Cascadia Report

Which buildings should we save

It's easy to argue that one of Seattle's darkest days was when the Music Hall theater was destroyed downtown to make way for a parking lot.

But it's usually harder to define what buildings deserve protection. There are a few ideas in this article in the Seattle P-I.

One point in the comment thread made sense to me:

Rather our approach to "preservation", why not adopt a simple "ancient light" law. If a window has had sunlight for 50 (let's say) or more years then that sunlight can not be taken away. Period, it works in other cities.

Giving praise where it's due

If you're curious about what kind of development will shape Seattle's future, increasingly the one place to turn for free, timely information is The Stranger's blog.

At a time when metropolitan dailies like The Seattle Times are almost giving up on coverage of neighborhoods, the blog is a huge help to anyone who cares about Cascadia's biggest city but can't be a full-time gadfly.

Here a few random recent posts:

Today's examines plans for major growth along the new light rail line.

Coverage of in-fill in single-family neighborhoods.

A glimpse of an iconic tower that may alter the skyline.

Coverage of the design for one of the city's first "subway" stations.

Dubious plans for Amazon's new headquarters the booming South Lake Union neighborhood.

B.C. may boost exports of trash

Vancouver wants to dramatically boost its Washington-bound exports of one product it has too much of: trash.

And why not? Canadians would pay more to cover the cost of sending trash trains to a landfill on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge, helping the economy of rural Klickitat County, according to the Seattle P-I. At the landfill the trash would be turned into sellable energy.

The shipments would begin just ahead of the supposedly eco-friendly Olympics and, predictably, the idea is already riling residents who live along the prospective route of trash trains. Whistler and Seattle already export their trash elsewhere in the region and other reports suggest there may, in fact, be other B.C. alternatives.

But the richest part of the P-I article is the appeal to regional sympathy by one of the proponents:

Marvin Hunt, a councilor in Surrey, B.C., and chairman of the Metro Vancouver Waste Management Committee, said the garbage shipment is just temporary until a new facility is ready in the province.

"This is the Northwest. We feel like this is all family here in Cascadia," Hunt said.

"We have a little problem right now, and when you have a problem, you ask your brothers and sisters to help you out."

While I've been away

This site has been on temporary hiatus recently while I've been spending time with the Municipal League of King County, a nonpartisan group that aims make public policy in the Seattle area more efficient.

Check out me wearing my Municipal League hat in this interview on Comcast:

The event I mention is the League's annual Civic Awards. This year's is at the Olympic Sculpture Park on April 24. Tickets are still available.

It's time to charge for road use

I published an op-ed in the Seattle Times today advocating variable pricing for roads as a method to lessen congestion.

The idea of charging more during crowded times and less when fewer cars are on the road is nothing new to me (see this and this). But it's a big deal that the Municipal League, a venerable nonpartisan good-government group, is now on board. Here's from the piece:

In the past, tolls have been imposed to support construction of major projects. We at the Municipal League of King County support a broader use of tolling to increase traffic flow through congested corridors, while at the same time recovering costs from those using the roads. This is how we price other goods and services when there is limited supply.

As I mention, there are plenty of details to be worked out. The key, as I wrote, is providing alternatives so that additional fees are fair and that everyone benefits. That means adding enough buses, making them faster and more frequent so that transit is a viable alternative.

The key is balancing the market so that transit is a realistic option. Right now we're massively subsidizing travel in single-occupant vehicles. A smart pricing system would make better use of infrastructure and have the positive benefits I mention in the article.

Hooray for the carbon tax

This week British Columbia passed North America's first carbon tax, a big step toward tying sustainability, transportation and market forces. Why can't the rest of Cascadia build on the example?

The tax has been in the works for a while but I missed the passage until I arrived in Vancouver Friday night and noticed it was all over the papers and TV. Looking back, I can't find a single reference in mainstream Seattle-area media.

This policy is huge news because it stands to begin discouraging emissions while making taxation more progressive. Here are some interesting first takes:

-- There are some links to more details and praise for the potential environmental impact here.

-- The business community is glad that there's finally a law, according to yesterday's Globe and Mail.

-- The Tyee looks at whether the tax is fair, here.

