Connecting Shoreline’s light rail station at S 148th Street with Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, and Bothell, the S3 line is expected to significantly reduce travel times for riders along the State Route 522 corridor thanks to added transit signal priority, queue jumps, and some new business access and transit (BAT) lanes.

Paired with street improvements currently in progress along NE 145th Street by the City of Shoreline, transit times from Bothell to Shoreline are expected to drop significantly. Today, the trip can take more than an hour during times of peak morning congestion, but that should be cut to less than 40 minutes after the ribbon is cut.

“This project is going to mean faster, more reliable connections to light rail, to neighboring cities and opportunity throughout the region, while also strengthening our identity as a vibrant, connected community,” Kenmore Mayor Nigel Herbig said ahead of Friday’s ceremonial dirt tossing. “For more than a decade, Kenmore has been planning for high-capacity transit along SR 522, and today we’re going to see that vision come to reality.”

Bus frequency along the S3 line is expected to increase to every 10 minutes during peak commuting hours, while Sound Transit is set to maintain the existing 15-minute arrival time schedule of the existing 522 ST Express bus. Last year, Sound Transit awarded a $433 million contract to MV Transportation to operate Stride service, the first private operations contract awarded in the agency’s history.

Most of the route already includes existing business access and transit (BAT) lanes that will provide buses with dedicated travel space while still providing drivers with a space to turn right into driveways. Many of those stretches of BAT lane were built by local cities along the route, including Kenmore and Bothell, over the past few years, in anticipation of the S3’s eventual arrival. As part of this phase of construction, Sound Transit will build a northbound BAT lane through a 1.6-mile stretch of Lake Forest Park, along with targeted transit improvements elsewhere along the route and upgraded stations at stops.

A bumpy road in Lake Forest Park

The northbound BAT lane through Lake Forest Park has proven to be the most contentious element of the project, with an entire group stood up to push back on the roadway expansion and associated retaining wall necessary to make it happen. Local homeowners founded Citizens Organized to Rethink Expansion (CORE) in 2023 in an attempt to get Sound Transit to rethink its plans, opposing both the hardscape coming with the retaining wall and the agency’s plan to remove dozens of trees.

In response to those concerns, the Lake Forest Park Council passed emergency legislation requiring retaining walls to come with landscaping treatments, and added requirements relating to tree replacement. The ordeal illustrates the high level of control that local jurisdictions are able to impose on Sound Transit, despite the agency’s important role in building out the regional transit network and a growing understanding of the need to operate in a more cost effective manner.

After CORE co-founder Paula Goode was elected to the Lake Forest Park Council in 2023, the City has continued to push Sound Transit to eliminate the planned BAT lane between NE 153rd and 165th Street in favor of queue jumps. But Sound Transit hasn’t budged on its design, and support for getting on with Sound Transit’s plans appears to be popular with Lake Forest Park voters.

Last fall, incumbent Councilmember John Lebo lost his bid for reelection against Josh Rosenau, a founder of the advocacy group Lake Forest Park for Bus Rapid Transit, while incumbent Semra Riddle prevailed over her CORE-endorsed opponent, Bryce James. The Urbanist Elections Committee (on which I am a member) endorsed Rosenau and Riddle. Councilmember Tracy Furutani was the only incumbent in a contested race to prevail after being endorsed by CORE, with CORE endorsing a write-in candidate in another race because both candidates supported Sound Transit’s plans.

The S3 line is also being paired with broader street upgrades that will help connect riders with stops. A $7.2 million fund from Sound Transit is providing bike and pedestrian access improvements, including upgrades to 104th Avenue NE in Bothell, new sidewalks on NE 181st Street in Kenmore and Brookside Boulevard NE in Lake Forest Park, a bikeway on 28th Avenue NE in Shoreline, and expanded sidewalk/shared use path on 30th Avenue NE between Seattle and Shoreline.

All-in on all-electric battery buses

Despite the limited market for reliable zero-emission buses in the U.S., Sound Transit is all-in on the concept of using a fully electric fleet for all three Stride routes, with its new Canyon Park bus base being fully equipped to handle the task. The S3 will be served by 60-foot articulated buses, manufactured by China-based BYD, while the S1 and S2 will see double-decker electric buses made by the British manufacturer Alexander Dennis.

When Sound Transit awarded the contracts for these new bus purchases in 2023, there were some warning signs flashing when it came to other U.S. transit agency’s experiences with BYD. The Urbanist‘s Stephen Fesler noted some significant issues that transit operators were encountering when it came to BYD coaches in places like Albuquerque, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles. Three years later, those issues are still popping up, with LA Metro recently making the decision to ground its entire fleet of 40-foot BYD coaches operating on the J Line, just a few weeks after putting them in service this past December.

“The unfortunate news is that after about three weeks, we identified an issue with the BYD electric axle motor that required us to ground the fleet, and we’ve been evaluating that issue over the last few weeks, and are continuing to resolve that as quickly as we can with BYD,” Sean Miller, LA Metro’s Deputy Executive Director for Zero Emission Planning, told a Metro committee in mid-February.

“We continue to have challenges with BYD busses, including quality control response time for warranty support and the recent mechanical issues,” said Amy Romero, LA Metro’s Deputy Executive Director for Bus Operations.

