Washington
Secretive Seattle Freeway Replacement Plans Revealed
For the past year, a Washington state legislator has been devising a plan for replacing Seattle's damaged inner-city freeway, the Alaskan Way Viaduct. His plan has mainly been a secret -- until now.
Improvement District Strikes Fear in Small Businesses
Tacoma, Washington has created a local improvement district in the Broadway-St. Helens neighborhood to create an 'urban village' and improve old infrastructure, but existing small businesses are afraid of being priced out.
Seattle's Housing Can't Handle Projected Growth
Seattle is growing, and it's going to have to start thinking about augmenting its single-family neighborhoods with more multi-unit housing if it wants to keep up with the pace of growth.
Facelift Approved For Seattle Center
Broad redevelopment plans have been approved for Seattle Center, the public gathering place first built in 1962 for the World's Fair.
Stymied by City, Community Installs Own Speed Bumps
Van Nguyen and six neighbors in the NewHolly neighborhood of Seattle weren't satisfied with the city's lack of action on the cars speeding through their community- so they installed speedbumps themselves.
Seattle's Car-Free Plans Irk Business Owners
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels recently announced a plan to close off certain roads to cars on Sundays starting this month. Local business owners are worried that closures will keep people away.
A Different Kind of Public Art in Olympia
An audio artwork called "Bus Station" will be installed in Olympia, WA's downtown transit station, to be heard over the public-address system.
Seattle's Transit Authority Announces $17.9 Billion Plan
Sound Transit is putting a major bus and rail plan on the November ballot. The Seattle Times has the details of where the money will go.
Neighbors Complain Plan is 'Too Urban'
Residents of Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood are complaining about plans to redevelop nearby Fort Lawton which includes housing for seniors and homeless.
Are Automated Public Toilets A Fiasco?
Seattle is closing the lid on a disappointing experiment with public toilets after spending $5 million dollars to install them. Cities from Boston to San Francisco have had mixed results with automated toilets, The New York Times reports.
Should Nuclear Reactor Be A National Landmark?
The B Reactor at the decommissioned Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington State is up to become a national landmark for its role in producing uranium for The Manhattan Project.
Preservation vs. Revitalization in Seattle
Planners in Seattle want to add housing to Little Saigon, a neighborhood with a strong Vietnamese culture, without disrupting the district's character or displacing residents.
Employers Going Beyond Requirements for Commute Alternatives
Employers in the Seattle area are outpacing City Hall in providing incentives to employees not to drive to work in single occupancy cars. A state law even requires companies with 100 or more commuters to provide alternative commuting plans.
Seattle Seeks Crackdown on 'Megahomes'
Amid complaints of over-sized houses, officials in Seattle are considering enacting tighter regulations on the size of single-family homes.
Eight Options on Table for Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct
State, county, and city officials revealed eight new options for dealing with Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct, a damaged double-decker inner city freeway.
Skirting Process, Bremerton Makes Beautiful Public Spaces
Landscape architect Gary Sexton worked on a tight budget and dodged commissions and regulations to create a beautiful vision for downtown Bremerton (near Seattle).
Homeowner's Symbolic Fight Ends
In what is almost a real-life caricature of the battle of the single homeowner against the huge corporation, Edith Macefield refused to sell her home to a developer planning a major retail outlet, who then built around. This week Ms. Macefield died.
Ambitious City Center Plan Moves Forward
Despite the economic downturn, city officials in Spokane Valley, WA move forward with a plan to build something the city has always lacked: a true city center.
Politicians Call on Seattle to Think Creatively About Freeway Problem
In this guest column, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, and King County Executive Ron Sims argue that Seattle needs to find a creative solution to the problem posed by its aging inner-city freeway.
A Small Town From Scratch
Developer Casey Roloff has built an ambitious new community on the Washington coast with New Urbanist ideas and a Northwest flavor.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
