Cities & Planning

archived 27 Nov 2023 12:53:29 UTC

Giant batteries that ensure stable power supply by offsetting intermittent renewable supplies are becoming cheap enough to make developers abandon scores of projects for gas-fired generation world-wide.

The Lower Sioux nation will soon have the only facility in the country that manufactures hempcrete.

Bollards are on the way to protect pedestrians. When the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) wrapped up installation in mid-2022 on what had been intended to become Seattle's largest raised street crossing, at Melrose Avenue and East Pike Street in Capitol Hill, reactions to how it turned out were far from positive. Installed as part

The Grand Paris Express is well underway, but will not open in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Our garbage heaps are rich in metals and other materials, but landfill mining is rare.

While Mount Mazama blew its top almost 8,000 years ago, it’s still remembered today by the descendants of its witnesses.

Coastal Salish tribes also embrace the project.

The tech costs more than conventional options upfront, but federal tax credits, new 120V models and strong savings have made them more appealing than ever.

So my lovelies, here it is: Version 5.0 of the Hydrogen Ladder! This is the first major update since Version 4.

If You Do, We'll Need to Have A Long Talk

As everyone must know by now, I'm not a fan of art that begins and ends with quirkiness.

This is the fourth entry in our Metropolis of the Month for November 2023, Washington, DC. By Timothy Kumfer Standing on the sidewalk with a loudspeaker, Walter Pierce addressed the crowd assembled…

Metropolitan King County has 31 separate jurisdictions orbiting Seattle. Let’s cut that down by a lot.

Can the new Tumblr-grown aesthetic break through the smog to change the Twenty-First Century conversation?

Consumer societies produce enough plastic waste to power at least 10% of motorized road traffic. Dutch artist Gijs Schalkx grabbed the opportunity and now drives his car on the plastic waste he collects.

The State has a role in defining the market for freight and charting emissions reductions with a shift to rail. When the Washington State Legislature passed the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) in 2021, it codified economic decarbonization as the government’s priority. To this end, the law created an ambitious emissions market system with two primary

An ambitious plan to electrify thousands of apartments.

Three new European policies, from laws on sustainable packaging to textiles, are being rolled out across the continent

On Thursday, the Sound Transit System Expansion Committee approved a contract to start project development work on two Seattle infill stations. The long-awaited Graham Street and Boeing Access Road stations, which are planned to open in 2031, will move into early planning next year. The history of both stations goes back a long way. Sound

These six ideas would create a brighter future for local libraries by adapting to emerging needs. Currently, both the Seattle Public Library (SPL) and the King County Library System (KCLS) are conducting surveys to inform future operations. The SPL survey is to inform SPL’s future strategic plan and the KCLS survey is more of a general

A new architectural movement is using design to aid the post-traumatic growth of the most vulnerable in society

Seattle's downtown bike network is about to take a big step forward in the coming months as work finally gets underway to create a fully separated connection between Capitol Hill and downtown via Pike and Pine Streets. When complete, riders will no longer have to choose between awkwardly riding on the sidewalk or sharing a

It's Time to Reassess a Tired Label

Seattle's massive number of zones hide a couple very weird outliers. Or they would be outliers, if there weren't so many.

Late Friday afternoon, walk-on passengers heading to and from Colman Dock on Seattle's waterfront were able to use a brand new pedestrian bridge directly connecting the terminal with First Avenue over Alaskan Way, a final element in the $489 million overhaul of the city's flagship Washington State Ferries terminal. The new facility provides a wider

A rapid mode shift from planes and lanes to trains is a healthy climate solution. Many thanks to Stephen Fesler for his reporting on the new Amtrak Cascades Plan. As he describes, it’s better than current service -- but insufficient to meet 2030 climate imperatives. Washington law has multiple climate-mitigation requirements. Most are ignored or