Seattle Bike Blog

Seattle needs more homes. U District design plan is a good start

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 16, 2016

Image from May open house presentation. Their watercolor concept art game is strong.

More people want to live in Seattle than there are homes. The number of people moving to our magnificent city is growing faster than all those cranes you see in the skyline can build.

When homes are put out to bid at market values, people who have more money get them. Those who don’t have as much money get priced out. Communities are broken up. Many families that can least afford the many costs of driving end up living in car-dependent suburbs. And since affordable rent is one of society’s most important safety nets, a growing number of people end up homeless when rents rise.

The cold reality of Seattle’s market-rate housing is shameful, and there is nowhere close to enough subsidized housing to meet the need. Our city is doing so many other things right, but it’s so far failed to respond to people’s most basic need: A home.

The good news is that there are also a lot of engaged people who want to respond to this affordability emergency with bold action. And the Seattle economy has plenty of cash flow to solve this problem, but only if we work as a city to prioritize affordability.

The city’s desire to take bold action will be tested this autumn as the City Council votes on a revamped U District urban design plan. You can weigh in on the plans starting at 5:30 p.m. tonight (Wednesday) at Hotel Deca (45th and Brooklyn). Presentation starts at 6, public hearing starts at 6:15. (more…)

tags: hala, u district, u district station

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Neighbors for safe streets unite at City Hall for World Day of Remembrance Thursday

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 15, 2016

Ten years of traffic deaths. Ten times as many people were seriously injured. Image from Seattle Neighborhood Greenways

Two hundred forty people have been killed in Seattle traffic in the past decade. Ten times that many have been seriously injured.

Thursday, in solidarity with similar events across the world, neighbors from all over Seattle will converge on City Hall to remember those who have been killed or injured and call for transportation leaders to prioritize on our streets.

“We have the means and the technology and the ability to design streets that don’t kill people,” said Seattle Neighborhood Greenways (“SNG”) Executive Director Cathy Tuttle. “We shouldn’t wait any longer.”

At the City Hall rally Thursday at noon, representatives from neighborhood groups across the city will pick up their neighborhood’s set of silhouettes, one for each person killed in the past ten years. Those groups will then meet up locally Sunday to put up the silhouettes as a reminder of the loss traffic violence levies on communities (see below for those details).

“Looking at the totality of these 240 representative figures … is overwhelming,” said Tuttle. She hopes the action will be “healing and respectful,” but “also a way for communities to organize.”

SNG has been a central organizer of the event in partnership with neighborhood groups, Cascade Bicycle Club, the City of Seattle and Washington Bike Law (a Seattle Bike Blog sponsor).

More details: (more…)

tags: cathy tuttle, seattle neighborhood greenways, world day of remembrance

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Tuttle: ‘Our duty is to protect the vulnerable’

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 15, 2016

Cathy Tuttle addresses a crowd gathered in May to urge city leaders to treat traffic violence like the public health emergency it is.

With Trump headed to the White House, people and groups working for safe streets cannot simply go on with business as usual. “Business as usual” is an option available only to the privileged. “Business as usual” normalizes life under sexist, racist and xenophobic leadership.

So what does this mean for the popular movement for safer streets in Seattle, throughout Washington, across the nation and around the globe?

For my part as the journalist behind this blog, I am going to talk to as many people as I can about this question. So expect more going forward. If you know someone I should speak with or have read something I should read, let us all know in the comments below or email me directly at [email protected].

Today, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Executive Director Cathy Tuttle posted some principles she hopes her coalition of neighborhood safe streets groups will get behind. She stresses that these words are hers (she can’t speak for the whole coalition of groups under the SNG umbrella), but they are a starting point.

From Tuttle: (more…)

tags: cathy tuttle, seattle neighborhood greenways

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Council faces budget choices on bike share, safe streets

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 14, 2016
SDOT budget changes under consideration. View full document and dig further into details via this PDF.

Seattle’s City Council will work Tuesday and Wednesday this week to come up with their changes to Mayor Ed Murray’s 2017-18 budget, getting it ready for final passage Monday. We already told you about some of the changes on the table for bike share and some of the proposals pushed by safe streets groups like Seattle Neighborhood Greenways and Cascade Bicycle Club. So what made it this far?