Miller noted that many of the issues the BYD vehicles seem to be experiencing stem from being put in place on a freeway-running route. The coaches on the S3 are expected to be operated more stop-and-go than the S1 and S2 lines, which will primarily operate on I-405, a fact that could ultimately mean that Sound Transit experiences fewer issues than LA Metro. Though Miller’s comments might ultimately apply more broadly to Sound Transit’s efforts to operate all-electric on Stride.

“A lot of especially zero-emission busses aren’t intended to run at high speeds on a freeway for a long time. They’re not designed for that type of operating environment. There were indications that the electric axle motor may be experiencing accelerated wear due to those sustained high speeds,” Miller said. “We also identified a second issue with the axle motor bringing in water intrusion, and that could lead to a complete axle failure.”

Bus upgrades coming sooner

This fall, Sound Transit will switch the routing of the existing 522 bus to follow the future S3 line’s routing, cutting out the portion of the route that covers Lake City Way in Seattle and instead routing buses directly to the Shoreline South light rail station. With that change, King County Metro will implement two new bus routes, the 72 and 77, to cover that new gap in Lake City.

“This is a newer, shorter route will help people connect to light rail, and it will also allow us to expand the window of 15-minutes service by about an hour each day,” King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci noted Friday. “So a longer period of frequent service, which we know is the key to great transit. Frequency is freedom, right? So we’re going to be able to give riders a preview of the full benefits of the future service, and help them get used to new travel patterns.”

The post Sound Transit Breaks Ground on Stride S3 Bothell-to-Shoreline Bus Line first appeared on The Urbanist.

But once in place, it would represent one of the most ambitious traffic safety projects to move forward across central Puget Sound in recent years.

As Pacific Highway, this 6.6-mile stretch of SR 99 widens out to seven lanes at major intersections, with narrow sidewalks and infrequent signalized crossings for pedestrians. The speed limit is 45 mph but drivers frequently exceed the posted speed by double digits. Between 2019 and 2023, there were 63 different traffic collisions that resulted in a death or serious injury — more than one devastating crash happening every single month, on average. During that time, more than 60 people who were walking or biking were hit by drivers, including eight people who lost their lives.

These upgrades will build on multimodal upgrades advancing further south along SR 99 in Edmonds, but they are much more comprehensive and wide ranging than the ones being designed there.

While changes along the corridor have been eyed for more than a decade, Washington’s 2021 Complete Streets mandate now requires an analysis of potential multimodal upgrades whenever a state highway like SR 99 gets major maintenance work. Because designing those upgrades takes time, the department is spending time now determining what the vision for the corridor will be, so that future maintenance work can more easily incorporate those changes without adding years of additional time.

“The intent is for this study to very easily translate and push into pre-design so [the project team] won’t need to go back to the public to figure out, what do they want,” WSDOT Planning Manager April Delchamps told The Urbanist last fall, before the study’s release. “When we get design funding, we’re able to immediately transition to designing what we heard from the community, and we established this kind of listening approach for the community. And so if things change, for example we find a constraint, we go back out to the community, explain the constraint, and start understanding if there’s particular priorities around how we address that constraint.”

A survey open through January 20 presents the recommended concept, featuring corridor-wide changes along with spot improvements at specific locations.

WSDOT is proposing two different concepts that would provide full bicycle and pedestrian connectivity along the entire corridor: separated bike lanes next to sidewalks, and recreating the entire walking and biking area as a shared-use path. Those two proposals would give pedestrians and cyclists a similar amount of space and aren’t dramatically different from one another. But with maintaining two general purpose travel lanes, curbside business access and transit (BAT) lanes and planter strips including in the median, they would both require around 25 feet in additional right-of-way, despite the existing road’s significant width.

WSDOT is also recommending a slate of spot improvements at different points along the corridor that would make the highway function more like a local street, including 12 midblock crossings “either near bus stops, major destinations or where there is a large distance between intersections.” Awkward intersections with large crossing distances would be redesigned to better accommodate people walking or biking and improve safety. Slip lanes would be removed.

Major changes are also being proposed for the interchange between SR 99 and SR 525, which connects I-5 with Paine Field. Ramps would be realigned to create perpendicular angles and slow speeds, and all ramps would be either signalized or have stop control. Pedestrian crossings would be raised and include rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs) to increase visibility.

A full rebuild of the entire 6.6 miles is likely to cost the state $660 million to $780 million in today’s dollars, with another $310 to $370 million for the right-of-way acquisition needed to fully accommodate all of the anticipated project elements. Future projects, including one that is already on deck to tackle bus priority between Airport Road and 148th, will be leveraged to achieve the full vision. And while that vision will likely take years if not decades to fully materialize, the transformation seemed totally impossible just a few short years ago.

This isn’t the only revamp of SR 99 being considered right now. Further south in Seattle, changes are being considered for the crash-prone Aurora Avenue N, but advocates have been expressing early disappointment in the ideas that have been put on the table so. In contrast with the Snohomish County proposal, dedicated bike facilities are far from guaranteed, with people on bikes likely to be directed to use side streets.

While the state’s Complete Streets mandate has been in place since 2021, major transformations like this one have been getting put on deck less slowly than they might have otherwise, with the legislature prioritizing new highway projects over the maintenance work that would come with required multimodal upgrades.

