The Urbanist

Given this podcast is dropping on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, there is a solid chance that you or a loved one will spend some time at a mall in the next week. Shopping at climate controlled temples of consumer capitalism is, after all, the point of the holiday. As you elbow your fellow shopper in the face for the last Shiba Inu Squishmellow, it’s probably good to consider how we got here.

In this week’s podcast, Ray Dubicki talks with author Alexandra Lange about her book “Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside history of the Mall.” From a design point of view, the mall is a postwar evolutionary leap that combines so many invisible technologies it’s hard to chronicle. Lange deftly covers them as well as the personalities that brought the ideas together, the mall’s place in our cities, and its future in the face of e-commerce and pandemic. On the way, there are zombies, Clueless, and plenty of buttery pretzel goodness.

Meet Me by the Fountain is also the next selection for The Urbanist Book Club. Alexandra Lange will be joining The Book Club at 6pm on January 17 to discuss the book. Order two copies and at least one person on your gift list is taken care of. Details and signups for the Book Club are at theurbanist.org.

We want to know your thoughts, opinions, and preferred mall walking beverage (Orange Julius FOREVER). Reach out to us at podcast [at] theurbanist.org.  

As always, you can find The Urbanist podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and other major platforms. And if you are enjoying the podcast, be sure to offer a “like” or “thumbs up” on your favorite platform. It’s a great way to spread the word to new listeners.

This week, we enjoy some election round-ups as The Urbanist Elections Committee member Jazmine Smith joins Ray Dubicki to talk about the surprises and squeakers of Election Night 2022. From the local initiatives to the state legislature races, we discuss the purpose of advisory notes (none), the problem of having two good candidates in a race (not really a problem), and whether tough-on-crime suddenly became tough-to-elect (hilariously so). 

You can also enjoy some of our other election coverage, including the endorsements, early returns, and five initial takeaways from the fizzled red wave by visiting the website at theurbanist.org.

We want to know your thoughts, opinions, and reactions predictions for 2024. Reach out to us at podcast [at] theurbanist.org.  

As always, you can find The Urbanist podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and other major platforms. And if you are enjoying the podcast, be sure to offer a “like” or “thumbs up” on your favorite platform. It’s a great way to spread the word to new listeners.

This week, Port of Seattle Commissioner Ryan Calkins joins Ray Dubicki to talk about the awesomeness of planes, ships, and freight.  There's also a bit about the future of how stuff moves around the world through Western Washington.

Of course, cargo and people do not move in a vacuum, no matter the vaporware promises of oligarchs. Commissioner Calkins breaks down the real money the Port is budgeting to spend on workforce development and environmental cleanup. A strong Port of Seattle could position itself as a hub for offshore wind farm development and green energy industries.

We want to know your thoughts, opinions, and budget wishlist. Reach out to us at podcast [at] theurbanist.org.  

As always, you can find The Urbanist podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and other major platforms. And if you are enjoying the podcast, be sure to offer a “like” or “thumbs up” on your favorite platform. It’s a great way to spread the word to new listeners.

In this week's episode, reporter Ray Dubicki is joined by The Urbanist's executive director Doug Trumm to discuss allocations and adjustments as Seattle's budget season moves into high gear. The City has about $1.7 billion to spend, and there's no end of things folks are asking for.

That list includes a lot of requests for street renovations and pedestrian improvements that we're quite fond of. But first the council has come up with ways to close the expected $140 million deficit, a gap that is projected to increase over the coming years. It's a glimpse into some interesting Seattle leadership dynamics.

Of course, we want to know your thoughts, opinions, and budget wishlist. Reach out to us at podcast [at] theurbanist.org.  

As always, you can find The Urbanist podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and other major platforms. And if you are enjoying the podcast, be sure to offer a “like” or “thumbs up” on your favorite platform. It’s a great way to spread the word to new listeners. 

In this episode, reporter Ray Dubicki talks with two members of the Urbanist Elections Committee. Hannah Sabio-Howell and Rian Watt join the podcast to walk us through the process of developing the candidate questionnaire and surviving some long zoom calls.

As we hear from Hannah and Rian, the Elections Committee puts some serious effort into their work. That can be seen in the thoughtful list of candidates they've endorsed and some very tough calls between worthy candidates. It's all to make sure that you have the best list at hand when filling in your ballot. You can thank them by making sure that ballot gets submitted. Folks with non-urbanist agendas are voting in droves, so it's vital that you make your voice heard. 

Of course, we want to know your thoughts, opinions, and methods you are using to get your ballot in by November 8th. Reach out to us at podcast [at] theurbanist.org. As always, you can find The Urbanist podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and other major platforms. 

And if you are enjoying the podcast, be sure to offer a “like” or “thumbs up” on your favorite platform. It’s a great way to spread the word to new listeners. 

