Downtown Redmond Light Rail Opening Set for May 10 - The Urbanist
# The 3.4-mile light rail extension will add a station at Marymoor Village, near King County's largest park, and in the heart of Downtown Redmond. The May 10 opening sets the stage for the full extension of the 2 Line across Lake Washington later this year.
Seattle Council Sharply Divided Over Allowing Housing in Stadium District - The Urbanist
# With housing advocates and the Port of Seattle divided on the issue of allowing housing near Seattle's sports stadiums, councilmembers are being forced to pick sides, after Sara Nelson reintroduced the proposal earlier this month.
So. Storytime for guerilla gardeners and solarpunk enthusiasts. This story comes to me 3rd hand but I believe the basic shape of it is true, even if details may be off.
So there’s this guy who lives…
Inside Africa’s Trailblazing Solar Repair Movement
Solar power has transformed life in Africa. Now, as the aging devices begin to break down, “solar entrepreneurs” are keeping them — and local economies — humming.
Tokyo has rightly been getting some plaudits for housebuilding of late, and this post brings together some stats that illustrate just how impressive its record is. First, some definitions and conte…
Sunday Video: Seattle’s Long-Forgotten Hill - The Urbanist
# The Denny Regrade, completed between 1897 and 1930, changed the face of Seattle's downtown forever. This video from Seattle's municipal archives breaks down how it happened and why.
Op-ed: Boosting Freight Rail Is a Forgotten but Essential Climate Action - The Urbanist
# Moving freight by rail is significantly more efficient than by truck, a fact that could help Washington meet its climate goals. But are state leaders neglecting improvements to the state rail network?
‘Everyone thought it would cause gridlock’: the highway that Seoul turned into a stream
Cheonggyecheon stream in the South Korean capital has become an attraction – and helps with flood management, fighting air pollution and cooling the city
Moon rover-inspired robot could be a game-changer for Japan’s aging farmers | CNN
Japan’s population is the oldest in the world, with few young people working in agriculture. But now its farmers are getting help from a robot called Adam.
The History and Design of the Bathroom Part 8: Pulling It All Together
Over the last few weeks I have tried to pull all of the disparate ideas for the bathroom together and come up with a functional and practical set of ideas. Here is a summary of them all, in one bathroom that you can't
History and Design of the Bathroom Part 7: Putting a Price on Poop and Pee
I took some serious abuse in comments when I wrote Gates Foundation Throwing $42 Million Into The Toilet, questioning whether we needed a high-tech toilet solution.
The History of the Bathroom Part 5: Alexander Kira and Designing for People, Not Plumbing
Have a look at your sink after you brush your teeth or shave. There is stuff all over it that you have to clean up. You can't wash your hair in it. Alexander Kira of Cornell University looked at the
The History of the Bathroom Part 3: Putting Plumbing Before People
The really amazing thing about this standard "bathroom" from 1915, ninety-seven years ago, is how much it looks like the standard bathrooms of today. How did it get this way, and how did we get stuck
The History of the Bathroom Part 2: Awash in Water and Waste
In 1854 there was a major outbreak of cholera in Soho, London. Nobody knew what caused cholera, but John Snow carefully mapped the location of every victim, (documented wonderfully in Stephen Johnson's book The Ghost