Inch by inch, elevators in North America have become 85% bigger than the global baseline to fit at least two people, w one in a wheelchair. It’s part of the reason why the US and Canada now represent less than 3% of new installations. @andersem.bsky.social www.sightline.org/2026/01/11/v...

Love this video, if for nothing else to be able to easily share what I've learned from following @stephenjacobsmith.com

Very rarely in the building codes/ standards world will you see a map with this stark of a contrast.

Ever lived in a building with an elevator? I haven't. It wasn't until recently that I realized how unusual this is. In most of the rich world, elevators aren't just for tall buildings in big cities. They're all over. To be age-friendly & accessible, our society needs to change this. Here's how.

#WALeg kicks off TODAY. Our climate team's transmission wish list 👇

Every January, self-storage vacancies rise “because everyone makes New Year’s resolutions to get rid of their storage unit.” Vacated units rarely stay empty.

This video draws heavily on research by @stephenjacobsmith.com and the Centre for Building in North America. There’s a ton in his report that I couldn’t fit into this story, so I highly encourage you to check it out: www.centerforbuilding.org/publication/...

This video about why elevators are so much more expensive to install and maintain in North America than the rest of the developed world is fantastic. (Hint: it's a solvable policy problem!) youtu.be/Or1_qVdekYM?...

NEW VIDEO: North America’s Elevator’s Problem Elevators are absolutely essential to modern cities..... and it turns out North America kind of sucks at them. We partnered with @sightline.org to look into the many issues plaguing our elevator industry, and what it might take to fix it.

This was fascinating and radicalizing.

Can’t say enough how excited I am this video is out in the world today. An honor to work on it w @uytaelee.bsky.social, and to highlight this true mobility justice issue in our cities and towns

Never miss a Uytae video.

The United States has the fewest elevators in the rich world, with Canada only a bit ahead. We teamed up with @uytaelee.bsky.social of About Here Videos to investigate why, exactly, North America sucks at elevators.

Join our Senior Director of Climate + Energy @emilymoore.bsky.social to talk clean energy in the PNW with @propublica.org, Ecotrust, and @opb.org. Thurs., Jan. 29 at The Redd in Portland — tickets are free but required: opb.org/nwenergy

Half of Seattle rents, including our new mayor (and yours truly). But renters can't enjoy upgrades that lower bills and make our homes cleaner, safer, and more efficient. Some ideas for how @mayorofseattle.bsky.social can change that:

"The magnitude of the housing shortage is huge, the problems chronic, but the housing crisis is solvable." @1alexhemingway.bsky.social writes that reforms target the right levers—non-market housing, more supply and zoning reform—but fall short in scale and implementation. @bcpolicy.bsky.social

NEW // Op-Ed: Katie Wilson Can Be Seattle’s Climate Mayor for Renters Op-ed by Emily Moore via @theurbanist.org // 🔗 www.theurbanist.org/2026/01/08/o...

@mayorofseattle.bsky.social is a renter. So is our climate director @emilymoore.bsky.social – and Emily has ideas for the newly-inaugurated Mayor Wilson to help renters get in on clean energy action like heat pumps, plug-in solar, and induction stoves.

By @nikabartoosmith.bsky.social for @underscore-news.bsky.social

We're baaaack! Back on Bsky, that is — we didn't stop working for more affordable, abundant homes in the legislative off-season. This group is jazzed about the bills shaping up for 2026 (kicking off Jan. 12) with more to share very soon. Until then, subscribe to our newsletter: homes4wa.org/updates

Tongass National Forest in Alaska, one of the world’s last temperate rainforests, and the cultures that depend on it face threats from changing federal policy.

“We have a housing shortage, that’s the root cause of why prices are so high. We also have cities with a lot of empty, vacant lots in them, sitting there, usually being speculated on." @danbertolet.bsky.social

“From 2021 through 2024, #Portland permitted some 2,200 units like Moore’s — townhomes, duplexes and similar homes that are sometimes referred to as the “missing middle” between single-family homes and big apartment complexes. Over the same period, #SanFrancisco permitted about a sixth of that.”

Correction: @emilymoore.bsky.social points out that #WALeg passed more allowances this year, which may influence the cap amount.

It'll also be the basis for a lot of my own work for @sightline.org in 2026: making cities more accessible, age-friendly, fiscally healthy and grocery-bag-ready by removing the cost and legal barriers to elevators. This is now an elevator stan account. You have been warned.

