Washington

Big Signs May Top Downtown Seattle Buildings

Seattle is considering a new policy that will allow companies to place large signs atop buildings downtown. It's part of an effort to lure companies downtown, but many locals are outraged.

December 22, 2010 - NPR

Mapping Seattle's Bikeability

Comparing Seattle to Portland, transportation planner Adam Parast used GIS data to show the most bikeable parts of the city.

December 22, 2010 - Ballard New Tribune

Opposing Seattle's Big Dig Project

Grist's Dave Roberts chats with Cary Moon, one of the key opponents to Seattle's version of the Big Dig, a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Moon, urbanists, and environmentalists are supporting a multi-modal, surface boulevard alternative.

December 21, 2010 - Grist

A Map of Pedestrian Deaths

The Seattle Department of Transportation has released a map of all pedestrian deaths in the city, offering clues about where additional attention is needed.

December 19, 2010 - Publicola

LaHood Announces New HSR Winners & Losers

The loser list is short and no surprise: The governor-elects of OH and WI had campaigned against HSR projects in their states-they got their wish. The recipients of the redirected $1.2 billion were the surprise,with CA, FL, and WA being the happiest.

December 10, 2010 - U.S. D.O.T. Press Release

Discovering What Lies Beneath Seattle

As Seattle prepares to undertake several major construction projects, the city should embrace and explore its buried archaeological past as a means to involve community members and spark interest in local history, argues Knute Berger.

November 29, 2010 - Crosscut

Sponsoring Seattle

Leaders in Seattle are considering a plan to offer naming rights to various parks and civic amenities.

November 2, 2010 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Bicycle Activists Become Major Political Players

A one-time fringe bicycle activist group in the Pacific Northwest has turned into a major player in mainstream politics.

November 2, 2010 - The Seattle Times

B.C. and Washington Seek High Speed Rail to California

Officials in the Pacific Northwest are calling for a high speed rail line that connects British Columbia with California.

October 21, 2010 - CBC

Seattle's Sustainability Cred Suffering

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.

October 7, 2010 - WorldChanging

A New Waterfront in the Works for Seattle

Seattle is panning to tear down an aging viaduct that runs along its waterfront and replace it with a tunnel beneath downtown. When the viaduct falls, the city is looking to increase public space on a new waterfront.

September 28, 2010 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Grocery Chains Caught Faking Farmers Markets

The farmers market trend has gotten so popular that West Coast chain Safeway tried setting up some stands of fruits and veggies outside their store with a sign saying "Farmers Market". Locals called them on it.

September 28, 2010 - Grist

A Very Small-Scale Bike Sharing Program in Seattle

A local activist in Seattle has started his own small-scale ad hoc bike sharing system with a handful of free bikes scattered throughout his neighborhood.

September 16, 2010 - The Stranger

The Vicious Cycle of Adding Capacity for Cars

Dan Bertolet argues that adding expanding car capacity in cities just inspires more people to drive and ruins the qualities that make the city attractive in the first place.

September 5, 2010 - Publicola

A New Ethic for Urban Reinvention

In a unique collaboration, an American lawyer and a Venezuelan architect merge thinking on holistic design, planning and regulation

August 23, 2010 - myurbanist

Seattle Considers Transportation Tax District

Seattle has a long list of transportation projects on the drawing boards, but little money to bring them into reality. So local officials are considering a plan to create transportation taxing districts to help fund the projects.

August 14, 2010 - The Seattle Times

Preserving Business During Construction Clutter

New transit facilities attract lots of foot traffic, but while the facility is being built the construction clutter drives potential customers away. A new program in Minneapolis attempts to preserve local businesses through the debris.

August 5, 2010 - Next American City

Seattle Could Ban New Houseboats

The city has hundreds of houseboats on its waterways, but new shoreline regulations could prohibit any new houseboats.

August 1, 2010 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Protecting The Open Spaces of Cascadia

Forest land and open space have been steadily gobbled up by development in the Pacific Northwest. A new initiative in Washington seeks to relocate some of developers' planned greenfield housing into cities.

July 21, 2010 - Citiwire

Seattle Upgrading its Stormwater System to Prevent Sewage Overflows

The city of Seattle is taking on a $500 million project to update its storm drains to reduce the amount of untreated sewage that overflows into waterways during storm events.

July 15, 2010 - The Seattle Times

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.

Senior Manager Operations, Urban Planning

New York City School Construction Authority

Building Inspector

Village of Glen Ellyn

Manager of Model Development

Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO

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.