Recently, Governor Bob Ferguson proposed around $2 billion in funding for bridge and highway upkeep as part of the 2026 supplemental budget, but that funding would be unlocked via new state transportation bonds that come with a price tag for future budget writers. Plus, bonding would require a 60% vote in both the state House and Senate — a tall order.

Although the exact timeline for making these urgent upgrades is still very opaque, establishing a clear baseline for what will ultimately take shape is certain to pay dividends.

The post WSDOT Eyes Major Transformation for SR 99 in Snohomish County first appeared on The Urbanist.

Specific bright spots include Tacoma, Redmond, Burien, Woodinville, and Newcastle, where pro-growth candidates all currently lead. Which isn’t to say there wasn’t some backsliding: early results in Bainbridge Island and Sammamish point to a big housing backlash. But on the whole, the trends so far look cheer-worthy for urbanists.

Eastside

Bellevue‘s city council isn’t poised to see a seismic shift in composition, with incumbents Lynne Robinson, Jared Nieuwenhuis, Claire Sumadiwirya, and Vishal Bhargava all leading in their races. But eight-term Councilmember Conrad Lee’s career appears over, with human rights advocate Naren Briar leading Lee by nearly three points. With this council, Mo Malakoutian looks well-positioned to be the city’s next mayor.

Meanwhile voters in Redmond have resoundingly re-elected urbanist superstar Melissa Stuart, while at the same time sending Steve Fields and Jeralee Anderson packing. Fields and Anderson were the two voices on the council who opposed Redmond’s move to relocate the canceled Plymouth Housing project from Kenmore, an issue that right-leaning groups like Safe Eastside tried to turn into a central campaign issue — and failed at.

In Woodinville, the wave of cash spent by Coinbase cryptocurrency engineer Jeff Lyon to promote slow growth candidates appears to have fully backfired, with promoted candidate Rachel Best-Campbell losing in a landslide to challenger Amber Wise. Lyon himself is also losing to incumbent Michelle Evans, with fellow incumbents Sarah Arndt and James Randolph also doing fine.

Results in Kirkland were more mixed on election night.

Incumbent Neal Black, who has defended the city’s direction on housing densification, looks to be holding on while his colleague, Deputy Mayor Jay Arnold, is currently trailing Ken Oberman. Oberman is a part of the “sanity slate” promoted by the group Cherish Kirkland, explicitly formed to push back on proposals to consider allowing additional housing near Kirkland’s transit corridors. Catie Malik, another slate member, leads pro-growth candidate Shilpa Prem, but only by a hair — less than 300 votes. Both Arnold and Prem could be poised to take the lead, based on returns in the coming days. Finally, Jon Pascal, the only incumbent running who voted against the city’s growth plan last year, is leading significantly against Kurt Dresner, a leader with the urbanist group Liveable Kirkland — that lead looks harder to surmount.

Another election update: progressive candidates Shilpa Prem and Jay Arnold have TAKEN THE LEAD in their races for the Kirkland City Council after previously being behind. So much for that reactionary anti-growth backlash in Kirkland.

— Ryan Packer (@typewriteralley.bsky.social) November 10, 2025 at 4:13 PM

Meanwhile, Sammamish appears to be entering a full-on housing backlash era, with Mayor Karen Howe way behind Debbie Treen, a former mayor of Bothell and wife of another serving councilmember, Kent Treen. Councilmember Sid Gupta is set to lose his seat, with his colleague Amy Lam likely only retaining her seat due to a write-in campaign siphoning votes from her opponent. And Michael Boyer is set to win a race for an open seat on the council against more pro-growth Lin Yang. At the heart of all these races is the Town Center Plan, and the current council’s consideration of alternatives to double the upper limit on growth that the city is planning for over the long term.

We also cannot leave out Newcastle, where progressives made a full sweep including incumbent Paul Charbonneau, and Chris Villasenor, Karin Frost Blakley, and Andy Jacobs, bringing the city to a full 6-1 Democratic majority for the first time in the city’s 31-year history.

And in Bothell, progressive incumbents Jenne Alderks and Rami Al-Kabra are cruising to re-election, while uncontested races see Prasad Anguluri and Brittany Miles joining the council.

North King and Snohomish County

Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin looks poised to hold onto her seat for another term, after facing a right-leaning challenge focused on crime and homelessness from Scott Murphy. As a member of the Sound Transit board, expect Franklin to continue pushing for the completion of the light rail “spine” between Tacoma and Everett, and to de-prioritize other light rail projects (like those in Seattle).

The race for mayor of Lynnwood remains too close to call, with incumbent mayor Christine Frizzell trailing challenger and longtime councilmember George Hurst. Frizzell also serves on the Sound Transit board as one of its less outspoken members. On Lynnwood Council, Josh Binda is set to lose his seat after being involved in several high-profile ethics investigations. Incumbents Robert Leutwyler and Derica Escamilla are set to be retained, with more urbanist-leaning Isabel Mata winning an open seat.

In Edmonds, voters are set to re-elect pro-housing Chris Eck, but pick small business advocate Erika Barnett over the more urbanist-leaning Alex Newman for the open position 3 seat. Incumbent Will Chen will secure another term, but the biggest news to come out of Edmonds on election night was the wholehearted rejection of a ballot measure that would have raised taxes to salvage the city’s dire budget situation.

