The Northwest Urbanist

Seattle Invites Tech Community to ‘Hack’ Transportation

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Scott Bonjukian

The City of Seattle and Commute Seattle launched a “Hack the Commute” project on Tuesday, bringing together partner agencies and local technology companies to develop tools for improving and navigating the city’s transportation network. The coalition is interested in innovations for existing apps like Pronto’s or Google Maps, entirely new commuter tools, and improving the communication and visualization of transportation data. The main event will be a weekend “hackathon” in March, with participants including everyone from local programmers and software developers to writers and project managers. The effort has the potential to revolutionize transportation in the nation’s fastest growing city.

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Posted in Event Writeup, Government, Transportation | Tagged apps, biking, developers, driving, entrepreneurs, event, Hack the Commute, Hackathon, improvements, information, infrastructure, Moz, OneBusAway, PSRC, SDOT, Seattle, smartphones, software, startups, tech, technology, transit, transportation, walking, WeWorks, Whoa Strategies | 6 Comments

Seattle Bike Activists Launch Major Infrastructure Campaign

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Scott Bonjukian

Last Saturday a coalition of local non-profits kicked off a grassroots campaign to accelerate construction of 250 additional miles of key Seattle bicycle routes by 2025. The city already has 135 miles of bike infrastructure, and momentum is building to work faster on building a comprehensive network that makes bicycling safe for people of all ages and physical abilities. Cascade Bicycle Club and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways are leading the effort and also worked to update the city’s Bike Master Plan last year. And three city council members attended the kickoff event, indicating there is already political support. The campaign’s main goals are to pass the next transportation levy, elect pro-bike city council members, and continue advocating for priority projects.

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Posted in Biking, Event Writeup, Policy, Transportation | Tagged advocacy, Ballard, Bike Master Plan, bikes, campaign, Cascade Bicycle Club, City, Connect Seattle, connections, Council, department of transportation, DOT, downtown, grassroots, greenways, light rail, major, Montlake, movement, neighborhoods, network, Northgate, plans, politics, Portage Bay, projects, protected bike lanes, regional trails, safety, SDOT, Seattle, Seattle Bike Summit, West Seattle, Westlake | 11 Comments

Civic Indicators Highlight Seattle’s Progress, Challenges

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Scott Bonjukian

Redevelopment around a future light rail station looms in the Roosevelt urban village. Photo by the author.

Correction: The SSNAP report has been updated to correct statistics on where Seattle residents work. 38.2 percent of Seattle’s employed residents work outside of the city, not 62 percent.

A new report by consulting firm Steinbrueck Urban Strategies, headed up by former City Council member Peter Steinbrueck, details the changes Seattle’s urban villages have experienced over the past 20 years. This information will be used by planners to prepare for the next two decades with the Seattle 2035 comprehensive plan update, though the study itself has some issues. This post is lengthy, so readers are encouraged to scroll to the topics that interest them.

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Posted in Demographics, Density, Energy, Event Writeup, Food, Housing, Land Use, Parks, Policy, Resources, Schools, Transportation, Water | Tagged access, analysis, budget, capital facilities, City Council, comprehensive plan, electricty, funding, Growth Management Act, historic preservation, infrastructure, neighborhood plan, neighborhoods, parks, performance, Peter, policy, report, ridership, Seattle, Seattle 2035, Seattle Sustainable Neighborhoods Asessement Project, SSNAP, Steinbrueck, strategy, sustainability, transit, urban village, waste, water | 5 Comments

The 12th Man Lives On

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Scott Bonjukian

I don’t really care for football. In fact, I take issue with its non-profit status and insistence on public financing for private stadiums. But I do appreciate its contribution to a community spirit that has enlivened Seattle and the entire Pacific Northwest over the last few years (along with soccer, apparently). This spirit is shared by the people who live in this region, from the friendly Canadians to the hippie Oregonians. As with other challenges, we must move past Sunday’s heartbreak loss and forge ahead in making our home better for current and future generations.

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Posted in Editorial, Energy, Landscape, Resources, Sustainability, Transportation, Water | Tagged 12th Man, activism, attitude, British Columbia, Cascadia, civics, community, culture, geography, identity, Oregon, Pacific Northwest, people, Portland, Seahawks, Seattle, sense of place, spirit, Super Bowl, Vancouver, Washington | 2 Comments

The Top Places to Work for Urban Planners

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Scott Bonjukian

Washington state has the highest location quotient (concentration) of planners in the country, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This is measured by the ratio of planners to all jobs in the state and compared to the same ratio nationwide. About half of the 2,510 planners here are members of the state chapter of the American Planning Association. And it pays well here too, with a median annual wage of $73,400. Much of this is attributable to the manpower local governments need to regulate the state’s extensive development and environmental laws, especially the landmark Growth Management Act (GMA) and State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). The state also weathered the economic recession fairly well and the Puget Sound real estate market is booming, which requires departments to bring on more staff for reviewing building permits, subdivision plans, and zoning changes.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Kitsap Transit Plans to Revive High Speed Ferries

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Scott Bonjukian

Ferries are critical links in Puget Sound’s transportation network. Photo by the author.

Kitsap Transit plans to begin high speed foot ferry service between western Puget Sound and Seattle within the next few years. Trips between Bremerton and Seattle would be 25 to 30 minutes faster than the current car ferry run, and the agency’s business plan outlines ideas for similar service to the unincorporated communities of Kingston and Southworth. If the project proves sustainable, unlike many previous efforts, it will reinforce economic connections across Puget Sound and provide a boost to small communities on the peninsula.

