Seattle
Seattle's Backyard Cottages Encouraged
Don't call them granny flats or inlaw units! These are separate units that can only be built on lots of 4,000 sq. ft. minimum. Only 50 have been built or permitted since the trial began in 2006. The goal is to bring affordabllity to SFH neighborhoods
With Transit Funding in the Dumps, Seattle Could Ditch Ride Free Area
A section of downtown Seattle has for decades been a fare-free public transit zone. Those days could be coming to an end.
Carpooling Falls Out of Favor
In Seattle, parking spaces are reserved for people who carpool into downtown. But in recent years, an increasing amount of those parking spaces are empty.
From Bedroom Communities to Jet Engine Communities
More and more people working in the San Francisco Bay Area are opting for cheaper housing outside the region. Some are going way outside the region, commuting by airplane from Portland or Seattle.
Completing the Grid to Improve Walkability
Grist's David Roberts maps out why his neighborhood is not walkable and how it could be greatly improved with just a little extra infrastructural connectivity.
San Francisco Takes Lessons From Seattle Over Sidewalk Sitting
San Francisco's recently passed and controversial sit/lie laws that prohibit sitting on sidewalks were based on a similar rule passed in Seattle in 1993. Though that rule has been on the books for years, its controversy remains.
Splicing Small Farms into Residential Development
Small farms are increasingly being integrated into new housing development proposals. One new project in Washington is betting on the growing popularity of local food to draw in homebuyers.
Rethinking Urban Alleyways in Seattle
Through a new competition, the city of Seattle is looking to revive and reuse the alleys of the urban core.
Community Gardens Sprout in Seattle
Activists in Seattle have created a community garden on empty land to help provide food for the city's needy.
Breathing Life Back into Seattle's Alleys
The City of Seattle is looking to revive some of its often forgotten and neglected urban spaces: alleys.
How Bill's Hotel Room Saved Some Trees
Bill Fulton was prepping for a panel on transferable development rights programs for last weekend's New Partners for Smart Growth conference in Seattle when he realized the hotel he was in was the beneficiary of just such a program.
Getting Fruits and Vegetables into the Convenience Store
A neighborhood development group in Seattle is working with convenience store owners to add healthier food choices to their inventories.
Big Brother is Watching You Ride the Bus
Electronic passes used to board transit systems in the Seattle region could offer a new eye for Big Brother. According to privacy rights activists, the data in the employer-provided passes can be monitored by employers without employees' knowledge.
Seattle's Big Dig Controversy
Seattle's new mayor come January, Mike McGinn, a former Sierra Club activist, withdrew his campaign threat to veto the highway tunnel planned to replace the Alaska Way Viaduct.
Seattle Approves Backyard Cottages
The Seattle City Council has unanimously approved an ordinance that will allow owners of single family homes to construct additional cottage-like housing units on their property.
Reclaiming Alleyways
Office workers in Seattle's Pioneer Square area are claiming their network of alleyways as social spaces.
Condo Conundrum
Like many other cities, there are condos a-plenty in Seattle. Developers are trying almost anything to get them sold. But the majority remain empty, leaving developers scratching their heads about what to do.
Seattle Suburb Has its Eyes on License Plates
In the Seattle suburb of Medina, security cameras are now capturing all vehicle driving into the city, and using license plate recognition software to check cars and drivers for criminal records.
Tracking Trash with M.I.T.
M.I.T.'s Senseable City Laboratory launched a project to track the journey of garbage and recyclables, using small electronic sensors, in Seattle and New York City, in part to highlight the high cost of waste to the environment and cities.
Rethinking Residential
Can you create a community with design? This is one of the questions raised at a panel hosted by Future Shack, a project sponsored by the Seattle AIA and The Seattle Times to reconsider residential architecture.
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.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
