 5, 2015 - Crosscut

Environmental Criticism for the Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan

The Seattle 2035 will manage growth for one of the fastest growing cities in the country. But shouldn't it also mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions of this famously eco-conscious city?

May 28, 2015 - Publicola

Large Park Expansion Coming to Seattle's Chinatown

A construction project seeking construction bids will double the size of Hing Hay Park, located in Seattle's Chinatown-International District.

May 27, 2015 - Daily Journal of Commerce

Grant Funding Rewards Innovation in Community Engagement

The Citi Foundation and Living Cities announced $3 million in grant funding to help cities adopt innovative practices in community engagement. Albuquerque, Atlanta, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Seattle will have 18 months to empower citizens.

May 22, 2015 - Next City

7 Lessons in Park Planning from the APA National Conference

What’s new in environmental planning, the value of multi-functional urban parks, and the importance of providing open spaces for an aging population discussed at a recent conference stood out to planner Clement Lau.

May 18, 2015 - UrbDeZine

Chicago Bus

Seattle Lowers Transit Fares for Low-Income Residents

Joining Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, and Kansas City, Seattle now offers reduced bus fares to low-income residents. Some worry the program entrenches class differences and doesn't truly aid social mobility.

May 14, 2015 - Governing

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.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.