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Posted in Ferries, Government, Land Use, Transportation | Tagged Bremerton, business plan, Colman Dock, dock, downtown, fare, ferry, funding, high speed, history, Kingston, Kitsap, Kitsap County, Kitsap Peninsula, Kitsap Transit, parking, passenger only, Port Orchard, price, report, ridership, schedule, Seattle, Southworth, study, survey, tax, timeline, Washington State Ferries, WSF | 15 Comments

Seattle Set to Increase Car Share Limits

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Scott Bonjukian

On Tuesday the Seattle City Council transportation committee voted to approve an increase in the number of free-floating car share permits and operators. This would primarily benefit car2go, the German company whose blue-and-white mini cars are rented on a per minute basis. Up from 350 vehicles beginning in 2012, the company has reached the 500 vehicle cap under a pilot program monitored by the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). The service has proved immensely popular and reportedly has 59,000 members in Seattle, the largest of car2go’s 30 cities and nearly one-tenth of the city’s population. The company has requested authority to expand, and the proposed legislation (PDF) will increase the permit cap six-fold and allow up to four car share operators in the city.

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Posted in Cars, Policy, Transportation | Tagged cap, car share, car2go, City Council, committee, commuter, DriveNow, expansion, on-street, operators, parking, pilot program, public, restrictions, SDOT, Seattle, spaces, transit, transportation, Zipcar | 7 Comments

SDOT To Extend Roosevelt Protected Bike Lane to 65th Street

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Scott Bonjukian

Roosevelt Way, looking north from Ravenna Boulevard.

At the Wednesday meeting of Seattle’s Bicycle Advisory Board, staff from the city’s department of transportation (SDOT) announced they will indeed extend a protected bike lane (PBL) another 20 blocks as part of an arterial repaving project on Roosevelt Way NE this summer. Prompted by neighborhood residents, SDOT agreed to change their original plans and replace a lane of parking with a PBL between NE 45th Street and the University Bridge, one of only two water crossings towards downtown. Extending north to NE 65th Street, the terminus of the paving project, is a tremendous step for increasing safety on one of the city’s key commercial corridors.

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Posted in Biking, Buses, Cars, Government, Parking, Transportation | Tagged 45th Street, 65th Street, bus bulbs, cost, department of transportation, extension, funding, neighborhood, PBL, protected bike lane, Ravenna, Roosevelt, Roosevelt Way NE, SDOT, Seattle, sidewalk, transit, transit islands, U-District, University Bridge, university district, University Greenways | 6 Comments

The Case for a Wallingford Crossing

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

Looking south from NE 50th Street to NE 45th Street. A ped-bike bridge could cut this divide in half.

Interstate 5, like freeways everywhere, is a real barrier between Seattle’s U-District and Wallingford neighborhoods. Currently there are only four street connections between the two, down from 12 before the freeway was built. Recent discussions at community meetings have brought up the idea of a pedestrian-bicycle bridge over the freeway at 47th Street, which is identified in the city’s Bicycle Master Plan (BMP) as a catalyst project and part of a major neighborhood greenway. The bridge could greatly improve the local and citywide pedestrian and bicycle network.

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Posted in Biking, Transportation, Walking | Tagged 47th Street, barrier, bicycles, bike bridge, bikes, comfort, connection, Crossing, freeway, Fremont, greenway, I-5, integration, Interstate 5, light rail, Link, neigborhood, Northgate, pedestrian bridge, pedestrians, safety, Seattle, sound transit, U-District, walking, Wallingford | 12 Comments

The Metro Neighborhood: A Renewed Vision for Downtown Seattle

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Scott Bonjukian

The University of Washington (UW) is one of downtown Seattle’s largest landowners, but you wouldn’t know it just by being there. The university controls about eleven acres of prime real estate where the original campus was founded in 1861, known as the Metropolitan Tract, and owns over 1.5 million square feet of office space there. The porfolio includes icons like the modernist Rainier Tower and historic landmarks such as the Fairmont Olympic, the city’s only 5-star hotel . The recent expiration of a ground lease is prompting plans to redevelop the Rainier Square shopping center (pictured above), but the concept is little more than just another office tower with pricey condominiums. The Tract’s lack of contribution to downtown life prompted a group of graduate students to propose better alternatives.

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Posted in Editorial, Housing, Land Use, Mixed Use, Parks, Public Space, Schools, Sustainability, Transportation | Tagged alleys, Cobb Building, Department of Urban Design and Planning, downtown, Fairmont Olympic Hotel, ideas, Metro Tract, Metropolitan, office, ownership, parks, plaza, proposal, public space, Rainier Square, Rainier Tower, real estate, redevelopment, residential, retail, Skinner Building, streets, Tract, UNICO, university of washington, uw, Wright Runstad | 6 Comments

The Northwest Urbanist

Seattle Invites Tech Community to ‘Hack’ Transportation

Seattle Bike Activists Launch Major Infrastructure Campaign

Civic Indicators Highlight Seattle’s Progress, Challenges

The 12th Man Lives On

The Top Places to Work for Urban Planners

Kitsap Transit Plans to Revive High Speed Ferries

SDOT To Extend Roosevelt Protected Bike Lane to 65th Street

The Case for a Wallingford Crossing

The Metro Neighborhood: A Renewed Vision for Downtown Seattle

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