-- Progressive Economics points out some flaws yet ends up praising the idea here.

Coming soon: Seattle-Northern B.C. connection

Seattle is about to get its first nonstop flights to northern British Columbia -- another step toward integrating Cascadia.

Alaska Airlines will fly to Prince George, a city 500 miles north of Vancouver at the heart of B.C. timber and mining industry. Unless you like looong drives, the only way to get there now is on the three daily Air Canada flights from YVR.

The convenience almost makes me pine for the days when I was a reporter covering Weyerhaueser and the cross-border timber industry.

More importantly, it suggests that there's demand for this sort of regional travel. The news slipped by while I was dizzy about new nonstops to China, Germany, Mexico and France.

No news south of the Canadian border today

Americans hear almost nothing about politics in Canada. Maybe it's mutual.

I found just one story in B.C. media about today's caucuses in Washington. There's some explanation of the arcane process but little about what the race means for the region:

University of Victoria graduate student Jeremy Wood, wearing a "Canadians For Obama" T-shirt, said "my friends and I came here to see if our support for Obama was based on rock star adulation or if there was something more to it. We arrived at 6:30 in the morning and talked to people lined up. One 17-year-old kid told me he had never been interested in politics until he heard about Obama.

"I've never seen a lineup like this for a political event. It's a social movement. We Canadians had Trudeaumania. But this is something else," said the 36-year-old masters of public administration student.

What Super Tuesday meant for Cascadia

The quasi-national primary on Tuesday puts votes from the Northwest in play far more than anyone expected.

For one thing, the split Clinton/Obama results make Washington's caucuses this Saturday meaningful. The Web is aflutter with news of impending visits and campaign spin.

Here's the most interesting analysis of the longer term picture.

Now there's talk that even Oregon's May primary could make a difference.

Fed up with cattle class? Try yoga to China

If you like in-flight yoga, it's a good day. You'll soon be able to fly nonstop to China from Seattle on an airline that offers that amenity.

The new flight to Beijing on Hainan Airlines is the latest increase between the two countries and the latest of several new international offerings from Sea-Tac. This one is probably a boost for tourism and some business travelers.

But flights four times a week hardly makes Seattle the Cascadia gateway for the China market. Vancouver has daily nonstops to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong -- with 30 a week to Hong Kong alone.

What happens to Cascadia when U.S. wanes

I missed President Bush's State of the Union speech tonight because I was reading about how much the world has changed since he took office.

It's worth reading this article from the Sunday New York Times Magazine, which shows how the world is dividing into three superpowers (U.S., China and the E.U.) that will increasingly compete for the growing "second world" countries like India, Turkey, Brazil and Vietnam. There are plenty of statistics and anecdotes showing how this trend accelerated during the past eight years and will continue to do so.

I find myself thinking immediately about what this means for Cascadia. If the bellicose behavior of the U.S. over the last several years hurt America's stature, and if Canada is so small as to be irrelevant globally, what about our region? Apparently there's more trade in the Japan-India-Australia triangle than across the Pacific and more Chinese study in Europe than the U.S. Does it mean no more booming ports in Seattle and Vancouver; fewer Chinese professionals who fondly recall living in the Northwest during school?

The article offers a series of ideas for the next couple of presidents. But this region needs leaders who appreciate the examples of other countries and our peer metro areas around the world. It needs vigorous diplomacy on a regional level. And it needs more-sustainable development here to insulate us from potential global shocks through more efficient transportation, better use of resources and improvement of the cultural draws that make this part of the world a desirable place to live.

I'll try to work this out some here in the coming months. What ideas am I missing?

Making room for people and vineyards

Planners in the Portland area are divvying up land for long-term agricultural use and for development. The idea is to get beyond arguments over the region's growth management boundaries.

Farmers and developers -- often at odds on land-use issues -- say the change could provide long-term stability by preserving large blocks of the best farmland while making it clear where cities will grow.

"Once Metro adopts urban reserves -- boom -- we know where growth is going to occur," said Jim Johnson, land use and water planning coordinator for the state Agriculture Department.

Gee, why don't we trying something similar here? Instead the top story in today's Seattle Times is about a sweetheart development deal in rural King County. It seems like forcing development -- without local buy-in or a way to pay for infrastructure -- is bound to backfire.

