Pinehurst Station opened today as a new light rail stop between Northgate and South Shoreline. While a new crosstown bus and street upgrades preceded the station, neighborhood upzones are tied up in legal appeals, stunting housing and business growth in the vicinity.

Seattle earned the fourth-highest ranking in a new Oxford Economics 2026 Global Cities Index, trailing only New York, London and Paris. Here's how the Emerald City pulled off the feat.

Without major action, the Seattle Department of Transportation would have been looking at a $113 million deficit in its transportation fund by 2028, department leaders said Monday. Cuts that are already underway will impact road and bridge maintenance but not Vision Zero work.

Mayor Katie Wilson joined bestselling authors Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor to lay out an antidote to fascism at a book talk at Town Hall Seattle last week.

To avoid a state growth board hearing that could unravel Clyde Hill's Comprehensive Plan even further, City officials are advancing a plan to allow additional building rights in exchange for an on-site affordable unit or a hefty fee. The change is being prompted by a legal appeal by Futurewise.

The new Airo trains, which will be running on every trip on Amtrak Cascades by next spring, bring a bevy of new passenger features from upgraded seats to overhauled restrooms. The first trips are scheduled to start rolling out of King Street Station on September 30.

Ray Delahanty of CityNerd did a video on the 2 Line, now that the light rail corridor spans Lake Washington connecting Seattle, Bellevue, and Redmond. Watch to see how they rank and hear some tidbits from our recent Town Hall Seattle event with Ray.

We're hosting a Pinehurst station area tour on September 30, the grand opening of the light rail stop.

Pierce County transit advocates are confident that this is the year they can overcome the history of voters not getting on board with adding bus service funding in the South Sound. If Prop 1 is successful, Pierce Transit plans to ramp up service by 49% in the coming years.

Community organizer Renee Station recounts how Pinehurst Station went from a distant dream to reality delivered ahead of schedule.

Advocacy Journalism for Better Cities

Sound Transit is set to have Dow Constantine at the helm into 2030s after the agency approved a three-year contract extension with two additional one-year options on Thursday.

If approved in early November, Community Transit would take over Everett Transit operations on April 1, 2027, with the existing Everett Transit network as its service baseline. A 50% increase in bus service would follow, to be fully implemented by 2030.

# Dow Constantine will leave his post as King County Executive and take over as Sound Transit's CEO on April 1, after the agency's board of directors approved the hiring in a unanimous vote Thursday. ...

Seattle School Boardmember Joe Mizrahi makes the case against the three statewide initiatives put forward by MAGA hedge fund manager Brian Heywood that will starve government of resources and force sc...

The Sound Transit board voted Thursday to overhaul expansion plans, prioritizing the rail spine from Tacoma to Everett, while deferring indefinitely stations in Tukwila, Interbay, and Ballard. Seattle...

While on Sound Transit's chopping block, the Ballard and Interbay neighborhoods made it clear at a 300-strong rally and four-mile march Sunday they are not going down without a fight. Advocates wants ...

Elevating the next light rail line through Downtown Seattle could save $10 billion, more than enough to close Sound Transit’s systemwide budget hole and get rail to Ballard much sooner. There’s just one problem: The agency has never officially studied the idea. It’s high time.

After a new 0.1% sales tax for county roads was approved in June, County Executive Girmay Zahilay has proposed to fold the independent transportation benefit district fully into county government. But...

Seattle School Boardmember Joe Mizrahi makes the case against the three statewide initiatives put forward by MAGA hedge fund manager Brian Heywood that will starve government of resources and force school to discriminate against trans students.

After a new 0.1% sales tax for county roads was approved in June, County Executive Girmay Zahilay has proposed to fold the independent transportation benefit district fully into county government. But questions remain about whether the county council would be trading away oversight.

Last week, Mayor Katie Wilson introduced a multi-faceted plan to reduce gun violence in Seattle based on City auditor findings, including a larger role for the CARE Department. Councilmembers Maritza Rivera and Debora Juarez sharply criticized the plan.

Faced with a $175 million deficit, Mayor Katie Wilson chose to balance her 2027 budget primarily through cuts and streamlining City operations, but no new revenue. Police and homelessness response spending continued to grow amid other cuts.

In a recent interview, Mayor Katie Wilson told The Urbanist her administration has launched behind-the-scenes work to make city government run better and avoid perennial budget gap crises, including a...

Advocacy Journalism for Better Cities

Developers and tradespeople alike voiced support for a proposed temporary reduction in Mandatory Housing Affordability fees at a committee meeting Friday. The proposal seems to have broad support from...

The housing funds, proposed in King County Executive Girmay Zahilay's budget update, include nearly $15 for affordable housing projects that were already in development, and another $5 million for a n...

The housing funds, proposed in King County Executive Girmay Zahilay's budget update, include nearly $15 for affordable housing projects that were already in development, and another $5 million for a new tiny home village on county-owned land in the Central District.

In a recent interview, Mayor Katie Wilson told The Urbanist her administration has launched behind-the-scenes work to make city government run better and avoid perennial budget gap crises, including a new executive order.

Homebuilders and tradespeople alike voiced support for a proposed temporary reduction in Mandatory Housing Affordability fees at a committee meeting Friday. The proposal seems to have broad support from Seattle councilmembers.

Former Governors Gary Locke and Christine Gregoire have sought to cut progressive policymakers off at the knees with criticisms about Democrats lacking budget discipline. But their own records show the cost of austerity cuts.