And if you're in the Seattle area, you can join us at one of our meetups every Thursday in Redmond where we chat about everything urbanism. We hope to see you there! www.meetup.com/eastside-urb...

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'Allowing a single stairway would save space and allow for more multi-bedroom, family-friendly units, said Mike Eliason, a Seattle-based architect and author of Building for People' @patrickcsisson.bsky.social on what could be in store for los angeles with SB-79 www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Could the Seattle mayoral election go to a recount? And if so, how would it work? I answer those questions here:

Go, #Bellingham!

Korbel Professor @schaveznorgaard.bsky.social on a new co-authored study about minimum parking requirements: “We do think it, hopefully, elevated the debate so that it was a data-driven conversation." "In Denver, simulator-run study says parking rule change could boost home construction by 12.5%"

Happy Election Day, y'all! You're invited to join our debrief on the 2025 elections on Nov 10 @ 6 pm ET! We'll talk this year's results and what's on our radar for 2026. www.mobilize.us/leadlocally/...

Overbuilt parking wastes money and space that communities can put to use for better things than empty asphalt! More homes, save trees, more local business investment.

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Interested in parking reform? Check this out - I'll be talking about Hartford (& a tiny bit about @zoningatlas.bsky.social's parking features):

Same in Spokane. With a supermajority on council and a willing mayor, we have to run as fast as possible on issues like safe streets, transit, and urban infill.

Illinois will becoming the 5th state to eliminate local parking requirements for new development projects near transit, after: —California (assembly bill 2097, 2022) —Colorado (house bill 24–1304, 2024) —Oregon (Land Conservation and Development Commission, 2022) —Washington (house bill 1491, 2025)

Your city has eliminated parking minimums. Now what? Hear from planners and community leaders from across the U.S. share their experiences navigating next steps after major parking reforms. Join the conversation on Nov. 18 ucla.zoom.us/meeting... #UCLATransportation100

Congratulations to IL on becoming the third state to pass state level Parking Reform in 2025! We’ve still got CT & NC on the clock which would get us to 5 in one year! Amazing work by @parkingreform.org & many others 🙌🙌

July 2025 - "SB 5184, which was adopted by a wide majority in both houses, exempts all homes smaller than 1,200 square feet from parking mandates. “The average new apartment in the United States is 904 square feet, and even the typical two-bedroom averages only 1,097 square feet."

A mini-symposium on parking — without the commute. Join us for a virtual panel series on Nov. 18 and connect with parking reform champions from across the country. View the session schedule and register here www.its.ucla.edu/tri... #UCLATransportation100

Parking mandates are one of those 1950s planning psuedo-sciences that we're still dealing with, to no one's benefit. crcmich.org/dennis_20240...

Minneapolis built more housing than any other major Midwest city & it’s not a mystery why. They allowed modest density housing types city-wide, cut regressive parking mandates, and made it easier to build apartments near transit. The results: more homes + slowed rent growth.

A new research report from Hawaiʻi Appleseed reveals that parking mandates are adding tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of construction of new homes on Oʻahu. #ParkingMandates #Parking #Affordability #HousingCosts #HousingCrisis #AffordableHousing #Honolulu hiappleseed.org/press-releas...

MLUPA 4/5: Some of the 14 options cities can choose from to boost supply: ✅Allow Duplexes by right ✅Allow Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) ✅Eliminate or reduce off-street Parking requirements ✅Reduce Lot Sizes or Setbacks The goal is simple: remove policy barriers to building the homes Montana needs.

I had a chance to tour the Solis passive house apartment building in Seattle this past weekend. It's interesting as a #passivhaus in the middle of Capitol Hill, with a view to another green building icon, the Bullitt Centre >> The passive part is great, but what caught my eye was the stair. 🧵

Parking flexibility—it works! Time to bring this common-sense policy to Connecticut theconversation.com/denver-study...

