Cities & Planning

PetroSun Drilling Inc. has created Algae BioFuels Inc. as a wholly-owned subsidiary to research and develop methods of using algae to produce biofuels. The subsidiary will be based in Arizona and Australia and will research using the algae into biodiesel, ethanol, methanol, methane and even hydrogen, the company says. Previous algae energy research was conducted by the Department of Energy from 1978 until 1996. PetroSun says that research shows that algae might be able to produce 30 times (!) more oil per acre than current crop farming methods. I wonder how much political muscle will be thrown into promoting ethanol when farmers can't compete against little microbes who are producing 3000 percent as much ethanol as they can.

I returned to Suzhou after twenty years, seeing the Chinese city through new eyes as I introduced my children to a place that shaped me as a teenager.

The British architecture collective’s latest magazine, *Archigram Ten*, is part retrospective and part futurism.

Editor’s Note: This is the third post in our theme for February 2025 “Celluloid City” which explores the role of and interplay between cities and film. You can see all posts from …

In the 1930s, women employed by the Works Progress Administration rode pack horses through the mountains of eastern Kentucky, bringing books to rural

A new AAA study finds common factors in the rise of fatal pedestrian crashes.

The Siċaŋġu Nation in South Dakota is building community and climate resilience through traditional foods

Report of the Space Task Group

The Apollo 11 mission in July 1969 completed the goal set by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to the Earth

For all of humanity’s many, many flaws, one of our most redeeming characteristics as a species is an almost-universal desire to connect with one another. When terrible things happen and communities…

# State lawmakers are signaling intent to improve Amtrak Cascades service with legislation setting a goal of cutting the trip time from Seattle to Portland to 2.5 hours and boosting service to 14 daily trips with 88% on-time performance by 2035. If lawmakers pass the bill, the goal for trip time service north to Vancouver would be 2.75 hours.

When the Endangered Species Act passed in 1973, it was considered a bipartisan home run. The Act established protections for plants and animals on the endangered and threatened species lists, and across the aisle, everyone seemed to agree that it would be bad for a bunch of species to go extinct. When the act went

# Community members gather every Wednesday morning from 7am to 9:30am in Kirkland for Eastside Coffee Outside. Here's how they came together.

# Seattle has set a goal of 112,000 new homes over the next 20 years, but is that really enough to meet demand?

Short-term result likely to be increased energy prices across the board

# 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.

# 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…

Ten years ago, Jo Nemeth quit her job and closed her bank account. Today, she’s more committed than ever to her moneyless life

For centuries, gleaning was a lifeline for the rural poor in England and France. Today, some nonprofits are working to bring it back.

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.

As fast fashion drives textile waste to stratospheric highs, new methods are turning mountains of old clothes into rack-ready garments.

An effort to bring high-speed internet service to parts of Sammamish led to angry neighbors and a suspension of the city's contract with Ziply Fiber.

Tokyo has succeeded in maintaining an abundance of affordable housing because it has no downtown, many railroads and laws that make it easy to build.

Is the secret of Tokyo being affordable that Japan lets its cities be messy?

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…

a dialog between Didi Pershouse & Alpha Lo