We have money -- but no good way to send it

Sending money between the U.S. and Canada ranks with border delays and underdeveloped transportation infrastructure as obstacles facing regionally minded Cascadia citizens.

Recently I tried to pay a bill in Canada by sending C$113 from Seattle to Victoria. Apparently I ran afoul of post-9/11 inconvenience, anti-money-laundering worries and maybe even technology. I can accept some confusion, but there's got to be a better way.

When I went to a Washington Mutual branch asking for a money order, payable in Canadian funds, the teller looked at me like I was crazy. Bank of America said they could order a money order in about a week. Western Union was willing to help me for a hefty fee, but only if I wired the cash to an individual, who then would have to pick up the cash at another Western Union outlet.

Desperately seeking a good money changer, I called the Canadian consulate in Seattle. Here's what happened: the single main phone number leads to choices in the automated system that all lead to a dead ends. After nearly three minutes of messages in English and French, I picked tourism. Then the message said there is no longer a tourism office and suggested calling immigration. The immigration line said they no longer take telephone inquiries.

My solution was to find a friend who happens to have an account in a Canadian bank -- a move he took post-9/11 in order to handle details related to his Whistler rental. He says his bank puts a 45-business-day hold on USD checks (even if he writes it to himself) so he's resigned to simply planning way ahead. It's nearly enough to keep us on our respective sides of the border.

Rail deal a big step toward mobility

The Seattle area took a big step toward better mobility with a deal to put a railroad line through the Eastside under public ownership.

The old freight line is the only unused corridor straight through the booming suburbs, so preventing it from being sold in pieces was step one. Now there needs to be a plan to add transit and a trail, in conjunction with tolling on the existing roads.

Most important, the region needs to encourage future demand for transportation to grow around this corridor. Transit shouldn't simply serve the density that exists now. After all, today's Eastside grew up around structures that were planned in the 1950s.

Don't think the rail route would work as transportation? A project in Bellevue was announced just this week that would locate thousands of residents and workers within walking distance. In Renton the route could be connected to the Sounder trains, light rail and density near Southcenter. In the north, the corridor serves Woodinville and Snohomish -- booming areas where focusing development around transit infrastructure makes more sense than massive new roads.

Consider this report about one way transit could be added sooner rather than later.

Doing right thing for the waterfront (finally)

Politicians and media appear to be coming around (finally) to the idea that Seattle's waterfront viaduct shouldn't be replaced with another freeway.

Cascadia Report made the case last winter for a combination of transit and comprehensive street improvements to replace the earthquake-damaged eyesore. Gov. Gregoire and Mayor Nickels were among those who poo-pooed the idea by insisting that any replacement had to accommodate the same number of vehicles as the current viaduct.

Now, Gregoire has changed her mind. Several agencies have pledged to work together for a comprehensive fix. Today even the Seattle Times editorial board -- a mostly suburban group that generally supports roads over transit -- came out in favor of transit + road fixes.

It's about time. Now let's get to work on a long-term fix that values the waterfront heart of the region's biggest metro area.

Death and life of great cities

A few weeks ago, during a long weekend in New York, I found myself wandering Manhattan on a Monday. All the usual museums were closed so I tried a small gem of an exhibit on the life and accomplishments of Jane Jacobs.

Jacobs is the activist who helped save swaths of Manhattan from freeways and urban renewal through the 1960s. She's often credited with the basic idea that walkable neighborhoods inhabited by residents are healthier than impersonal housing projects on "super blocks."

It's a great lesson that's been internalized by planners worldwide. But I couldn't help think the pendulum has swung too far. Instead of protesting for strong neighborhoods it seems neighborhood activism -- often under the guise of Jacobs' lessons -- is simply against development, period.

This describes Seattle, where investment in new buildings in a close-in neighborhood is scorned. The Seattle P-I wrote in sympathy of neighbors of a University District coffee shop who didn't want a parking lot developed because a new building would cast shade on a patio! Never mind the benefit of more residents, workers or customers in the neighborhood. Of course, there's also some backlash to development in Portland and Vancouver.

