The Downtown Activation Plan shifts from Euclidean to form-based zoning to encourage more commercial development.

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s recently unveiled Downtown Activation Plan significantly expands the types of businesses permitted in the city’s central core as part of an effort to revitalize the district.
Current rules, based in Euclidean zoning, prohibit businesses such as arts studios, medical offices, and printing shops from downtown Seattle. Harrell wants to fill vacant storefronts and transform downtown Seattle into a thriving, mixed-use neighborhood.
As Alan Ehrenhalt explains in Governing, “The idea was to keep downtown streets free of noxious enterprises such as factories and sweatshops that would be a nuisance to nearby residences. As the decades went by, however, the list of proscribed businesses grew in many places beyond the bounds of logic.”
Now, a shift toward form-based codes promotes a new way of thinking about zoning: “Instead of regulating commercial spaces according to what goes on within them, we should largely forget about uses and regulate design — how well a structure relates to its surroundings and how it works aesthetically.” Another planning concept, the ‘Gehl door average,’ uses the number of doors in a given commercial block as a proxy for vibrancy.
FULL STORY: The Obsolete Zoning Laws that Leave Downtowns Stagnant

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Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage
Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.

Updating LA’s Tree Rules Could Bring More Shade to Underserved Neighborhoods
A new USC study finds that relaxing Los Angeles’ outdated tree planting guidelines could significantly expand urban tree canopy and reduce shade disparities in lower-income neighborhoods, though infrastructure investments are also needed.

California's Canal Solar Projects Aim to Conserve Resources and Expand Clean Energy
California’s Project Nexus has begun generating electricity from solar panels installed over irrigation canals, with researchers and state agencies exploring statewide expansion to conserve water and boost clean energy production.

HHS Staff Cuts Gut Energy Assistance Program
The full staff of a federal program that distributes heating and cooling assistance for low-income families was laid off, jeopardizing the program’s operations.
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