The Americas see about 3% of global elevator installations as of 2020. The U.S. & Canada: even less. But we've stuck with our own unique set of elevator codes, as if elevator companies still have no choice but to beat a path to our door. Nope! "Everywhere else" is a bigger common market now.

2026 comes with shiny new policy! Here's what we're excited about kicking in on Jan. 1 (or later in the new year) in Cascadia. 🪩✨ First up: Washington's carbon cap, outlined in the Climate Commitment Act, will tighten about 7% at midnight.

⚡2025 has been the biggest year for pro-housing wins in a generation! ⚡ WNN members worked hard to win campaigns across the nation. Let’s review a few trends that shaped this year ⬇️

Over $500 million in funding that likely would have been allocated to sustainable transportation and clean energy programs will instead be used to backfill an existing tax credit under Washington Governor Bob Ferguson's budget package. Story: www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/29/f...

YAY! IT’S PREMIERE DAY: Please tune in today, Friday, December 19th, at 2 pm EST, for a conversation with Anna Zivarts aka @nondriver.bsky.social about her new venture, along with Ruth Rosas, the Non-Drivers Alliance, and for a recap of the 2025 Week Without Driving Challenge youtu.be/5fcBpdyrS0c

"WA’s climate ambitions hang on poles and wires. Electric transmission lines make it possible to carry cheap, efficient, reliable power from solar fields in CA or wind farms in MT to the people in Washington who rely on it every day" #WALeg @Sightline.org www.sightline.org/2025/12/18/h...

Excited to add @sightline.org to this coalition letter declaring it "unacceptable that it costs up to five times more in the United States than in Europe to build and maintain an elevator" & advancing specific solutions. Your org should probably join too! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

WA needs poles and wires in the ground, fast. State leaders can step up by creating a transmission authority, removing redundancies in project approval processes, focusing enviro analysis, and other recs from @emilymoore.bsky.social and @ktrumbull.bsky.social

“Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on Ranked Choice Voting” In this study, we assess the quality/credibility of 41 different studies on RCV. A number of misleading studies, including by well-known political scientists, fall well short of real "science" democracysos.substack.com/p/shaky-poli...

Climate change primed Washington state for historic flooding

Why has Portland been able to do what San Francisco can’t? Bc of years of "big tent" organizing by @pnwelcome.bsky.social @1000oregon.bsky.social + lots more. by @xianleonard.bsky.social for @sfchronicle.com

The math problem has a simple solution: #RankedChoiceVoting in a top-two primary: www.sightline.org/2025/11/11/w...

@oregoncapitalchronicle.com @alexbaumhardt.bsky.social

Climate migration is difficult to study, and even harder to predict, because a complex constellation of factors guides the decision to pick up and move. But some experts say a historic population shift has already begun, and Western Washington should start preparing now to become a “climate haven.”

Evacuations were underway on Thursday as flooding intensified in the Pacific Northwest as the region endured what could be some of its worst flooding in decades. nyti.ms/44Y4Rcb

Q: What’s no taller than a grown tree and could actually get built this decade? A: Neighborhood-scale apartments.

A reminder that hydrogen is a bad bet.

From Jonathan Shorman: Across the United States, voting by mail faces a moment of uncertainty ahead of the midterm elections next year. https://stateline.org/2025/12/09/voting-by-mail-faces-uncertain-moment-ahead-of-midterm-elections/

Single stair code changes coming to @cityofvancouver.bsky.social council today. It’s been several years of work getting to this point. It’s not everything that I’d want but it’s a good first step, with external single stairs and low/mid rise scissor stairs as entirely new housing options.

If you're wondering why @sightline.org is working to legalize the quirky housing type known as mobile dwelling units, please watch this presentation by @citizen-cate.bsky.social. Nothing beats MDUs for flexible, low-cost homes for people in all kinds of life situations. tvw.org/video/house-...

Last year, a New York man ran for Congress as a Democrat in Alaska... from prison... and got 3,500 votes. AK, CA, and WA each let any candidate claim any party on the ballot, but they *don’t* allow parties to claim their nominees.

Build up your 'brary with $6.99 e-books from @islandpress.bsky.social until Dec. 19. Some of our favorites from the Sightline-verse: Building for People: Designing Livable, Affordable, Low-Carbon Communities by @holz-bau.bsky.social

People who live in countries with #ProportionalRepresentation report being happier than those who don’t. This isn't a new development either. We have been saying this since 2021! Read more: rankthevote.us/countries-wi...