Category Archives: Land Use

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

U-District to Discuss Neighborhood Open Space

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

The U-District Partnership will host a community forum on Tuesday, October 7th at 7pm at Alder Hall (1310 NE 40th Street) with the Seattle planning and parks departments to discuss public open space in the the University District, one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Event Writeup, Land Use, Public Space | Tagged 42nd, 43rd, Brooklyn, Campus Parkway, community, forum, light rail, meeting, open space, park, parklet, plaza, public space, square, station, street, U-District, university district, university of washington, upzone, zoning | Leave a 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

It’s All About Streets

Posted on September 6, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

Think of different types of public space and parks, plazas, and piers probably come to mind. Streets are another type that often make up the largest share of publicly-owned land within cities, but they may not be obviously “public” in … Continue reading →

Posted in Cars, Land Use, Policy, Public Space, Sustainability, Transportation | Tagged automobile, bike, bus, car, complete street, dense, mall, mixed-use, multi-modal, parklet, pedestrian, right-of-way, road diet, Seattle, small town, sprawl, street tree, streets, suburb, traffic, transit, trees | Leave a comment

Germany Visits South Lake Union

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

Last week I led a tour of students and professors from the University of Munich’s Department of Geography through South Lake Union (SLU) . It was a great experience for me, as I’ve never done anything like it, and the German … Continue reading →

Posted in Editorial, Land Use, Public Space, Transportation | Tagged Amazon, buildings, campus, change, construction, geography, Germany, Lake Union Park, Mercer Mess, MOHAI, office, South Lake Union, streetcar, technology, tour, University of Munich, Westlake | 2 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

Lessons from the Oso Landslide

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

On March 22nd, a forested hillside northeast of Seattle broke away and sent a mile of mud towards the rural community of Oso. The results were utterly devastating. 41 are confirmed dead and two remain missing, 49 homes were completely … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Land Use, Landscape | Tagged 2014, Arlington, buy out, critical areas, Darrington, deaths, emergency, first responders, geology, government, hazard, homes, injuries, landslide, mud, mudslide, natural disaster, oso, Planning, slope, Snohomish County, Stillaguamish River, Washington, water | 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