Even in New York, the protest and NIMBY movement is strong. I choose to remember the row of old two-story buildings being torn down in favor of the Santiago Calatrava-designed transit hub. Instead of hand-wringing, the New York Post brushed off concerns of the tenants, calling the buildings "scuzzy."

So where's the middle ground? I'd vote for transparent development rules and design review. But most important is leadership that can make a clear case for what the city gains from development.

Critics of tall Seattle buildings have it backward

Critics of plans for taller buildings in Seattle's South Lake Union area have it exactly backward.

If anything, the city should encourage more building in the area, creating demand for transit rather than encouraging sprawl. Instead critics want to soak the developer to pay more into a fund to create "affordable" housing.

Now, zoning in the area requires special permission to build even 12 stories. Why not require that buildings be at least that tall? Set design review standards, sure. But let's build the workplaces for thousands of employees and new residents.

What's wrong with a supposedly sweetheart deal between developers and the mayor, as long as the city gains? Among the benefits: More housing supply in the city should lower overall prices and make transportation options feasible.

Of course the city should negotiate to get the best terms in this area, but better those rules be streamlined and transparent to encourage more, better building instead of hinder it. Unfortunately the potential benefits are totally lost in today's story and the reader comments.

Missing the Olympics 'bounty'

It's refreshing to see a story in the Seattle Times today about how Washington risks losing out on the economic benefits of the 2010 Olympics.

Cascadia Report has mentioned this issue many times, including here and here (and don't forget the Olympics category here).

There are a few problems with the story:

-- Border hassles are a big factor. But what about the falling value of the U.S. dollar?

Both sides are noticing a drop in travel. From January to April of this year, same-day visitors from the U.S. to B.C. dropped by almost 13 percent, Periwal said.

Travel to B.C. is a lot less interesting to Americans when their money buys 20 percent less than it did just months ago. On Sunday night, it took 10-15 minutes to cross the border southbound while northbound waits were over an hour. It was the reverse on Friday evening, at the end of a day of post-Thanksgiving sales.

-- Canada isn't necessarily more feel-good about the border:

G. Kathleen Hill, deputy consul general at the U.S. Consulate in Vancouver, pointed to a fundamental difference between border priorities: While the U.S. priority is security, Canadians value the free flow of goods and people, she said.

Try telling that to each driver with Canadian plates entering B.C. ahead of me on Friday. They had to open each car door so the border agent could search their vehicle. (Of course, U.S. agents are no strangers to over-the-top screening.)

-- Roads aren't the only solution:

Driving is unlikely to get dramatically more pleasant, especially when you factor in worsening congestion along I-5 and throughout Vancouver. That makes boosting train service an obvious opportunity to boost mobility. Amtrak currently offers a single train and four buses each day between Seattle and Vancouver. Why isn't B.C. funding improvements north of the border to accommodate more trains?

Cascadia as global outsourcing way station

The Tyee has an interesting article questioning the benefits for the Vancouver area of a new software research center in Richmond, B.C. There are some smart comments too.

To me, this seems like a trend B.C. should support. Obviously the U.S. and Canada are very different labor markets, especially for skilled technology workers with Asian passports. Even if the new research center doesn't mean more Canadian hires, every Asian worker will make B.C. more fertile for technology and, over time, pay off by making it a more dynamic business environment.

Urban planning overlooked in Seattle

The booming Seattle area is struggling to define itself. That's why it's curious that urban design seems overlooked in the latest regional awards by the American Institute of Architects.

For last Monday's ceremony there were nearly 200 entries for designs, from residential to industrial. But in the category of urban planning: nothing, not a single one for built or unbuilt work. (There was also nothing for historical preservation.)

Here's how our tipster put it:

In a city that's bursting at the seams, with the number of public projects that have been proposed, shot down, restarted, re-voted on -- how is there nothing in the urban design category? Scary.

Surely the numbers partly reflect who's commissioning the projects. That makes rewarding quality design even more important.

Election results (literally) hurt

My arches still ache from traipsing to eight election parties last night in downtown Seattle in To Boot loafers.