Lake Forest Park urbanist Josh Rosenau is absolutely within striking distance of beating incumbent John Lebo, trailing by only 14 votes as of Wednesday.

Meanwhile Kenmore voters reelected Nigel Herbig despite his support for the Plymouth Housing project that was ultimately moved to Redmond.

Meanwhile in Kenmore, progressive council candidate @tracyforkenmore.bsky.social is now just 37 votes behind her opponent, Joe Marshall.

[image or embed]

— Ryan Packer (@typewriteralley.bsky.social) November 10, 2025 at 4:22 PM

Voters in Shoreline only faced a decision in one council race, with Chris Roberts, Eben Pobee and Laura Mork all running for re-election unopposed. The only open seat, currently filled by retiring John Ramsdell, is poised to be held by Valerie Snider, who campaigned on a platform of tree preservation and has voiced skepticism for Shoreline’s full-throated support of transit-oriented development.

South King County

When it comes to the King County Council, 30-year incumbent Pete von Reichbauer is coasting to another term against challenger Maya Vengadasalam in District 7. In the open race for District 5, attorney Steffanie Fain is narrowly ahead of SeaTac Councilmember Peter Kwon to fill the seat currently occupied by appointed Councilmember De’Sean Quinn. Progressives split on that race in the primary between Renton Councilmembers Kim-Khanh Van and Ryan McIrvin, leading to two more right-leaning candidates advancing into the primary. In the end, both The Stranger and the Seattle Times endorsed Fain, with The Urbanist making no recommendation.

Speaking of Renton: incumbents are leading in all races there, with James Alberson, Carmen Rivera, and Ruth Pérez all likely to secure an additional term on the Renton Council.

Federal Way, Kent, and Auburn will all retain their mayors, with Kent Mayor Dana Ralph running unopposed.

But the bright spot in South King County is in Burien, where an existing 5-2 moderate majority is poised to flip. Sam Méndez is on track to replace outgoing Councilmember Jimmy Matta, with former planning commissioner Rocco DeVito on track to beat incumbent Stephanie Mora. The council’s two left-leaning incumbents — Sarah Moore and Hugo Garcia — likely to retain their seats. This fall, that slate of four candidates was endorsed by Representative Pramila Jayapal, a big boost for progressives in Burien. The Urbanist Elections Committee also backed the slate.

Pierce County

In South Sound, incumbent Bryan Yambe will retain his seat on the Pierce County Council, maintaining the existing 4-3 Democratic majority on that body. That’s good news for Executive Ryan Mello, who just took office at the beginning of the year as the first Democrat to lead the county in eight years.

Tacoma‘s next mayor will be Anders Ibsen, after incumbent Victoria Woodards hit the limit of two terms in that job. A former member of the Tacoma Council, Ibsen is leading current councilmember John Hines despite more than $100,000 in outside spending in Hines’s favor. That spending went fairly negative on Ibsen, in a move that may have actually backfired.

On the Tacoma City Council, Latasha Palmer is set to replace outgoing Deputy Mayor Kiara Daniels. Palmer will likely defeat property manager Jessica Johnston in a campaign that saw Palmer support the idea of implementing social housing in Tacoma and Johnston oppose the move. Sandesh Sadalge, who was appointed to his seat last July, looks on track to retain his seat despite a strong challenge from Silong Chhun, and incumbents Sarah Rumbaugh and Joe Bushnell are also set to stay on the council. Ultimately, the results point to voters’ support for the council’s current trajectory on housing, including the Home in Tacoma plan.

Kitsap County

Across the Sound in Kitsap County, there are fewer signs of hope for urbanist candidates.

Transportation advocates in Bremerton will be disappointed to see Councilmember Jeff Coughlin trailing incumbent Mayor Greg Wheeler. Wheeler, who opposed the Bremerton Council’s recent move to ditch parking mandates across the city, has nonetheless vowed to prioritize the issue in his next term, with Coughlin’s challenge likely sharpening those promises.

In Bainbridge Island as in Sammamish, a strong housing backlash looks to propel several anti-growth candidates into office. Incumbent Joe Deets, an outspoken supporter of the 625 Winslow Way affordable housing project, is on track to lose to Lara Lant, who explicitly opposed the project. Meanwhile Clarence Moriwaki, who has been more moderate on housing issues, is likely to be reelected.

For the open seat, currently occupied by Jon Quitslund, voters had to choose between two candidates who have opposed the 625 Winslow Way project as designed, including current planning commission chair Sarah Blossom, who voted against a zoning ordinance that would allow it to move forward. Instead, they look to have picked Mike Nelson, a candidate who has held an even harder line on housing, opposing “ultra-density” within the city’s main downtown of Winslow during the campaign.

The post Pro-Housing Candidates Make Gains All Around Puget Sound first appeared on The Urbanist.

This reconfiguration will be the biggest change to ST Express service in years, and will lead to the elimination of several routes where an alternative light rail trip would be comparable in terms of time spent, especially during times of heavy traffic.

