"Seattle is still a car town at heart," Danny Westneat writes, pointing to a number of gargantuan new parking garages like the 2,300-stall complex at Expedia's new headquarters.
Danny Westneat blasts Seattle firms and transportation planners for engaging in "doublespeak" when it comes to the city's ostensibly green, multi-modal image. "This two-step between quietly nodding to our car-focused reality while espousing the greenest dreams perfectly captures what passes for transportation planning in the Emerald City. We wish you wouldn't drive, the government announces. But we know you're gonna, the private market whispers in echo," he writes.
Take the massive new "airport-style parking complex" at Expedia's new waterfront headquarters. Despite building a garage "twice as big as what is touted as the largest garage in downtown Seattle — the six-story-deep, 1,200-spot garage beneath Pacific Place," the company has expressed the sentiment that it'll be happy if employees choose other ways to commute, despite a deficit of transit to the location.
There's a similar pattern, Westneat says, in how city officials talk about parking and traffic, which exceed supposed "saturation points" as commuters keep driving and developers keep building parking. "Sheepish wishes aside, green-talking Seattle is still a car town at heart."
FULL STORY: These mammoth new parking garages speak an inconvenient truth about green-talking Seattle
Seattle Planning Commission Urges Reimagining of the City’s Streets
In a set of recommendations submitted to the city, the commission calls for revised land use and transportation policies that reclaim public space from cars and shift focus away from vehicle throughput to more pedestrian-oriented uses.
Opinion: Housing Versus Trees Is a False Choice; Swap Pavement for Trees Instead
Seattle’s goal to cover 30 percent of the city with tree canopy by 2037 doesn’t need to be sacrificed in favor of density. There’s a better way.
Retrofitting Parking Garages to Create New Housing
Underused parking garages and lots offer an opportunity to alleviate the housing crisis by retrofitting them with temporary and permanent housing options.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.
Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.
Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service