Off-street Parking in 15 US Cities https://findingspress.org/article/145256-off-street-parking-in-15-us-cities

"If your projects are designed to move more cars, what you’ll get is more cars. (But) if you take the emphasis away from moving more cars, you can move more people — and build better neighbourhoods, too." www.thestar.com/opinion/star...

“You can win elections by tacking to the middle; lots of people have. But you can also win elections by staking a moral position and convincing people to agree with you. You can earn support by demonstrating what is important to you instead of just being determined to nod along with what you hear.”

“We found that cutting minimum-parking requirements would likely boost housing construction in #Denver by about 12.5%, translating into roughly 460 more homes per year…. This is a surprisingly high-impact result for a single, relatively simple policy change.”

Fun fact about off street parking requirements: most people with garages use them for storage and do not park their cars in them.

Inflexible mandates are wasteful! Towns are seeing they CAN HAVE NICE THINGS (more homes 🏘️, trees!🌳) with flexibility!!!

“States as diverse as Washington, New Hampshire, Texas, and Montana each passed laws to reform their onerous local parking mandates this year ... While the details differ, the story is the same: Democratic and Republican, rural and suburban states are reforming their outdated parking regulations.”

Under-appreciated aspect of Austin's Parking Reform: Austin Community College was freed from parking rules that forced them to add parking spaces every time they added more classrooms - which they were building with local tax dollars! These rules are dumb, and not just for High Schools.

Finally got something out of my head that's been there a while: A capsule history of the mid-density Chicago apartment building daniel-kay-hertz.ghost.io/the-life-dea...

In good news, I got this book just in time to bring to Shoup’s memorial service at UCLA tomorrow. Very special that he got to read & edit these essays in tribute to his work before he passed away last year. 🥹

About 1 in 4 U.S. adults worry they or someone close to them could be deported, according to a June @pewresearch.org survey.

“Agatha’s Almanac” is so resolutely charming that there is no point in resisting its power, writes Dorothy Woodend.🍓📽️

You know what’s really “a bad look” for our military…?

The Seattle City Council added a series of height and density bonuses for stacked flats as they amended Mayor Bruce Harrell's proposed update to the City's Comprehensive Plan in September. The bonuses could create a stacked flat multiplex boom. Story: www.theurbanist.org/2025/10/03/s...

"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

This short passage from a Politico afternoon newsletter captures a huge amount of the advantage gained by lying at scale and the why the DC press corps remains wired for the GOP.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Hold on a second. Answer the question. As Speaker, do you believe it's appropriate to use American cities as training grounds for the military, calling those people 'the enemy within'? JOHNSON: I'm not comment on your characterization of what the president said. S: Those are quotes

New analysis by Pew shows how modern multifamily housing built since 2000 has far lower death rates than new single family homes and older housing stock. www.pew.org/en/research-...

We need more people to state unequivocally, and proudly, that cities are great. That they are wonderful areas of opportunity, of rich culture, of innovation and creativity, and of high quality living. Because they are!

This is amazing: @ladwp.com, the Los Angeles utility, has launched a program that will install solar+battery systems on qualifying low-to-moderate-income households, *for free*. Yes: free. If you know someone eligible, tell them to apply!

“Regulations that hinder building or add costs should be reexamined… State policy makers should, in consultation with developers & fire safety professionals, change the state building code to allow more single- stair construction.” www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/28/o...

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...

The last paragraph of Henry Grabar’s Paved Paradise:

“Eliminating minimum parking requirements is a historic-preservation strategy, a climate action, a mobility win & housing-affordability policy in one. It helps make housing more affordable, neighborhoods more walkable, & city more livable.” - Salem Planning Board www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/29/b...

We vote by mail in the West. It's the most secure method of voting and ensures that folks who can't stand in line all day still get the chance to cast their ballot. The Constitution is clear — states decide how to conduct their elections.  www.columbian.com/news/2025/se...

If you get the urgency of planning for escalating climate risks in smart and engaged ways, this 30-day workshop is for you. Check it out: alexsteffen.substack.com/p/the-person...

Currently a 25-minute wait for brunch in the crime-ridden hellhole of Portland.