'We talk endlessly about the “missing middle.” But the real catastrophe was the “banished bottom”' Good piece! I wish it mentioned that SROs are re-legalized in all multifamily zones in OR & WA substack.com/home/post/p-...

@islandpress.bsky.social is having a 50% off sale (!) on nearly all its print books through midnight PT Sunday. Get a jump on your holiday shopping with their solutions-forward reads.

Portland is now requesting comments on a proposal to raise filing fees to $250 for council and $500 for mayor — better, but still too low. www.portland.gov/auditor/news...

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.

The “Exploding Whale” has gone from a cautionary tale to a beloved piece of Oregon lore.

Filing to run for city council in #PortlandOR costs only $75, compared to $1446 in Seattle. No wonder Portland’s recent campaign season was like a weekend queue at Voodoo Donuts.

Fantastic article by @dannyoleksiuk.bsky.social in @Sightline.org What I am most struck by is that ALL of my favourite buildings in Vancouver's residential neighbourhoods are ~4-6 storey apartments! Beautiful - I wish we would embrace heritage zoning laws! www.sightline.org/2025/10/28/t...

Funding alert: @grist.org is offering grants of up to $5,000 for reporting on rural climate issues and environmental justice in the United States. Newsrooms and freelancers are welcome to apply. Please share! grist.org/updates/gris...

"We need a system that can build again. A politics that rewards competence... The barriers in our way were built by people. That means that people can take them down." 👏 @justineunderhill.bsky.social

Washington’s top-two election system can misfire and elect a less-popular candidate, against the will of most voters. #RankedChoiceVoting is an easy fix.

📢 BIG NEWS! Island Press is holding a #SimplyEverything sale! ALL our books are 50% off for ONE WEEK only! Find your next great read and save big! Use code HALF at checkout! 🌍📚 Islandpress.org/half

In 2026, we’ll focus on turning these statewide policy victories into real homes on the ground—helping cities implement the new laws, removing remaining barriers to middle housing, and accelerating housing production across the region. Join us at sightline.org/fall-fund-drive

Election staff say they were able to work with voters to remedy many of the rejections, caused both by existing signature requirements and a new year-of-birth requirement for mailed ballots added this year by the Montana Legislature.

Grateful to spend two days on the Klamath watching chinook, liberated by dam removal, return to streams from which they’d been precluded since the Titanic sank. Fish are everywhere, in numbers that stagger the mind & locations that biologists figured would take years to repopulate. Too beautiful.

In a rare move, one of the monopoly electric utilities operating in Oregon is asking state regulators for permission to lower residential customer rates in 2026. The reduction, though small at less than 1%, is the result of Idaho Power’s break with coal: oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/11/04/a...

On last night's initial count, only 28.8% of #Idaho ballots were returned. That’s because this year's local elections were off-cycle, rather than when voters pay the most attention and turn out in higher numbers in even-numbered “on” years aligned with higher-profile national races.

New Sightliner alert! @ktrumbull.bsky.social previously worked with The Nature Conservancy and conducted policy research at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. She's a fan of hiking, skiing, and soccer (go Thorns). Welcome, Kelly!!! ⚽🔋🌲

Our researcher Shannon Grimes talked about how voters could be better represented in local elections today on @opb.org 📻

Together, we've secured more than two dozen state and local policy wins this year, steadily reshaping daily life for the better. Sightline's Fall Fund Drive kicks off today, and your support can fuel the research, strategy, and case-making that turn ideas into action: sightline.org/donate

WA voters: @washingtonstatestandard.com reports that the postal service may not postmark returned ballots on the day they’re collected. Your best bet is to use drop boxes, go to a voting center, or drop 'em at a post office.

Commentary: On rivers and in courtrooms, Alaska battles for land inside national parks and preserves, writes Nathaniel Herz for the Northern Journal. alaskabeacon.com/2025/10/31/o...

Legalize it!

Yukoners are considering #RankedChoiceVoting for Assembly elections. How has it gone next-door in Alaska? www.sightline.org/2025/10/31/y...

Chinook salmon have returned to the Klamath River in Oregon after being absent for more than a century. The announcement came roughly a year after the last of four major hydroelectric dams on the river was demolished.

Re-legalizing small apartment buildings would spur the homes city dwellers need now. @Sightline.org www.sightline.org/2025/10/28/t...