With service to Star Lake, Kent Des Moines, and Federal Way set to start on December 6, and full 2 Line service across Lake Washington between Seattle and the Eastside on track to begin sometime next spring, riders will have an adjustment period before they see express bus changes. And many of the agency’s most popular express bus routes, including direct bus connections between Redmond and Seattle and Federal Way and Seattle are set to stick around, providing riders with multiple options.

How did Sound Transit decide which ST Express routes to pare back or eliminate and which to keep? By looking at actual travel times compared to new trip times on Link light rail, to get an idea of how often riders are getting stuck in traffic, Sound Transit’s Director of System and Service Planning, Emily Yasukochi, told the committee.

“When comparing the scheduled travel times and the actual travel times for the routes that we have proposed to change, shorten, [or] eliminate, we are finding up to 25 minutes of savings at the worst times to about, I would say, 10 minutes of additional travel time for some of the trips at some of the times,” Yasukochi said. “When it kind of went above that about 10 minute mark is when we were thinking […] these routes should remain fully bus routes, continuing all the way into where they’re currently serving.”

Changes in Snohomish and North King County

Sound Transit is making the fewest changes up north, where changes to the ST Express network were already implemented in the wake of the start of light rail service to Lynnwood last year. The updates in Snohomish County and North King County largely involve tying off some loose ends.

Route 515 between Lynnwood and Downtown Seattle will be fully eliminated. That route had provided riders with an additional option heading north from downtown due to expected overcrowding on 1 Line trains, but won’t be needed any longer with 2 Line trains set to fully extend north to Lynnwood and bring doubled frequency north of International District/Chinatown Station.

Route 522 to Bothell and Woodinville will see its western terminus switch from Roosevelt Station to Shoreline South Station at 148th Street. By that time, the City of Shoreline will have wrapped up work on its roundabout project along 145th Street, an infrastructure upgrade that ultimately took the place of adding a transit lane for buses heading to the light rail station. The 522’s reroute to Shoreline ultimately sets the stage for the final alignment of the Stride S3 Line, which will launch in 2028 with increased frequency along the corridor and upgraded rider facilities.

Route 535 between Lynnwood and Bellevue will see new Sunday service, and will get a frequency bump on Saturdays to every 30 minutes. This route is also set to be transformed into a Stride route, with the launch of the S2 Line in 2029.

Sound Transit will also reconfigure Route 513, which currently only provides service between Seaway Transit Center in South Everett in one direction during peak hours, to serve riders heading the opposite direction. The reconfigured route will stop serving the Eastmont Park and Ride.

Changes on the Eastside

A major era of regional express bus service will come to an end when Route 550 is fully replaced by light rail between Seattle and Bellevue next fall. One of the nine original ST Express routes, the 550 has been operating across I-90 since 1999, but will transition to a one-seat ride all the way up to Lynnwood for 2 Line riders. With 2 Line systems integration officially underway, that cross lake connection remains on track for a grand opening next spring well ahead of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.

But other ST Express routes on the Eastside that provide a more competitive trip compared to Link are staying around, including the 545 between Redmond and Downtown Seattle and the 542 between Redmond and the University District.

Issaquah’s direct 554 bus to Downtown Seattle, on the other hand, is set to be eliminated and replaced with the 556, which will terminate in Downtown Bellevue. With increased frequency and expanded span of service that will include the entire day, the new 556 will provide a direct connection to the 2 Line at South Bellevue and in Downtown Bellevue.

Changes in South King County and Pierce County

As the launch of Federal Way Link on December 6 extends the reach of the 1 Line south nearly to Pierce County, Sound Transit plans some adjustments to the southern portion of its express bus network. But many of the most well-used routes, including the Route 577 and 578, which both provide direct connections between Downtown Seattle and Downtown Federal Way, will be sticking around. While a 1 Line trip is set to make that trip in 50 minutes, bus travel times can take a half hour or less, depending on traffic.

Most express buses between Tacoma and Seattle will also not see a change, including the all-day 594 and the peak-only 590. Sound Transit will terminate the 574, which provides direct service from Lakewood and Tacoma to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, at Federal Way Downtown Station, a move that will add a time penalty but also allow the agency to increase frequency on the route.

Sound Transit will eliminate the only direct bus between Tacoma and the University of Washington, the 586, with riders expected to utilize other buses heading to Downtown Seattle and then transfer to Link there.

Finally, the agency will eliminate the Route 580, which only provides a few trips per day between Puyallup Station and South Hill, with riders asked to take local Pierce Transit buses, including Route 4.

New overnight shadow service along Link corridors

Along with these changes to existing routes, Sound Transit staff also showed board members a brand new service proposal for ST Express: overnight service. Filling a major gap in the regional transit network, the overnight network will provide a transit option in the midnight to 5am window, and be especially valuable outside of King County — the only area county where the existing Night Owl network provides some overnight service.

Sound Transit’s overnight network would consist of three routes, all converging on Downtown Seattle: one from Everett, one from Redmond, and one from Lakewood with a stop at Sea-Tac Airport. Along with the Night Owl network, the new coverage would mean 85% of Link stations would be served by overnight service. But planned frequencies are still up-in-the air, and will likely depend on staffing at Sound Transit’s partner transit agencies.

Sound Transit taking steps to expand bus service across an underserved area in the wake of efficiencies gained with light rail service expansion would be a big regional win, though much depends on how that service is implemented.

