Seattle

By building a new headquarters in downtown Seattle, Amazon is attracting residential developers, new restaurants, and other tech companies to a rapidly transforming neighborhood. Can the city keep up with the demand for infrastructure and amenities?

August 27, 2013 - The New York Times

A study of Seattle's bike lanes and small businesses shows that bike lanes strengthen local business sales.

August 26, 2013 - ASLA's The Dirt blog

Seattle developers are moving ahead with plans for three new downtown office towers - the first in 20 years - despite abundant vacant space in the area. Much sought-after tech tenants will be a tough lure because “[t]hey like weird buildings.”

August 23, 2013 - The Seattle Times

While protected bike lanes have yet to be recognized by AASHTO, they are en route to being recognized by US DOT, writes Green Lane Project's Michael Andersen. With federal guidance, transportation engineers may be more willing to build cycle tracks.

August 12, 2013 - Green Lane Project

The bike helmet requirement will ultimately destroy the success of the planned Seattle bike share program, writes Danny Westneat, Seattle Times staff columnist, after experiencing first-hand the world's most successful bike share program in Paris.

July 21, 2013 - The Seattle Times

Seeing an opportunity to cut costs, attract residents, and respond to changing demands of tenants, commercial and residential developers in the Seattle area are investing in amenities for bicyclists.

June 27, 2013 - Puget Sound Business Journal

High-Occupancy Toll lanes have become a popular tool to help reduce congestion and raise revenues. But recent projects in cities throughout the U.S. have failed to meet expectations. Eric Jaffe investigates the reasons why.

June 24, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Felicity Barringer looks at an innovative program being tested in Seattle to incentivize commercial property owners to undertake major energy efficiency retrofits. A partnership between skeptical building owners, investors, and utilities is key.

June 20, 2013 - The New York Times

House Republicans object to further funding of the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program - largely due to California's expectation to receive $42 billion in federal funding - yet less ambitious projects have shown much promise.

May 8, 2013 - Governing Magazine

Although its inward-facing corporate design may be loathed by architects and planners, L.A. Live's success in helping to draw redevelopment and activity to South Park is indisputable. Can its successes be replicated in Seattle?

April 22, 2013 - The Seattle Times

In what is certainly one of the most polite forms of civil disobedience we've ever encountered, a small group of guerrilla urbanists installed bike lane protectors along a Seattle street one recent night. They kindly made them easy to remove.

April 7, 2013 - Seattle Bike Blog

It’s an understatement to say that the “D-Word” is a controversial subject in cities across North America. It needn’t be so though, and shouldn't be, as when it’s done well, density is immensely important to the success of cities and regions.

April 2, 2013 - Brent Toderian

David Moser pens a compelling essay that examines the ways in which sprawling auto-dependent land use patterns exacerbate poverty. As more low-income individuals and families are pushed to the suburbs, "this problem is gaining urgency."

March 13, 2013 - Citytank

Pike Place Market, one of Seattle's most visited tourist sites, and one of the prime models for the rediscovered allure of America's public markets, is primed for a significant expansion thanks to a recently approved agreement.

February 24, 2013 - Crosscut

Back in December, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced his aim of attracting Seattle's bikers and tech jobs while opening a new protected bike lane downtown. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn isn't taking Emanuel's entreaties lightly.

February 21, 2013 - Seattle Bike Blog

Using two paradigms addressing synergies of nature and the city, Chuck Wolfe contrasts gradually merging animal and human habitats in the United States with calculated greening of city spaces overseas.

February 18, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

How does each of us perceive the city? Using photos of pedestrians in Seattle crosswalks and the highly walkable Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Chuck Wolfe challenges readers to think for themselves about what they see.

February 8, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

When the new headquarters for the Bullitt Foundation opens this April in Seattle, it will be among the first to meet the Living Building Challenge - "the most stringent green standard around." But getting there isn't easy, and may be illegal.

January 25, 2013 - Architizer

A recent survey gives statistical heft to what many already believe - that despite the rhetorical exuberance of anti-bicycle and anti-transit types, the supposed "war on cars" is just a tired trope that is "wearing a bit thin."

January 24, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

In a photo essay on small homes and the people who love them, Sightline Fellow Alyse Nelson explains the attraction of compact living and the ways in which small homeowners are living it up by scaling down.

January 3, 2013 - Sightline Daily