Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire announced a package of infrastructure investments to help freight traffic at ports and on the state’s railroads — including funds for a project that enables a land swap between King County and the Port of Seattle.
An article in the Seattle P-I quotes her as saying she is frustrated that few in the state realize the importance of trade to the economy. That reminds me of a recent Seattle newspaper column, an example of how making that case is an uphill battle.
The philanthropy industry is an important development in the Seattle area, but there’s little evidence to support the claim in a Seattle Times article that it may drive the economy.
The state is home to about 200 organizations that “identified their work as having an impact on global health,” according to a University of Washington study cited in the article. But even the Gates Foundation — by far the world’s largest — will add just 200 positions to administer its growing programs. Though local entrepreneurs and wealthy retirees are increasingly involved and conferences here attract renowned speakers, the article doesn’t provide evidence of a deeper economic impact.
The idea of a tunnel to replace Seattle’s waterfront freeway appears dead after the governor and key legislators rejected the latest proposal. So now what?
The state says it demands action because the existing viaduct — a state highway — could collapse. If that’s true, then it should immediately begin working on ways to handle the existing traffic and begin closing the road.
Unfortunately the only apparent action is more debate. Why not invest existing funds in improved roads and transit? Don’t waste time and money on advisory votes or a protracted fight between Seattle and the state over a new viaduct.
If tolls are part of any future solution to regional traffic congestion, why not start charging now? That’s the proposal by two economists for Seattle’s 520 freeway bridge.
They suggest imposing tolls on the bridge immediately and delaying a decision on how to rebuild the structure for five years. Meanwhile tolls would generate funds for new construction and help determine how drivers actually respond to tolls (maybe differently than models suggest).
A campaign is underway to convince Kitsap County voters to raise the sales tax to fund a network of passenger ferries to Seattle from Kingston, Bremerton, Port Orchard and Southworth.
The proposal is a less-costly version of a plan voters rejected in 2003. Backers say the new foot-ferry proposal is attractive now for several reasons: higher fares on state ferries, increased gas prices, a new toll on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and two failed attempts by purely private companies to set up a service. Residents in the central part of the county are debating how much the service would benefit their economy — even if they don’t use it.
New townhomes are multiplying throughout Seattle as developers put four houses on each single-family home lot. A Seattle P-I article suggests they are an answer to the unaffordability of homes in the city.
The true answer is balancing housing supply with demand, by planning for higher density in a orderly way, with walkable retail and transit options. Instead, Seattle remains predominantly zoned for single-family homes. The result: cookie-cutter houses are squeezed into lots where they are technically allowed and that don’t require design review.
Seattle’s new Olympic Sculpture Garden, which is getting rave reviews, is a home run for the city. The art park turns old industrial land into an anchor for the fast-changing neighborhood around it and provides a bridge to the waterfront.
As I toured the garden during a preview event Saturday, I couldn’t help but wonder: Why not pull off the same transformation a little further south, where the viaduct freeway now stands?
Reviews of the garden so far praise the way the architects connected the pieces of the site, which is bisected by a highway and a busy railroad. Of course the garden doesn’t take away any downtown traffic capacity, but no one seems to mind that it doesn’t add any either. It simply shows what the city could do along the waterfront with some creativity.
A chief proponent of building a new viaduct, state House Speaker Frank Chopp, apparently finally sees the value of an extensive package of transit and surface street improvements instead. Other representatives should visit the sculpture garden to see what’s possible along the central waterfront before pushing for new blight.
Gas costs more in Vancouver than in any other metropolitan area of Canada, thanks to robust margins at refineries and the integration of supply with Washington, according to the Vancouver Sun.
The lack of competition among Canadian refiners helps explain why Vancouver gas is more costly, despite lower taxes than elsewhere in the country, an analyst told the paper. The average amount of money per litre going to gas makers has jumped 90 percent since 2002. Prices are similar to Seattle, which shares the same gas pipeline.
Consumers have focused their outrage over storm-related power outages at local power monopolies. But what about cable?
In central Seattle Thursday, cable TV went off at noon and Internet access slowed to a crawl. In the evening a long wait on hold produced an electronic voice warning that wait times are longer than usual and that service is out in swaths from Whatcom County to Kitsap County to Seattle. Turns out, it isn’t an isolated incident.
It’s ironic that an area known for technology and the Internet is essentially make a consumer consider alternatives. Is there a lesson in the experience of Vancouver or Portland?
Sound Transit decided to ask voters to raise the sales tax to fund an extension of the Seattle area’s light rail system.
The projects would paired on this fall’s ballot with a package of road improvements. It’s hardly a done deal, with Snohomish County officials objecting that projects in other areas would be a higher priority and with the potential for the line to stop short of serving downtown Redmond. And another problem: Projects wouldn’t be finished until 2027.
