Washington
A proposal for the development of a mass timber high-rise in First Hill is under community review in Seattle. The project, which adjusted plans to add an additional 6 floors, proposes the tallest mass timber building in Seattle.
Capitol Hill Seattle Blog
The history of Seattle's opposition to car infrastructure is being commemorated while it's being made.
Crosscut
After a 22% drop in housing starts in March, municipalities and state governments continue to assess whether or not housing construction is essential, weighing factors like workforce safety and availability of construction materials.
Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
The temporary measures of the coronavirus pandemic are being made permanent fixtures on 20 miles of streets in Seattle.
The Seattle Times
Seatback signage and reduced capacity will allow King County Metro to begin resuming bus service. In the wake of staff illness and depleted funding, the road to Metro's recovery could be quite long.
The Urbanist
New construction projects are still on hold, but the state of Washington is allowing some projects to restart under strict health and safety guidelines.
The Urbanist
Disability rights advocates and people who rely on public transit put pressure on Mayor Jenny Durkan to develop a plan for pedestrian access to coronavirus testing centers in Seattle.
The Seattle Times
The "Red Line" didn't fly with people living in neighborhoods historically redlined by discriminatory real estate and land use practices.
The Urbanist
Part I was shutting down the economy on a multi-state basis in the absence of federal leadership. Part II will be opening them up in spite of federal assertiveness.
Politico
Washington and California have been praised for early efforts to mitigate community spread of the novel coronavirus, resulting in relatively low rates of infection, hospitalization, and ultimately, death. Add Ohio to the bunch.
The Washington Post
Lawmakers in Washington state fell short of passing comprehensive legislation this year to meet long-term goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Crosscut
Project for Public Spaces' Market Cities Initiative seeks to understand and addresses challenges faced by the public marketplaces to improve market infrastructure and promote healthy food systems in local communities.
Project For Public Spaces
Many elements of the plan for the Ballard-Interbay were never implemented, and its relevance as a planning document is over.
The Urbanist
Emergency legislation has cleared the way for a virtual design review process to keep the wheels of the development industry moving in one of the nation's fastest growing cities.
The Urbanist
The original epicenter of coronavirus outbreak was also the first region in the nation to implement social distancing measures, serving as a national model of behaviors that lessen the spread of the deadly virus.
The New York Times
All eyes are fixed on New York City, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak with its skyrocketing deaths, but the six counties with the highest number of coronavirus deaths per capita are in two Southern states as of April 1. Manhattan is #7.
The Washington Post
The public got to view the models that caused the president on Monday to extend the White House Coronavirus Guideline for 30 days. Dr. Deborah Birx, who led the presentation, emphasized that success will come down to behavior to reduce fatalities.
Politico
More people are driving less and staying at home. The result is significant improvements in air quality in cities across the country.
The New York Times
King County, home to Seattle, will wait to ask voters to approve a 0.2% sales tax for funding transit until a time both when transit use is higher, and people aren’t facing waves of sudden unemployment.
The Urbanist
Despite the drastic funding limitation imposed by Washington's voter-approved Initiative 976, the state found a way to fund $10.4 billion in (mostly highway) transportation projects.
The Urbanist
