Category Archives: Public Space

Bikeshare Pedaling Into Puget Sound

The bike sharing fad has spread across the U.S. like wildfire, with over 30 cities introducing a form of the service since 2008. High profile programs in New York and Washington, D.C. have proven the merits of bike sharing for … Continue reading

Posted in Biking, Policy, Public Space, Roads, Sustainability, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Denny Substation Bringing Light to Growing Neighborhoods

With growing demand for power in the neighborhoods around South Lake Union, utility department Seattle City Light (SCL) is preparing to build a new electrical substation nearby. It won’t be like the city’s other 11 facilities with cold chain-link fences, … Continue reading

Posted in Energy, Government, Land Use, Landscape, Parks, Public Art, Public Space, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Thinking Outside the (Big) Box

The U.S. is seeing a slow reversal of a half-century of migration to the suburbs, with people more interested in walkable communities closer to the core cities of metropolitan regions. With the Millennial generation also less interested in driving and … Continue reading

Posted in Editorial, Housing, Land Use, Landscape, Mixed Use, Parks, Public Space, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Seattle’s Food Forest Takes Root

A new public food forest is opening over the next year in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood with fruit trees, shrubs, and other food plants that will be available to all visitors. The park will also have private gardening plots, known … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Food, Government, Land Use, Landscape, Policy, Public Space, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mixed-Use Project to Increase Urban Vitality in D.C.

For a little break from the Northwest we venture to the nation’s capital in the other Washington, where an exciting urban design project is under construction. On a 10-acre megablock previously home to a convention center, the CityCenterDC project will … Continue reading

Posted in Density, Housing, Land Use, Mixed Use, Parks, Public Space, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Time at a City Committee Meeting

Currently and last summer I’ve had the unique opportunity to intern with my hometown planning department. This year an anonymous art donation prompted the new planning director, who is a graduate of the same program I will be attending, to … Continue reading

Posted in Biking, Editorial, Government, Parks, Public Space, Roads | Leave a comment