An exact date for this major ST Express service change isn’t yet known, though fall service changes usually take place in late August or early September. Starting next week, Sound Transit will begin conducting public outreach on the plan, with potential tweaks to come in response to that feedback ahead of approval by the full Sound Transit board in the coming months.

Correction: a previous version of this article misstated the new route for the 556.

The post Sound Transit Queues Big Express Bus Network Changes after Light Rail Openings first appeared on The Urbanist.

On August 11, the Shoreline City Council eliminated car parking mandates and revised bicycle requirements for new developments in Shoreline. Proponents say the change will spur new housing construction, lower housing costs, reduce car dependency, and encourage greener modes of transportation.

Rather than restrictive, government-issued per-unit requirements, Shoreline builders can now determine how much car parking is appropriate for new development projects. The City has also expanded bike parking standards for new construction. The legislation follows the opening of two light rail stations and a bus network overhaul that boosted frequency. The idea is that improving transportation options will allow Shoreline residents to reduce reliance on cars and make better use of space near new transit investments. 

Allison Luzader is a Shoreline resident who submitted public comment in favor of the parking reform at the August 4 City Council meeting. Luzader moved to Shoreline from Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood, where she says she walked most places and traveling by foot was much more accessible. She wishes the neighborhoods in Shoreline were more walkable and had more amenities. 

“It’s something that I think can really pave the way for more housing to be built in the area,” Luzader said.

In 2023, the Washington State Legislature required that cities reform single family zoning via House Bill 1110 and HB 1337, seeking to respond to the housing crisis. This spring, the Legislature followed up with statewide parking reform to encourage the development of “middle housing.” Senate Bill 5184 requires that cities reduce their parking mandates on builders. Some cities have opted to go beyond that minimum standard and eliminate parking mandates altogether.

Approximately half of Washingtonians spend 30% of their income on housing costs, with a quarter of residents paying 50%, according to a report published by the University of Washington. 

A report by the Sightline Institute, a non-partisan environmental think tank, estimates that a parking space costs between $5,000 and $60,000 to build, thereby significantly increasing the cost of housing. Mike Appleby, vice president of Chicago Title Insurance, estimates the maximums are even higher for underground parking. Chicago Title Insurance is a real estate services firm with extensive operations in the Seattle region. 

“We need to come up with a product that someone doesn’t have to spend a million dollars to be a homeowner,” Appleby said. 

The ordinance eliminates all parking minimum requirements for buildings in Shoreline. Any house, apartment, business, and new building in Shoreline can forego pavement for motor vehicles. However, this does not mean developments cannot supply parking. If a developer chooses to provide parking, they must follow all pre-existing design requirements. 

Sightline Institute reported that one in four homeowners in Washington has zero to one car, yet 91 jurisdictions in Washington require two or more off-street parking spaces per housing unit. 

Shoreline City Councilmember Keith Scully has participated in the parking discussion for 15 years, as both a city council member and a former member of the Planning Commission. He says Shoreline will still be recognizably Shoreline, especially since the ordinance does not affect pre-existing parking. However, it allows builders to follow market demand, whether that be through parking lots or development near bus stops. 

“Developers have to sell or rent what they build, and so they are much more market-driven than they are regulation-driven,” Scully said. “Most of the big ones aren’t really going to be that different, just because, if you’ve got 300 units and no parking, that’s not an attractive place to rent or lease.” 

Scully was initially hesitant about the plan to eliminate required parking, but found through his work with the Planning Commission and City Council that something had to give for Shoreline to grow. 

“Watching our attempts to bring urban density to Shoreline, particularly around high-capacity transit, and trying to figure out how we can do that while still preserving open space and parks and a diversity of businesses, and realizing that you can’t have everything,” Scully said. “So the evolution was just realizing that parking is going to have to be the thing to go, and then doing our best to design these new high-density places so that you don’t need parking.”

The ordinance now requires builders to allocate space for short-term and long-term bike parking. Short-term parking spots are standard bike racks for visitors, whereas long-term bike parking spots are enclosed lockers to protect from theft, vandalism, and weather. 

As for pre-existing buildings, Scully would eventually like the city to develop grant programs to build bike racks. Until then, nonprofits such as Urbanist Shoreline are working to supply bike racks, with seven racks currently installed from Lake Forrest Park to Richmond Beach.

The required bike parking goes hand in hand with Shoreline’s Bicycle Plan and the Transportation Element of its recently passed Comprehensive Plan update. The Bicycle Plan is intended to provide connecting routes for cyclists of all skill levels, from families with young children to cycling commuters. 

Scully says gaps in routes, such as on the Interurban Trail, are what stop less secure cyclists from biking as a main mode of transportation based on public testimony. 

Luzader echoed this sentiment. 

“If I go to the grocery store, like to the QFC at 145th,” Luzader said. “I would not be excited to bike down 145th.” 

Of those who are unable to bike, Appleby says billions of dollars are being allocated to public transportation. 

“This is one piece of a really big process to make sure that the density we’re allowing works,” Appleby said. 

Scully predicts there will be unforeseen issues that arise with the elimination of parking minimums, but believes those can and will be managed as they come up. 

