The Urbanist

People love to talk about food, read about food, and -- we hope -- listen to podcasts about food too! In this episode, reporter Ray Dubicki and I kick things off with his article on whether or not Seattle has become a $20 lunch town, dissect the causes and possible ramifications of that trend, and then spin further out to tackle other culinary inspired topics. From the risk to reward ratio of poké, to how the pandemic has reshaped when and how we eat, in taping this podcast we found there is so much to discuss and think about food in Seattle -- and other cities too.

As always, you can find The Urbanist podcast on ITunes, Spotify, and other major platforms. Want to share a question or opinion with us? Reach out to us at [email protected].

In this podcast episode, Ray and I discuss the current proposed ballot initiative to create a public development authority (PDA) that would be tasked with constructing and owning mixed-income social housing in Seattle. It's an ambitious plan modeled after social housing elsewhere in the world, notably Vienna, Austria, that was conceived of by the House Our Neighbors! coalition. 

This podcast runs adjacent to the article I published on the subject, so if you are interested in exploring a new way to create permanently affordable, mixed-income, democratically governed, green, labor union built housing in Seattle, I recommend you check out both the article and podcast.

As always, you can find The Urbanist podcast on ITunes, Spotify, and other major platforms. Want to share a question or opinion with us? Reach out to us at [email protected]. 

In this week's podcast, reporter Ray Dubicki and I tackle a subject that is much more controversial than it initially appears: trees in cities. The City of Seattle recently passed legislation requiring that tree professionals working be licensed. It's a small move, but one that did not go unnoticed, mostly because Seattle has struggled with passing a tree protection ordinance since an interim policy was put into place in 2009.

Why has it been so difficult to replace the interim tree protection ordinance with a permanent one? Why are urban density and greenery so often presented as in opposition? We'll discuss all of that and more in this episode. Oh, and the Singaporean super trees I reference in the episode, you can see them in the feature image for this post on our site and read more about them and Singapore's efforts to increase biodiversity in this article.

The Urbanist podcast is available on ITunes, Spotify, and more. Also, want to reach out with your thoughts, opinions, and comments? Contact us at [email protected]. 

A 60-day legislative session might seem like a ridiculously short time to get governing done for the eighth largest economy in the country. Sweden has a full-time legislature, and our GDP is higher than theirs. But who is counting. Washingtonians insist on making life hard for ourselves.

In this episode, Managing Editor Natalie Argerious and I are joined by The Urbanist's Executive Director Doug Trumm to discuss what went right and wrong in Olympia this year. We go through the highlights of Doug's Heroes and Zeroes of the 2022 Washington State Legislature article, and get into some of the personality quirks that make politics so "fun." In the second half, we cover the big legislative wins and losses, including a bit of the political knife fights that prevent anyone from cashing in too many wins.

Like the legislature, we do run out of time to address the year in lawmaking. So, as we promise in the pod, here is a link to an excellent discussion of the Move Ahead Washington transportation package on the Hacks and Wonks podcast featuring our own Ryan Packer.

Also, to dive into further details on the legislative session, be sure to check out our article,  Heroes and Zeroes of the 2022 Washington State Legislature. 

Do you have a hero or zero to add to the list? Or maybe you want to comment on how a particular piece of legislation fared? In any case, we want to hear from you. Contact us at [email protected]. 

In this episode, reporter Ray Dubicki and I were joined by Doug Trumm, Executive Director of The Urbanist, to discuss the concrete mixer driver strike that's upended the construction sector throughout the fast growing Puget Sound region. The strike kicked off back in December when workers employed by the region's six largest concrete companies voted unanimously in favor of the strike in order to push the companies to agree to a new contract. According to Teamsters Local 174, the labor union representing the workers, their previous contract had lapsed back in July of 2021, and workers had been working without a contract for months as negotiations between the union and employers stalled. 

Since then progress in negotiations remains illusive as the strike enters its fifth month. Without concrete pouring into projects, major efforts like the repair of the West Seattle Bridge or the construction of Link light rail expansion into the Eastside have slowed down and may soon grind to a halt. The absence of concrete for construction projects is being keenly felt across many different sectors, and workers in other construction trades are being increasingly impacted. 

We'll dive into further detail about developments related to the strike, plus discuss the potential impacts of an out-of-the-box solution recently approved by the King County Council. 

Thanks for listening! If you'd like to learn more about this topic check out the following articles published by The Urbanist.

Concrete Companies Stonewall Striking Truck Drivers, Threatening Cascading Construction Delays

'Slap in the Face' Offer from Concrete Companies Riles Striking Teamsters

County Proposes Concrete Co-Op as Private Companies Continue to Throttle Supply and Lock Out Workers

Hello listeners! In this episode, reporter Ray Dubicki and I talk about golf: a sport that continues to leave a large foot print on American cities, despite declining in popularity. The topic has taken on added significance in Seattle in recent years for a few reasons, most notably because of the presence of Jackson Park, a 27 hole golf course and driving range, that will be walking distance to two Link light rail stations in the future. But there is a lot more to learn about the impact of golf on cities, so we hope you'll check the episode out. 

Additionally, The Urbanist has published some great articles dedicated to the topic of golf courses in Seattle over the years, and we'd like to draw your attention to a few here:

It’s Time to End Public Subsidies for Private Golf Courses

Unlike Seattle, Golf Really Is Dying

Let's Tee Off for Housing

Seattle Parks Vaunts Golf Courses as Urban Wildlife Habitat, But Some Cry Foul

Growing a Neighborhood Around 130th Street Station

Draft Plan Inches Toward Modest Upzones around 130th and 148th Street Link Stations

Share The Cities Lays the Community Engagement Groundwork at Jackson Park

Want to share your thoughts with us about this podcast episode, or others, or suggest a theme for a future episode? Contact us at [email protected].

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Covering development for a city like Seattle gives The Urbanist a unique view into the spots where development concentrates. Even so, it’s useful once in a while to step back and ask what this means for a neighborhood. When does a bunch of houses turn into a unique place? And how much can city policy steer that?

In this episode, Managing Editor Natalie Argerious and I talk about developments coming to the area east of Market Street and whether that’s something novel or an appendage of Ballard. Natalie offers views of new nodes in Lynwood and Yesler Terrace. And we deeply disagree on the utility of Urban Villages. (hint: in French, they would go by the name Le Garbage) And we ask for your help considering where places are starting to turn from a weird intersection into the next named spot to be. Join us!

Provoked by the recent tragic Russian attack on Ukraine, Ray and Natalie discuss a significant, but often overlooked, legacy  of the Cold War. How the fear of nuclear attack by the Soviet Union  was a top contributor to American  highway expansion, urban renewal, and the growth of the suburbs. 

In this episode, Ray and Natalie use the recent news of a planned mixed-use future for the Safeway near Seattle's University Village Mall to do a round up of several Safeway developments bringing housing to Seattle neighborhoods. 

In this episode Ray shares his experience touring guests from LA around Downtown Seattle this past weekend, which leads to a wide ranging conversation between him and Natalie about  what's going on currently in Downtown Seattle and where things may be headed.