NPI's Cascadia Advocate

Offering commentary and analysis from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, The Cascadia Advocate is the Northwest Progressive Institute's uplifting perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Category Archives: Public Planning

Housing policy leaders discuss ways to get people into homes at 2023 YDWA Convention

Excerpt: Read a recap of the 2023 Young Democrats of Washington Convention's housing-focused panel, which brought together local and state leaders in Spokane for a conversation moderated by NPI's Kamil Zaidi.
Written by:Caya Berndt
Other Categories:Events, Policy Topics
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Seattle voters love ST3’s Ballard and West Seattle light rail extensions, but will they love the alignment Sound Transit’s board picks?

Excerpt: 81% of likely February 2023 special election voters in Seattle support light rail to Ballard and West Seattle, which is in design. Sound Transit would be wise to keep that in mind when making alignment decisions that our region will have to live with for decades.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Two-thirds of Seattle voters concerned about tree loss with housing density increasing

Excerpt: 68% of 651 likely February 2023 special election voters interviewed from January 26th-30th for NPI by Change Research said they were concerned about tree and canopy loss, while 30% said they were not. Only 1% were not sure.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Our Environment, Policy Topics
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Seattle social housing initiative (I‑135) ahead in early returns with 21.23% turnout so far

Excerpt: A Seattle initiative that proposes to set up a public development authority to build publicly financed, publicly controlled housing projects is ahead in early returns, King County Elections' initial February 2023 special election tabulation shows.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Elections, Policy Topics
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Amtrak will restore a second daily round trip between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.

Excerpt: Amtrak will restore a second daily round-trip train service between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., as of March 7th, and promises to boost daily trips between Seattle and Portland from four to six come fall, according to a letter sent to the transportation departments of Washington and Oregon.
Written by:Joel Connelly
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Bellevue residents want more policies that encourage transit oriented development

Excerpt: Four promising ideas for catalyzing transit oriented development in the City of Bellevue enjoy broad and deep support among residents of Washington's fifth largest city, a survey conducted a few weeks ago for the Northwest Progressive Institute and the Bellevue Housing Research Coalition has found.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Residents of Bellevue support changing city codes to provide more protection to renters

Excerpt: Average support for six ideas we asked about totaled 70.5%, or more than seven in ten Bellevue residents. Average opposition totaled a mere 22.5%. That's striking, especially considering that most Bellevue residents we surveyed are homeowners.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Ideas to streamline permitting for housing in Bellevue have near unanimous support

Excerpt: The most popular of five ideas -- removing unnecessary approvals and make the permitting process more straightforward -- was endorsed by 85% of respondents, with the least popular idea -- lowering permit fees for affordable housing projects -- still got the support of 79% of respondents, or nearly eight in ten. 
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Bellevue residents enthusiastically back range of ideas for increasing housing attainability

Excerpt: These findings show that Bellevue residents are broadly in agreement on a number of ideas to tackle the city and region's housing crisis, from creating additional homeownership assistance programs to allowing the construction of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) such as backyard cottages in every neighborhood to relaxing restrictions like building height limits for projects that preserve existing mature trees on the property rather than cutting them down.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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New poll finds huge support for affordability-focused solutions to Bellevue’s housing crisis

Excerpt: NPI, Complete Streets Bellevue, the Sightline Institute, Eastside For All, and the Housing Development Consortium (HDC) teamed up in the summer of 2022 to ask Bellevue residents about their views on the housing market and housing policy. Read our initial findings from that groundbreaking survey.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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There’s a better way to fight inflation, save jobs, and curb a recession: Create a Hamiltonian National Infrastructure Bank

Excerpt: This guest post from macro-economist Alphecca Muttardy discusses the need for legislation that could strengthen our economy and reduce our infrastructure deficit: H.R. 3339.
Written by:Alphecca Muttardy
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Democratic State House hopeful Pastor Carey Anderson shot while out campaigning

Excerpt: Pastor Carey Anderson, a Democratic candidate for State Representative in the 30th Legislative District, was shot at close range by a BB gun Thursday evening.
Written by:Rich Erwin
Other Categories:Elections, Policy Topics
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Canada Day revelation: Amtrak Cascades to resume service to B.C. in September

Excerpt: Regularly scheduled train service between British Columbia and the rest of the Pacific Northwest will be resuming in the fall, rather than in the winter, the Washington and Oregon Departments of Transportation announced today.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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Sound Transit Board unanimously hires Julie Timm as its new Chief Executive Officer

Excerpt: “I am profoundly grateful to join the Sound Transit team’s work to transform lives across the Puget Sound region for generations to come," Timm said in a prepared statement.
Written by:Andrew Villeneuve
Other Categories:Policy Topics
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