In this episode, managing editor Natalie Argerious and reporter Ray Dubicki discuss the lingering haze over the city of Seattle. After a soaking wet spring, the region has seen less rain than the desert southwest. This is not the grey north we signed up for.

The real toll comes on individuals that cannot go inside, and there are services being extended to shelter and comfort them. For many, including ourselves, the lingering haze leads to more consumptive patterns like driving instead of walking. These are the patterns that are changing the climate in the first place.  Are there any positives to see on the other side of this?

Of course, we want to know your thoughts, opinions, and ways you're surviving the gross. Reach out to us at podcast [at] theurbanist.org. As always, you can find The Urbanist podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and other major platforms. 

And if you are enjoying the podcast, be sure to offer a “like” or “thumbs up” on your favorite platform. It’s a great way to spread the word to new listeners. 

In this podcast, managing editor Natalie Argerious and reporter Ray Dubicki talk about the names we put on places and events. It's the second week in October, long considered to kick off with Columbus Day. However, that name has been changed, recognizing the Indigenous People that were harmed by the colonizer's actions.

More broadly, there are names in our communities and monuments that we do take for granted. The United States military recently undertook a commission to examine bases and symbols for remnants of the Confederates that actually fought against the United States. They found quite a few. Washington State (an interesting name in itself) has established a process to rename places that carry a particular derogatory name. 

Of course, we want to know your thoughts, opinions, and meaningfully named places. Reach out to us at podcast [at] theurbanist.org. As always, you can find The Urbanist podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and other major platforms. 

And if you are enjoying the podcast, be sure to offer a “like” or “thumbs up” on your favorite platform. It’s a great way to spread the word to new listeners. 

In this podcast, managing editor Natalie Argerious and writer Ray Dubicki discuss movies made in the Emerald City. There's lots of good ones and more very bad ones. But few are made here any more. A new Seattle Film Commission has been established to change that, but is it enough?

As always, we welcome your thoughts, opinions, and favorite Seattle movie stories. Reach out to us at podcast [at] theurbanist.org. Find us on iTunes, Spotify, and other major platforms. And give us a "like" to help spread the word.

In this episode, we discuss homelessness, health, and Seattle's own significant history related to these topics with University of Washington Professor Josephine Ensign, author of Skid Road: On the Frontier of Health and Homelessness in an American City.

Professor Ensign's book will be the topic of discussion at our first ever book club meeting on Tuesday, October, 18th, at 6pm. We were so fortunate to talk to her in advance about her work and her book, which brings these topics to life by highlighting the stories of real people who experienced homelessness, such as Edward Moore, the first homeless person identified in Seattle. The book also looks critically at responses to homelessness: both the historic context that continues to shape our society's attitudes about homelessness and what people have done to try to address the problem. 

I'll be upfront -- there are many podcasts I listen to with authors in which by the end I feel like I've learned enough about their book to skip reading it. This is not one of those conversations. Our goal was to provide an introduction to the author and her work as a professor, nurse practitioner, and writer, and inspire listeners to want to pick up a copy of the book and dive into it themselves.

Ensign will be present at our book club meeting and we hope you will be too. Give the podcast a listen and pick up your copy of Skid Road sometime soon.

Also, do you have a thought or opinion you'd like to share about this episode? Maybe there’s a new and different topic you’d like us to cover on the podcast? Please feel free to reach out to us at podcast [at] theurbanist.org. 

If you are enjoying the podcast, be sure to offer a “like” or “thumbs up” on your favorite platform. It’s a great way to spread the word to new listeners. 

It's officially the second season of The Urbanist podcast and we are excited to be back. Joining us on this episode is Kelli Refer, Executive Director of Move Redmond and Urbanist board member. Most importantly for this episode, Kelli is a car-free parent whose experience with her young daughter has equipped her with lots of insights into the topic. 

Living car-free in most North American cities can present its challenges and adding a tiny person (or people) into the equation can both amplify difficulties and create new ones. However, there are also many benefits of traveling through a city on foot, bike, or transit with a child or baby. These benefits can be economic, health-related, and social. 

After all, children gain so much from engaging with the world around them, and when they are only transported by private vehicle, they miss out on the chance to meet new people, move their wiggly bodies, interact with nature, and actively participate in city life. Additionally, the important skills children gain from these experiences will stick with them lifelong, while also helping to cultivate a new generation of people who understand firsthand all the benefits offered by low carbon, active transportation. It's a win-win for individuals and society.

We want to thank you for tuning into our second season and for exploring this important topic with us. As always, you can find The Urbanist podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and other major platforms. 

Are you a car-free parent -- or would you like to be but feel limited by unsafe conditions or lack of transit where you live? Maybe there's a new  and different topic you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Please feel free to reach out to us with comments, opinions, and ideas at podcast [at] theurbanist.org. 

If you are enjoying the podcast, be sure to offer a “like” or “thumbs up” on your favorite platform. It’s a great way to spread the word to new listeners.