urbanMSP

Looks like King County (Seattle) voters rejected Prop 1.

"Proposition 1 seeks a $60 car-tab fee and a one-tenth-of-a-cent increase in the sales tax. The measure would raise about $130 million a year for 10 years, with 60 percent going to Metro Transit for bus service and 40 percent to pay for roads."

http://m.kirotv.com/news/news/prop-1-vo ... ute/nff32/

http://seattletimes.com/html/pacificnw/ ... y1xml.html

Question for the board: Would you trade a future like this for MSP if we were recognized as a world-class city and not treated as flyover country?

What, exactly, is the trade off? I see plenty of upside with the "elite and expensive technopolis" but it doesn't seem like Seattle is struggling with this new reality, on the whole. Why *wouldn't* a city want that level of investment?

The twenty-year-old "Urban Village" strategy is seen as mostly a success.

http://www.citylab.com/housing/2015/02/ ... =SFTwitter

The rapid pace and scale of new development in Seattle is really amazing. I was just there last week and walked away quite impressed with the number of highrises under construction. They've also done an overall great job with making sure the new development downtown adheres to strong urban design principles.

This website does a cool job mapping the more recent progress and provides plan sets for most of them.
https://www.seattleinprogress.com/

This could go in like ten threads, but I will leave it here:

https://streets.mn/2015/05/14/an-exit-in ... -urbanist/

Everyone should read it!

I enjoyed the interview, Nick.

I'd just like to note that any comparison between Minneapolis and Seattle that doesn't triple underline the effect of a booming tech economy on everything that's happening in Seattle is kind of missing the point. Seattle has benefited hugely from the literally billions upon billions of dollars of wealth that those industries have spun off.

Yeah, I sometimes wonder if Seattle is headed for a big fall when the next tech bubble burst happens. They lost Boeing, right? It feels like a monoculture is developing there but obviously I'm missing a lot of information.

One advantage the Twin Cities has is that food will always be necessary.

They didn't exactly lose Boeing. Boeing has been wanting to expand a bit in South Carolina and (I think) Kansas, where they have other big operations. The Seattle area unions fought this because they viewed it as shifting work to states with looser union laws.

The exec HQ moved to Chicago to be nearer most of their customers.

Yeah, I sometimes wonder if Seattle is headed for a big fall when the next tech bubble burst happens. They lost Boeing, right? It feels like a monoculture is developing there but obviously I'm missing a lot of information.

One advantage the Twin Cities has is that food will always be necessary.

Seattle-Tacoma also serves as one of the largest port destinations in the country. Between that and the strong aerospace cluster, I'd find it hard to classify it as a single-focused economy. Beyond the latest tech boom, there are some pretty large companies based in the region, including Nordstrom, Starbucks, Microsoft, Costco, Alaska Airlines, and many more.

On a quasi-related note, Amazon released the following promotional video about living in Seattle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coklW-xcWMk

It was not exactly well-received by many locals. In fact, some people got together to create this parody of the original Amazon one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy921nlMIrk

Oh I can definitely see some south mpls people making something like that. Working in Whittier being excited about the new downtown developments then getting yelled at by my boss, who lives in north, about, "when in the living fuck are they gonna build single family housing again."

What is it about condos and the anti-development crowd (for lack of a better term) using the term as some sort of coded language?

(I laughed at the parody video...I knew they'd have to go after the scooter guy)

Probably the assumption is that condo owners are exceedingly wealthy and driving gentrification.

Wasn't sure whether to put this into a thread on economics of housing or parking or opposition to new development or something else. But wow. http://seattletransitblog.com/2015/07/0 ... ly-zoning/

Titles of posts my Ballard NextDoor page about changes in Seattle:
"Upzoning of all Single Family Housing in Seattle" (accusing the mayor of lying about what he is proposing re SFH zoning)
"Transition" (asking if there is any "actual proof of one of the homeless people ever transitioning" into a better life after living in city-sanctioned tent city)
"Where's the growth management" (suggesting the city is violating state law by not managing growth by allowing growth to exceed growth targets)
"Cascadia Subduction Zone - a fascinating read" (about how Seattle is screwed if the major earthquake happens anytime soon since we're unprepared)
"Please stop NIMBY name-calling your neighbors" (rant about calling people NIMBY is a way to discourage participation and deployed by developers and their lobbyists. "Don't inadvertently shill for lobbyists")
"How to help with Saide kitty's ER costs" (an appeal for financial help since they helped a found injured cat get life-saving surgery not knowing if anyone will ever claim the cat or repay them. This is for you Nick)


I share these to say that across Seattle in the neighborhoods are really pissed off SFH owners about zoning changes and big time growth. In addition, the new development is extremely expensive ($2.50 - $3.50 is the market). Land prices for bigger developments (5 over 2 construction) in some neighborhood locations is exceeding $300 per square foot, though it's more $100-200 psf. The market is extremely tight and good luck finding rentals in many super walkable neighborhoods for under $2.00 psf even for older units. Supply can't grow or age quick enough. It is a really interesting time to watch what happens with their upcoming elections. They recently moved to district-based elections from an all-at large council. There will be two at large seats and 7 districts.

Trying really hard to be San Francisco but not be San Francisco.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/10/09/te ... d&referer=

Yeah, I sometimes wonder if Seattle is headed for a big fall when the next tech bubble burst happens. They lost Boeing, right? It feels like a monoculture is developing there but obviously I'm missing a lot of information.

One advantage the Twin Cities has is that food will always be necessary.

Seattle-Tacoma also serves as one of the largest port destinations in the country. Between that and the strong aerospace cluster, I'd find it hard to classify it as a single-focused economy. Beyond the latest tech boom, there are some pretty large companies based in the region, including Nordstrom, Starbucks, Microsoft, Costco, Alaska Airlines, and many more.

On a quasi-related note, Amazon released the following promotional video about living in Seattle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coklW-xcWMk

It was not exactly well-received by many locals. In fact, some people got together to create this parody of the original Amazon one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy921nlMIrk

A tech bubble bursting would still have a huge impact, given that much of the current development was spurred by a booming tech sector. The city wouldn't cave in, but a lot of new development would stop or sit empty afterward.

Some items of interest for y'all:

http://soundtransit3.org/ (outlines the agencies potential ballot initiative process and candidate projects - recently updated)

http://seattletransitblog.com/2015/12/0 ... 3-options/ (blog overview of what was presented as candidate projects for ST3 by ST staff)

http://seattletransitblog.com/2015/12/0 ... the-spine/ (blog overview of ST's presentation that outlined the potential of a second downtown tunnel and how multiple lines could be aligned to utilize the two tunnels to manage the operational considerations)

http://seattletransitblog.com/2015/12/0 ... l-options/ (blog overview of things to keep in mind when thinking about what was presented on the possible funding scenarios that ST3 could include - debate for ST is whether to, how much, and for how long to ask for taxes to pay for system expansion)

FAA says 102 stories is too tall for Seattle

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/morn ... -tall.html