Category Archives: Housing

U-District Open Space Forum Wraps Up

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

The third and final public meeting on an update to the U-District neighborhood’s park plan was held on Wednesday night. Like the first meeting (I missed the second), the event was well attended and organized. Here, city staff and their … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Land Use, Parks, Policy, Public Space, Transportation | Tagged 12th Avenue, 15th Avenue, 42nd Street, 43rd Street, Brooklyn Avenue, department of planning and development, DOT, DPD, farmer's market, festival street, framework, green streets, growth, light rail, MAKERS, meeting, neighborhood, open space, Open Space Forum, parks, participation, Partnership, plan, public, square, station, street, The Ave, transit, transportation, U-District, university of washington, upzone, urban design, zoning | 11 Comments

Legacy and Prophecy: The 2014 APA Washington State Conference

Posted on October 20, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

The annual two-day Washington state planning conference wrapped on Friday in Spokane, and I came away with a refreshed sense of the many issues planners face both now and in the coming years. The sessions covered a wide variety of … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Event Writeup, Housing, Land Use, Transportation | Tagged agriculture, APA, APA WA, big ideas for washington, business improvement area, conference, Davenport, economic development, economy, family sized housing, farmland, hotel, industry, maritime, national, planning commission, Riverfront Park, Seattle, Spokane, Spokane Falls, state, subarea planning | 1 Comment

A Planner’s Visit to Vancouver

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

After growing up and living the Pacific Northwest for many years I finally had an opportunity to visit Vancouver, British Columbia last weekend. Along with Seattle and Portland, it is an important hub of the Cascadia region and I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Editorial, Housing, Land Use, Parks, Public Space, Sustainability, Transportation | Tagged Amtrak, Burnaby, bus, Canada, Cascadia, complete streets, Gastown, Granville Island, light rail, mixed-use, Pacific Northwest, Seattle, Simon Fraser University, Stanley Park, transit, trip, University of British Columbia, urban, urbanism, Vancouver | 5 Comments

Let’s Bury I-5: Redux

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

Author’s Note: The latest and most detailed proposal is in a third post, “The Case for Lidding I-5 in Downtown Seattle”, dated December 4, 2015. Earlier this year I proposed capping Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle. The original idea was radical, … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Housing, Land Use, Landscape, Megaprojects, Parks, Public Space, Schools, Sustainability, Transportation | Tagged Bury I-5, cap, Capitol Hill, construction, convention center, Dallas, deck, downtown, engineering, First Hill, Freeway Park, I-5, Interstate 5, Klyde Warren Park, lid, Mercer Island, neighborhoods, Northwest Urbanist, park, proposal, redux, revision, school, Seattle, update, urban design, water | 27 Comments

Atlanta Conference Recap

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

In April I had the good fortune to attend the 2014 National APA (American Planning Association) Conference in Atlanta, Georgia with 5,000 fellow planners. Session topics ranged from autonomous cars and the Millennials to citizen participation and affordable housing. I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Demographics, Editorial, Event Writeup, Government, Housing, Land Use, Landscape, Megaprojects, Policy, Public Space, Resources, Sustainability, Transportation | Tagged 2014, APA, Atlanta, Boston, cap parks, climate change, complete streets, conference, creative class, cycle tracks, Dallas, downtown, freeways, freight, infrastructure, lid, millenials, mixed use, national, natural disasters, Philadelphia, resiliency, Seattle, sustainability, transit, transit oriented development, transportation, urban design | 1 Comment

Seattle Hopes to Restart Neighborhood Relations

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

The Mayor’s Office hosted a “Neighborhood Summit” at the Seattle Center on Saturday for the purpose of connecting city government with citizens. In addition to over 20 city departments and offices, 600 people of all ages and walks of life … Continue reading →

Posted in Editorial, Energy, Event Writeup, Government, Housing, Land Use, Public Space, Resources, Sustainability, Transportation | Tagged City Council, conflict, controversey, Department, development, districts, Ed Murray, elections, event, growth, mayor, Neighborhood Summit, neighborhoods, office, open house, Planning, politics, Seattle, Seattle Center, transportation, voting, waterfront | 2 Comments

Vision Port Orchard: Planning for a Small Town

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

On Saturday morning, months of preparation were finally put into action. A team of graduate planning students, including myself, hosted a public meeting at Port Orchard City Hall to kick off the city’s yearlong comprehensive plan update process. The purpose … Continue reading →

Posted in Editorial, Government, Housing, Land Use, Transportation | Tagged 2015, 2016, city hall, civic, comprehensive plan, event, graduate, involvement, meeting, Nick Bond, participation, Port Orchard, process, public, students, Tim Matthes, university of washington, update, urban design, urban planning, uw, Vision Port Orchard | 1 Comment

The Case for Cities and Saving the World

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

The Urbanist, a new Seattle-based website, offers compelling reasons for channeling human activities and development into cities. I’d like to add to their argument: cities are how we’re going to save the world. As developing countries rapidly catch up with … Continue reading →

Posted in Editorial, Government, Housing, Land Use, Resources, Sustainability, Transportation | Tagged alternatives, cities, colonization, densification, density, elon musk, energy, environment, future, humanity, humankind, life, living, population, space, spacex, sprawl, suburbs, sustainability, world | 1 Comment

Murray Sees Progress Ahead for Seattle

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

Newly elected Seattle Mayor Ed Murray delivered his first State of the City address Tuesday afternoon in a packed chamber at City Hall. He highlighted the pride and spirit of community that is embodied in Seattlites, and also went over … Continue reading →

Posted in Biking, Buses, Climate, Demographics, Government, Housing, Policy, Rail, Roads, Schools, Sustainability, Transportation, Walking | Tagged 2014, bike share, bus, city hall, climate change, Council, economic justice, Ed Murray, elections, income inequality, internet, levy, mayor, metro, minimum wage, municipal broadband, parks, SDOT, sea level rise, Seattle, seawall, social justice, state, State of the City, streets, univerisal pre-school, utility, video, Washington, waterfront, WSDOT | 2 Comments

Let’s Bury I-5

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

Author’s Note: This post has been superseded by an updated proposal in another post, “Let’s Bury I-5: Redux”, dated July 5, 2014. Author’s Note 2: The latest and most detailed proposal is in a third post, “The Case for Lidding I-5 … Continue reading →

Posted in Editorial, Government, Housing, Land Use, Landscape, Megaprojects, Public Space, Transportation | Tagged bicycling, bore, buildings, bury, cars, concrete, construction, cost, cover, Dallas, department of transportation, Eisenhower, engineering, freeway, highway, Hudson Yards, I-5, Interstate 5, land, land value, lid, megaproject, Millenium Park, neighborhoods, noise, park, paths, pollution, project, proposal, reconnect, Seattle, soil, tunnel, urban design, vegetation, walking, Washington | 31 Comments