Using very conservative assumptions about how much sea level is rising, City of Seattle planners project that within the next 40 years, storm surges and high tides will flood new areas of Seattle. While the sea level is expected to rise six inches, that coupled with an extreme event could raise the water by three to four feet. Continue reading Eyeing Floods of 2050, Seattle Prepares to Hike its Skirt
The reason for proposing to spend four times as much on a new First Avenue configuration may instead be that the deep-bore tunnel construction needs the real estate the old line uses. So the temporary requirements of a construction project may be dictating long-term transit planning. Continue reading Waterfront Streetcar Suffers Still From City Leaders’ Malign Neglect
But much is too close to be certain of, as yet. That includes the races for governor (Inslee leads McKenna by just 50,000 votes) and secretary of state (Wyman over Drew by 14,000), 1240 on charter schools (Yes by about 44,000), and R74 for same-sex marriage (Yes by around 68,000). Continue reading The Seattle, King County & Washington State Election Results We’re Waiting For
Berger is right to call for due diligence in inspecting funding assumptions, and he’s half-right about using Seattle Center as a cautionary tale–it may be called “Seattle Center” but when it comes to funding maintenance and improvements, the City of Seattle generally runs the other way.
But to call what James Corner Field Operations is designing a “park” is like calling a space shuttle a “thermal tiling system.” Continue reading What’s a Working Waterfront Worth, Anyway?
Now, “nothing in this presentation is final or fixed, it continues to evolve,” Corner emphasized at the presentation–we are still very much in an illustrative and iterative phase, where ideas are offered, feedback is taken, and they evolve, or perhaps just disappear. So far, the public baths are hanging in there. (“They’d be managed,” Corner explained. “We presented that idea a little naively.” “Oh, no, I’m for them,” I told him. “Well, we’re not holding a vote,” he retorted, to which I wanted to reply, That’s what you think, buddy! This is Seattle. There will be a series of votes.) Continue reading James Corner Field Operations Fills in Details on Seattle’s New Waterfront Design