The experience of communities and school districts attempting to build elevated structures for residents to wait out the high water of a tsunami, an inevitable threat in the Pacific Northwest, has been challenging and impossible to differing degrees.
“A vast body of geological and historical evidence shows that the question is not whether [a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest] will happen, but when,” writes Eric Scigliano for Crosscut.
Given that certainty, “[y]ou might think it would be hard to argue with a tsunami,” but as Scigliano details in this article, regional officials have found a way to politicize resilience efforts to the point of complete stagnation.
As evidence of the frustrations of resilience planning, Scigliano cites the examples of four school bonds, proposed to fortify endangered coastal schools. The experience of approving these bonds has produced a mixed bag of success and failure—with success in Ocasta, setbacks in Ocean Shores, and failure in Long beach, for example.
Scigliano also notes a different example, of cooperation, set by nearby Native tribes. A lot more detail and insight is available from the source article, below.
FULL STORY: How politics have stalled tsunami prep efforts on the WA coast
A Cutting-Edge Planning Hackathon in Seattle
In GeekWire, Chuck Wolfe covers an atypical urban planning and policy gathering called an “Urban Resilience Hackathon,” which was held at the University of Washington in Seattle late last month. For a day, the event showcased collaborative problem solving and innovative thinking in addressing urban challenges.
2020 Population Growth Rates for the 50 Biggest U.S. Cities
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Op-Ed: Seattle Resilience Roadmap Feels 'Retrospective'
Natalie Bicknell notes several deficiencies in the roadmap that resulted from Seattle's participation in the Rockefeller Foundation's now-defunct 100 Resilient Cities program.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Study: Maui’s Plan to Convert Vacation Rentals to Long-Term Housing Could Cause Nearly $1 Billion Economic Loss
The plan would reduce visitor accommodation by 25% resulting in 1,900 jobs lost.
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Passengers Flock to Caltrain After Electrification
The new electric trains are running faster and more reliably, leading to strong ridership growth on the Bay Area rail system.
Texas Churches Rally Behind ‘Yes in God’s Back Yard’ Legislation
Religious leaders want the state to reduce zoning regulations to streamline leasing church-owned land to housing developers.
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