Top-two primaries often leave thousands of voters without someone from their party on the general election ballot. Washington State could address this by following Alaska’s lead, switching to top-four primaries and #RankedChoiceVoting general elections. More from @sightline.org ⬇️

I have lost so much pigment in what’s left of my hair arguing with planners to legalize these everywhere and someday I’m going to sip a glass of wine inside of one built as result of those efforts

To people looking for a home today, writes @dannyoleksiuk.bsky.social, it matters a great deal whether that home is built next year, or in ten. Re-legalizing small apartment buildings throughout our cities would create more homes faster. www.sightline.org/2025/10/28/t...

@dannyoleksiuk.bsky.social writes for @sightline.org about the potential to bring back small lot apartment buildings. #singlestair code changes can unlock this option for the first time in a century. Let’s go! www.sightline.org/2025/10/28/t...

Once the most innovative in the nation, WA's top-two primary election model is showing cracks. @sightline.org www.sightline.org/2025/10/27/t...

Americans seeking cheaper housing are sprawling into Sun Belt flood and fire zones. Billion-dollar disasters doubled since 1980s. Allow townhomes and small apartments in safer established areas so people can afford housing without risking disasters

Huge W for #Bothell. More businesses, walkable blocks, lively neighborhoods > excess parking, pollution, and sprawl.

People in the Yakima River basin: We're short on water and have a difficult decision to make, are we going to cut from farms or cities? Washington's Department of Ecology: Por que no los dos? www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

I’m at the launch of Oregon’s design competition for sunlight suite buildings - neighborhood-scale mulifamily buildings designed around one central staircase. “This is one of those innovations whose time has come,” says Gil Kelley of @1000oregon.bsky.social.

For thousands of years, Indigenous people stewarded their forests with fire. Burns encourage more variation in the forest landscape, which leads to greater biodiversity — but there are hard limits.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: It’s not about the size of the apartment, but how you use it. @alexhrwtz.bsky.social analyzed the connection bw disappearing micro-apartments (SROs) and soaring homelessness @pewresearch.org

After a medical crisis, Synia Maine was lucky to have family in Portland, OR – it might be the only city in the US where tiny homes on wheels are fully legal. @citizen-cate.bsky.social talked to three families in PDX about how the fast, affordable, flexible option has been a game-changer.

via this very informative @sightline.org piece on funded IZ www.sightline.org/2024/10/28/t...

So far in 2025, 11 cities have clearly signaled that the era of mandatory parking is coming to an end! 🎉 parkingreform.org/mandates-map/

A U.S. Coast Guard commander compared the devastation in Southwest Alaska villages over the weekend to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “This took people into peril, where folks were swimming, floating, trying to find debris to hold onto in the cover of darkness," Capt. Culpepper said.

"Amid a nationwide shortage in housing, [tiny homes on wheels] could be a new option for people looking for an affordable starter home, if more places follow in Portland's footsteps." @elizarelman.bsky.social @businessinsider.com

"If you set different rules, people will change how they play the game." Thanks to those who made it to yesterday's *Hot Seat* w researcher Shannon Grimes! Our latest democracy and elections work/quips/analysis are always available via newsletter: sightline.org/newsletters

TODAY at 4! 🌶️

How should this fictional town elect its nine-person city council? www.sightline.org/2025/09/23/f...

Part 1 of The Shelter Gap, a three-part series examining barriers to buying, renting and building homes on reservation land and highlighting the community benefits of secure housing.

"I have advocated for #RankedChoiceVoting, but Portland’s changes went beyond what I had imagined. The early outcomes are worth examining as we consider ways to strengthen democracy in Hawaiʻi." – Former Hawai'i state Rep. Beth Fukumoto on the success of proportional RCV in Portland, OR

Tiny homes on wheels bypass the building permit process required for traditional ADUs, making them far faster + cheaper With no foundation needed, homes on wheels are a solution to add housing capacity on space-constrained lots while preserving existing trees www.sightline.org/2025/09/11/h...

I co-wrote a column to encourage Spokane residents to participate in Week Without Driving (September 29-October 5). Please give it a read! rangemedia.co/spokane-week...

Our #WeekWithoutDriving rides Mon Sep 29 Local groceries Tues Sep 30 Ride to Vancouver Wed Oct 1 Farmers Market Lunchtime Thurs Oct 2 Powells Books Fri Oct 3 Ride to PDX Airport Sat Oct 4 Forest Park Bike & Hike Sun Oct 5 Cost of Car Ownership @shift2bikes.bsky.social @americawalks.bsky.social

#WeekWithoutDriving kicks off Monday, 9/29! From Walla Walla County to Central Oregon Community College in Bend—and beyond!—Cascadians are eager for safer, more accessible streets for all. Thx for leading, Disability Rights WA and @americawalks.bsky.social!