Here’s a look at the walking and biking changes facing the Council and who is sponsoring them:
- Council may proviso all spending on Multimodal Corridor Projects (except Madison BRT), requiring SDOT to present to Council and get approval before moving forward with them. This includes Delridge, Market/45th, Rainier/Jackson, Roosevelt, Route 40 Northgate to Downtown, and 23rd Ave BRT. Burgess.
- Citing the failed TIGER grant application for bike share and the Northgate bike/walk bridge, some Councilmembers want to require Council approval before SDOT applies for grants larger than $5 million. I worry that this may have unintended consequences, since grant deadlines and Council schedules may not always line up well. We do want SDOT to be as aggressive as possible in bringing in grant funds to support local investments. Burgess, O’Brien.
- Invest $400,000 to assess the condition of city sidewalks. This was a great suggestion by Seattle Neighborhood Greenways. The city already spends time and money assessing road pavement conditions, but waits for organized complaints from residents before fixing heaved and broken sidewalks. Complaint-based systems tend to benefit wealthier and more privileged residents who have the time and resources to log them with the city. O’Brien, Johnson.
- Accelerate Bike Master Plan funding. O’Brien.
- Put a clear proviso on all bike share expansion funds, requiring Council approval before moving forward with a new system. Burgess.
- Remove operational funds for Pronto Cycle Share, essentially shutting it down at the beginning of 2017. Herbold.
- Invest $150,000 in a North Beacon Hill safe streets and multimodal transportation study. Harrell.
- Accelerate Accessible Mount Baker funding. Harrell.
- Invest $1 million to extend the existing Rainier Ave safety project in Columbia City and Hillman City south to Rainier Beach. Harrell.
- A proposed “statement of legislative intent” would require the Center City Connector Streetcar project to generate a report about streetcar/bike safety. O’Brien, Bagshaw, Johnson.
- Seattle Neighborhood Greenways’ proposal to add $3 million to the Vision Zero program didn’t get any takers so far, but Councilmember Burgess has proposed a nearly identical amount for unspecified additional paving work. Burgess.
(more…)
tags: 2017 budget

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Cranksgiving 2016 is November 19: Let’s ride bikes and donate food

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 11, 2016

The 2016 poster! Thanks again, Maggie. If you want to print it, here’s the PDF.

Seattle, let’s ride bikes and donate food to Rainier Valley Food Bank.

A food drive scavenger hunt by bike, Cranksgiving riders bike to a secret list of unique food sellers around Seattle buying food to donate to Rainier Valley Food Bank. For the seventh year, Seattle’s Cranksgiving is hosted by Seattle Bike Blog.

The 2016 ride is Saturday, November 19, starting at Cal Anderson Park (near the fountain). Register at 10:30 a.m. Hunt starts at 11 and ends in Columbia City by 2.

Invite all your friends via Facebook! The more the merrier.

You will get a list of needed food items and places to shop. You can go solo or as a small team (four adults max per team). The more you buy and the more places you buy from, the more points you get. There are also photo challenges and more.

All skill levels welcome! Anyone can win a prize!

Free to enter, but expect to spend at least $20 buying groceries (more is welcome, of course). Bring a pen and a way to carry groceries.

Party at the Royal Room after the hunt. They will have drinks for sale, but bring your own food to eat.

Last year, 160 riders hauled an incredible 1,560 pounds of food to Rainier Valley Food Bank. Come have fun and spread the love.

tags: cranksgiving 2016

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Elizabeth Kiker resigns as Executive Director of Cascade and WA Bikes

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 10, 2016

Elizabeth Kiker speaks at the opening of the Cascade Bicycling Center

Elizabeth Kiker has submitted her resignation as Executive Director of Cascade Bicycle Club and Washington Bikes. Her last day will be December 31.

“I’m proud of all that has been accomplished during my time at Cascade and Washington Bikes,” said Elizabeth in a prepared statement from Cascade (posted in full below). “We have talented and dedicated staff, board, members and partners that will achieve even greater fulfillment of our vision, bicycling for all, and our statewide mission of improving lives through bicycling. We thank our members and supporters for their commitment to Cascade and Washington Bikes during this transition.”

Kiker was part of a wave of women in major leadership roles in bike-related organizations in the Seattle area. She oversaw some major remakes of the organization, including moving to a very fancy new office in Magnuson Park (moving the office by bike is still one of my favorite Cascade events ever) and merging with the statewide advocacy organization Washington Bikes.

The organization’s membership and education programming have both grown under her leadership, according to the organization’s statement. And major Cascade-supported funding efforts, like the Move Seattle Levy and ST3, have passed.

Seattle Bike Blog wishes her the best in her next venture. (more…)

tags: cascade bicycle club, elizabeth kiker, washington bikes

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