Public comments opposing the ordinance cited concerns about giving developers too much power to shape our communities. Opponents of the measure were outnumbered by supporters.

Appleby pushed back on the “evil developer” trope, saying that builders often live in the communities they work in. 

“Homebuilders, developers, most live in this community already and in the area; they’re not doing something that is not thoughtful,” Appleby said. 

Other public comments referred to urban density leading to more crime and increased hazards due to increased street parking. Logan Schmidt, King County Government Affairs Coordinator with the Master Builders Association, says with population growth and city density, there will be more of everything. However, without parking restrictions, more housing can be built to create safer communities. 

“If people can safely live in homes in the communities where they work, where they have family, etc., that creates safer, healthier, thriving communities,” Schmidt said. 

Shoreline Mayor Chris Roberts says the city will still be responsible for maintaining parking. He says research on parking and parking reform in other cities supports the elimination of parking minimums. 

“The areas in Seattle that have no parking minimums, I believe that most developers are still putting in parking and as a city,” Roberts said. “This is not a new concept, and it’s been a lot of research that’s been done across the nation on the effects of parking and how required parking adds to the costs.”

The Parking Reform Network provides a national map of cities that have adopted parking reforms. According to a study published in Transportation Policy journal, parking reform in Boulder, Colorado, has allowed investment into alternative modes of transportation and reduced automobile travel. Shoreline’s neighboring city of Seattle has already saved $537 million through parking reform. 

Appleby says cities should refer to other cities that have produced successful models of development and parking reform but also believes collaboration between all parties is integral to meeting the needs of individual communities. 

“That collaboration versus top-down thinking ‘just do it like this’ always seems to be the best option,” Appleby said. “Communities that do that end up with something that works really well.”

The post Why Shoreline’s Vote to Erase Parking Mandates Is a Big Deal first appeared on The Urbanist.

Yet Bellingham now ranks as the fourth most unaffordable housing market relative to income among all U.S. cities — and the most unaffordable small city under 150,000 residents.

This forces many working people out of town. But what may seem like a cheaper option becomes more expensive when transportation is factored in — longer commutes, more car dependence, and rising fuel costs. The environmental costs are even steeper. When cities push growth outward, it paves over farmland and forests, increases carbon emissions, and locks in unsustainable sprawl.

Per-capita emissions are highest in suburbs and lowest in denser urban neighborhoods. As author and climate activist Bill McKibben notes, “Denser towns and cities make for a cleaner planet.”

True affordability isn’t just the price of a home — it’s the total cost of living. That’s why we must make it easier to build energy-efficient, reasonably priced housing within the city — close to work, schools, and transit.

Subsidized affordable housing alone can’t close the gap. The Bellingham Home Fund, while effective at leveraging federal and state grants, meets only a fraction of the need — even in the best of times. With federal funding cuts and a state budget crisis, that fraction is poised to shrink.

That means we must also enable more affordable market-rate housing.

While little can be done about the rising cost of land in a desirable location, we can divide that cost by allowing more homes per lot and permitting lot splits citywide. 

This makes compact homes — cottages, townhomes, multiplexes — dramatically more affordable. These options are ideal for singles, empty nesters, and first-time buyers. They also use fewer building materials, require less labor, and are more energy efficient — lowering both construction and utility costs.

Today we separate commercial and residential uses. But allowing small-scale mixed use supports local businesses, encourages walkability, and reduces reliance on cars — further lowering living costs.

Infill homes in established neighborhoods also strengthen the city’s finances. With infrastructure already in place, new residents help spread costs more broadly — potentially softening the blow of projected double-digit annual increases in water and sewer rates.

Urban villages where apartment buildings are allowed are a step forward, but they cover less than a tenth of Bellingham’s land. Expanding apartment zoning to more areas can run up against local opposition and the criticism that new developments are too  blocky. A form-based code that allows gentle density and local businesses throughout the city would accommodate growth while enhancing neighborhoods.

The complexity of our 430 separate zones drives up costs for both housing and small businesses. Adopting a streamlined code like SmartCode could consolidate these into just six, simplify approvals, and allow most projects to proceed by right — based on clear design standards.

Affordability also depends on income. New construction creates jobs and boosts local spending. A wider range of housing options at different price points helps employers attract and retain workers — a growing concern across many sectors.

Taxing new housing to fund the creation of low-income housing can appear a seductive solution. While called “inclusionary zoning,” this approach can have an exclusionary effect if it shuts down homebuilding. Research shows many inclusionary zoning programs fail to deliver meaningful affordability. Developers often build elsewhere to avoid the affordability requirements and prices overall remain high due to limited supply.

This suits opponents perfectly: they can block new housing while appearing pro-affordability — shifting blame to builders.

They argue the market produces only “unaffordable housing.” But that’s largely because of the exclusionary zoning, prescriptive design standards, and gauntlet-like approval process, all of which neighborhood activists tend to defend. 

Moreover, new homes — like new cars — are more expensive than equivalent older homes, which typically decline in relative value by 1 to 2% a year. That sets off a filtering effect: higher-income households move into new units, vacating older ones for moderate-income renters. This continues down the income ladder, improving access and choice across the board. Everyone in the chain moves into better housing than they previously could afford.