The vote tallies were depressing (and today's stock-market sell off and continuing slump in the U.S. dollar didn't help the mood). A few takeaways:

-- People don't want "politics" and compromise. I held my nose and voted for transit and roads -- Prop. 1 -- arguing that the package was better than doing nothing. Evidently there was just too much there for everyone to dislike.

-- Too few bothered to participate. Maybe Prop. 1 was so uninspiring that voters dismissed the whole election, which gave more power to obstructionists. How else to explain looney results like the victory of no-tax I-960 and the failure of simple majority for school levies?

-- The Establishment needs a shakeup. Everyone from council members to the biggest companies got slammed. On Prop. 1, they spent too much capital on TV ads and slogans ahead of the election, and not enough on honing the package and then inspiring the rest of us that it made sense. The region's leadership vacuum is clearer than ever.

So what's next? For transportation, the first priority should be reorganizing transit planning to align growth with infrastructure. Then we need transit plans with a) incentives to change lifestyle patterns and b) infrastructure that will start to meet growing demand.

Hopefully there's more to celebrate after the next vote.

From one dark place to another -- nonstop

A day after the onslaught of standard time, it's hard to imagine anyone wanting to fly nonstop to Germany. But thanks to Lufthansa at least Seattleites (and anyone doing international business) will have the option.

The Sea-Tac-to-Franfurt nonstop announced today is the latest increase in air service since the Port of Seattle lowered its fees to attract more routes. That's the right sort of subsidy -- a targeted incentive that mulitplies the economic benefit. Recent new flights include to Mexico City and Paris.

There were rumors that Sea-Tac was courting a nonstop to Munich (Vancouver and Portland already have Frankfurt flights -- Portland, thanks to a package of tourism incentives). Lest anyone misconstrue the addition, note that Lufthansa also announced a host of new flights from Canada today.

When the flights begin in March, Seattle may enjoy the best connections to Europe it's ever had. (True, Aeroflot ended its nonstop to Moscow. But Sea-Tac will have daily scheduled service to five business centers: London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Copenhagen.)

Sausage-making over farm subsidies

The Omnivore's Dilemma is playing out now in Congress over the latest package of farm subsidies.

In an excellent op-ed in the New York Times, the author of that book makes a clear case against current agricultural policy. And then he turns the tables:

How could this have happened? For starters, farm bill critics did a far better job demonizing subsidies, and depicting commodity farmers as welfare queens, than they did proposing alternative — and politically appealing — forms of farm support. And then the farm lobby did what it has always done: bought off its critics with “programs.” For that reason “Americans who eat” can expect some nutritious crumbs from the farm bill, just enough to ensure that reform-minded legislators will hold their noses and support it.

Cascadia Report has found farm subsidies to be an easy target, for example here and here and here. We're waiting for some good policy to praise.

B.C. plan could actually cut gas emissions

Seattle announced Monday that it managed to cut emissions of greenhouse gases over the last 15 years. Too bad emissions from cars are bound to continue rising.

Meanwhile in British Columbia there's serious talk of a policy that could really make a difference: a carbon tax. The proposal would shift taxes to give incentives for lower emissions. It seems a lot more effective than just encouraging everyone to ride bicycles.

Washington and the Seattle area need to think along the same lines. This report includes a chart of Seattle's pollution sources and how hard it will be to make more progress. Next steps should be replacing the viaduct with transit and better streets and then nudging the region toward a more sustainable transportation network.

Wanted at Sea-Tac: Pride of place

How does Seattle greet visitors? If they get off a flight at Sea-Tac's gate N-15, the answer is with a dingy jetway that has a severely waterstained ceiling, discolored walls and wet wood between the floor joints.

The dark and crowded North Satellite terminal was a jarring change after my recent flight from the airy, modern facility in Toronto. Luckily flights from Canada clear U.S. customs before they take off so at least those passengers can avoid Sea-Tac's 70s-era international arrivals area in the South Satellite.

Sea-Tac's embarrassment is about more than aesthetics. With its new facilities, Vancouver is wooing Seattle fliers and more business because airlines prefer its new terminal. Each flight means thousands of dollars in economic benefit on the ground.

There's a comprehensive plan to remodel Sea-Tac -- eventually. There also are examples of how to use the space more efficiently. It wouldn't hurt to start with basics.