News
Stay up to date with the latest dispatches from Futurewise
Wonkabout Washington: Pierce County Subarea Plan Draft EIS Is Inadequate
In this month’s Wonkabout Washington, we’re diving into amendments to four of Pierce County’s subarea plans. Specifically, we’re examining the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for amended Community Plans for South Hill, Mid-County, Frederickson and Parkland-Spanaway-Midland, which make up the central … Continue reading
June 20, 2019
Wonkabout Washington: Designing High-Speed Rail for Equity and Regulating King County Wineries
Futurewise is pushing the advisory group to use an equity lens in high-speed rail planning. As The Urbanist recently reported, Washington state is moving forward with funding studies for an interstate high-speed rail line corridor between Vancouver, British Columbia and Eugene, Oregon. … Continue reading
May 29, 2019
Legislative Update – April 24, 2019
We’re pleased to announce that HB 1923 passed both the House and Senate yesterday – the final version of the bill closely reflects the summary that we offered in our blog post of April 12th. Even though the bill has weaknesses – particularly … Continue reading
April 24, 2019
Wonkabout Washington: Waterways and Skyway
Snohomish County Reconsiders Developing Channel Migration Zones The Growth Management Act, including the Shoreline Master Program, touches many different land use issues in many different parts of the state. Futurewise works with local partners across Washington who keep us informed … Continue reading
April 19, 2019
Legislative Update – April 19, 2019
While we wait for our priority bill, HB 1923 to make it out of the Senate after some minor language changes, here’s an update on the status of some of the other bills we have been supporting in Olympia in … Continue reading
April 19, 2019
Improvements to the Benton County Comprehensive Plan Protect Rural Residents
Benton County is the second fastest growing county in all of Washington state. As the County welcomes thousands of new residents each year, we as a community have a responsibility to plan wisely for growth. County residents want to protect … Continue reading
April 16, 2019
More Housing for People, Less for Cars
Futurewise and partners at the Seattle City Council hearing on parking legislation Imagine a policy that could help lower the cost of rent, relieve congestion, reduce our transportation emissions and air pollution, and also improve bicycle parking. By changing Seattle’s … Continue reading
April 15, 2019
Legislative Update – April 12, 2019
We have been working hard in Olympia over the last couple of weeks to shape HB 1923 into legislation that aligns our growth strategy goals and values: advancing equitable, affordable in-fill development in cities that offer access to opportunity and … Continue reading
April 12, 2019
Legislative Update – March 22, 2019
There’s only about five weeks remaining in the legislative session at this point, and we are continuing to track the twists and turns of our priority bills. As we mentioned last week, HB 1923 is presently deconstructed and awaiting a hearing next … Continue reading
March 22, 2019
Legislative Update – March 15, 2019
The update from Olympia today finds our priority bill, HB1923, in a precarious position. This past week the bill moved out of the House, and onto the Senate – but with a host of watered-down provisions, including the following: (for an … Continue reading
March 15, 2019
Celebrating our 2019 Livable Communities Awardees!
Next week, we’ll be celebrating community leaders from across Washington at our Spring Luncheon and Livable Communities Awards. Each year, Futurewise honors those who are working to make our state a more sustainable, equitable and vibrant place to live. This … Continue reading
March 12, 2019
Legislative Update March 8, 2019
Today we are throwing our support behind two very important bills, 2SHB 1923 and SB 5812, in the hopes they make progress this week. We’re going to focus in this post primarily on 2SHB 1923, which aims to increase urban residential density through a … Continue reading
March 8, 2019