The Urbanist

4 weeks ago | theurbanist.org | Carolyn Bick

In the wee hours of the morning on June 8, 2020, Seattle Police Department (SPD) Officer Carl Anderson tossed a blast ball at a line of Black Lives Matter protesters. The ball hit a young woman in the chest, exploding on impact. She crumpled to the ground. It was thanks to a group of street medics that she did not die. They did their best to keep her alive, and managed to bring her to Virginia Mason hospital, amidst a barrage of “less lethal” weapon assaults by police officers.

1 month ago | theurbanist.org | Oliver Moffat

Like other cities across the state, Kenmore is updating its development codes to comply with Washington’s Middle Housing and accessory dwelling unit (ADU) laws intended to address the housing affordability crisis. Most of Kenmore’s proposed changes will meet the minimum requirements of the law. But Kenmore may adopt an inclusionary zoning (IZ) policy alongside state mandates that would require developers to offer 10% of units as affordable or pay a fee-in-lieu.

1 month ago | theurbanist.org | Stephen Fesler

Big box stores have become a common feature of American suburbs most everywhere. Many are still going, albeit it with lower foot traffic volumes, and others have closed. But the impacts of them on land use patterns, transportation systems, and municipal coffers are often problematic. Dave Amos of City Beautiful highlights the pros and cons of big box stores and ways that municipal governments can work to improve or transform them in this century.

1 month ago | theurbanist.org | Andrew Engelson

Constructing affordable housing in the cities on the east side of Lake Washington has always been a challenge, thanks in part to high real estate prices, restrictive zoning and regulations, and more limited funding sources compared to Seattle. And though some municipal policy changes in the past five years have helped ameliorate the situation, other factors still make it extremely challenging to fund, permit, and build affordable housing on the Eastside.

1 month ago | theurbanist.org | Stephen Fesler

Development charges, fees, and taxes contribute to a significant proportion of new housing costs. In many cities in the North America, these have been increasing much faster than inflation. But why are they increasing so much, what are they use used for, and how does this affect housing? Uytae Lee of About Here dives into the thorny issue and talks about potential alternatives to the prevailing paradigm.