Snohomish County

Sound Transit’s $3 Billion Lynnwood Link Extension Opens
After five years, Sound Transit’s light rail connection linking south Snohomish County to downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport is now open.

Snohomish County Transit System Adds New BRT Line in Major Restructuring
The Community Transit network is making a slew of changes, including several new bus rapid transit lines.

Snohomish County Opens Third BRT Line
The new 11-mile Swift Orange Line connects Edmonds, Washington, with the city of Everett and will soon link up with the Sound Transit Link network.

Fare Enforcement Upheld by Washington Supreme Court
But using armed police to enforce fare payment is less than ideal in the eyes of the top court in the state of Washington.

Will Snohomish County Light Rail Bypass the Airport?
Some county leaders rejected two proposed routes that would skirt Boeing and Paine Field, citing the area’s high potential for travelers and jobs.

Snohomish County, Washington, Sets its Sights on Sprawl
Advocates say it’s unnecessary, but Snohomish County is preparing to expand its urban growth areas to allow for more low density residential development.

Bus System Redesign Paired With New Light Rail Service Near Seattle
Community Transit, the public transit authority for Snohomish County, Washington, is redesigning its bus system to plan ahead for the Lynwood Link Extension, currently more than halfway done with construction.

Higher Lot Coverage to Boost Density
A proposal in Snohomish County, Washington could raise the lot coverage limits in medium density residential zones to allow for more usable square footage.

The Pandemic Expert in the Biden Cabinet Who is Not on the Biden Health Team
Ron Klain, President Obama's former Ebola response coordinator, will serve as chief of staff to President-elect Joe Biden. This post also looks at all the appointments and nominations for Biden's health team that will devise a Covid response.

Connecting Light Rail Plans to Affordable Housing Opportunities
To keep up with affordable housing demand, Snohomish County needs to add 200,000 units by 2050. Planned light rail stations could be the ticket.

Looking Ahead and Way Back as the U.S. Passes 200,000 Coronavirus Deaths
It's been eight months since the first confirmed infection from the novel coronavirus in Washington state. As deadly as COVID-19 is, Americans should reflect when 200,000 died in a single month from a far deadlier virus 102 years ago.

Learning from Seattle
The original epicenter of coronavirus outbreak was also the first region in the nation to implement social distancing measures, serving as a national model of behaviors that lessen the spread of the deadly virus.

NIMBY Politics Sway the Fight to Contain Coronavirus
A week after the Orange County city of Costa Mesa filed a restraining order against the federal government and the state of California over the use of a state-owned facility as an isolation site for coronavirus patients, the feds dropped the plan.

Evaluating the Washington Growth Management Act
The state law that set urban growth boundaries around the state is in its fourth decade as suburban sprawl expands urban growth boundaries around Washington.

A Transit-Oriented Regional Growth Plan
The Vision 2050 plan, which charts the growth for King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Kitsap counties in Washington State, would focus almost all the growth meant to accommodate 1.8 million new residents inside urban areas.

New BRT Launching in Snohomish County, Washington
It's only the county's second bus rapid transit route, but planners hope the Swift Green Line will eventually connect with a more robust network of BRT and rail service.

When Light Rail Comes to Suburban Washington, So Do Bigger Plans
Mountlake Terrace, located about halfway between Seattle and Everett, will soon have new building heights to go along with a new light rail station.
USDOT Awards $96 Million to BRT Projects in Washington, Missouri and Commuter Rail in California
On April 9, FTA awarded $43 million for a new, 12-mile bus rapid transit line in Everett; $30 million to extend BRT 10 miles in Kansas City and $22.5 million to extend a North Bay commuter rail line two miles to a ferry terminal on San Francisco Bay.

Seattle's HUGE Transit Victory on Election Day
In dollars, Seattle region's Proposition 1 was second only to Measure M, a $120 billion sales tax measure in Los Angeles County, although the comparison is lacking in at least three respects. Prop 1 did not pass in all three Puget Sound counties.
Catastrophic Mud Slide in Washington—Could it Have Been Prevented?
The death toll in this rural area 55 miles north of Seattle in Snohomish County is expected to rise. Rain had saturated the ground and led to the collapse of a hillside about 600 feet high and 1,500 feet long. But was the slide foreseeable?
Pagination
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.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research