To be sure, even smart regulatory reform won’t make new construction affordable to the lowest-income residents. That’s why we must also invest in self-reliant local models — like community land trusts and revolving housing funds supported by public and philanthropic capital.

Montgomery County, Maryland, offers one model: a mixed-income housing fund where two-thirds of units rent at market rates, subsidizing the remaining third for low-income households. These integrated communities produce better social, health, and educational outcomes than income-segregated housing.

A comprehensive housing strategy must combine three elements: regulatory reform to allow more homes, community ownership to preserve deep affordability, and a range of housing options in close-in, connected neighborhoods. That’s how we tackle the affordability crisis — while meeting our climate goals and building a more inclusive city.

The post Op-Ed: How Bellingham Can Solve Its Housing Crisis first appeared on The Urbanist.

“This operations and maintenance facility will be the anchor for our upcoming 45-mile Stride bus rapid transit network, connecting 11 cities all along I-405 and SR 522 to Link light rail and to each other,” Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine said in a statement following the groundbreaking. “It will bring dozens of living-wage jobs to Canyon Park and Snohomish County, operating and maintaining a first-in-the-nation fleet of fast, reliable, all-electric buses.”

In May, Sound Transit inked the contract with Denver-based PCL Construction to build the base, as The Urbanist reported. The new Bothell Bus Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF) will include an operations center, a vehicle maintenance facility, a 255-vehicle parking lot for employees and visitors, and charging infrastructure for the all-electric Stride fleet. That fleet consists of double-decker buses on the S1 and S2 lines, and 60-foot articulated coaches on the S3 line.

The BRT system will stitch together the Eastside with high quality bus service, and improve connections to the west and interface with the Link light rail network in Downtown Bellevue, Lynnwood, Shoreline South, and Tukwila. “Stride will dramatically cut travel times and improve transit reliability between Burien and Bellevue, Bellevue and Lynnwood, and from Shoreline to Bothell,” the agency pledged. Battery electric buses will run every 10 to 15 minutes, primarily using dedicated lanes or high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes.

Stride rollout expected in 2028

The agency promised the three Stride bus lines as an early deliverable of its Sound Transit 3 (ST3) package, approved by regional voters in 2016. Sound Transit’s initial pledge to open the lines in 2024 proved overly optimistic. After a series of delays, the agency now plans to begin rolling out service in 2028.

The S2 Line, connecting the corridor between Lynnwood and Bellevue, has slipped to a 2029 targeted opening. S2’s extra delay stem in part from delays to I-405 freeway construction projects onto which the Stride project was grafted. For example, Sound Transit is spending more than $287 million on the NE 85th Street/I-405 interchange in Kirkland to carve out a freeway station from a new triple-decker interchange.

Meanwhile, delays to the S3 Line along SR 522 have stemmed from local pushback to property takings in Lake Forest Park. Sound Transit is planning to add a new lane to host its buses rather than using one of the existing general purpose lanes, adding costs and tree removal needs and creating significant procedural hurdles. Sound Transit may still end up in litigation to acquire some of the properties.

Dovetailing with Bothell plans for growth and climate action

The Bothell base is located near the S2 Line and its stop at Canyon Park Park-and-Ride. The siting nearly hit a snag since the area is within a designated regional growth center where Bothell had imposed a minimum density requirement. The bus base fell below that threshold, but the City of Bothell and Sound Transit were able to navigate the hurdle with a transfer-of-development-rights program that will maintain the growth center’s housing capacity by transferring development capacity to sites elsewhere.

Bothell has been a leader in embracing urban development and expanding bike and pedestrian infrastructure, as Bothell Mayor Mason Thompson alluded to in his statement.

“Bus rapid transit will make it easier to move in and around Bothell and will also help us meet our climate and housing goals,” Thompson said. “We’re excited to see the impact of this regional investment here in Bothell both initially and over time.”

As recent ridership gains on light rail 2 Line demonstrate, the Eastside has plenty of latent transit demand, but it takes quality service to draw people out of cars. This is especially true since the eastern suburbs were generally built as car-based sprawl, without the streetcar bones that benefit more compact cities like Seattle and Tacoma. The great hope for Sound Transit’s rapid transit investments is that they can transform suburban land use and decarbonize transportation, creating a sustainable model of growth.

Sound Transit Systems Expansion Committee chair Claudia Balducci attended the groundbreaking and stressed the need for new rider carrying capacity and greener transport options. The agency has set a goal of reaching a zero-emissions fleet by 2050.

“It’s very, very exciting to be working on new capacity, and also to have a facility that will support our shift towards a green and electric bus rapid transit network,” Balducci said at a committee meeting Thursday.

While the electric buses themselves represent a shift towards green transportation, the presence of one or more major highways next to nearly every Stride station will hinder air quality, pedestrian safety, and transit-oriented development opportunities.

Concerns over battery buses, cost escalation, BRT creep

The goal to shift to an all-electric fleet hinges on continuing improvements to zero-emission bus technology. A 2024 auditor report sounded the alarm over Metro’s bus electrification plans, saying King County Metro has not accounted for the decreased service capacity and the unreliability of existing battery bus technology. Electrifying the fleet before the technology is ready, could threaten service levels and expansion plans.

To build the first 14 articulated coaches for the S3 line, Sound Transit selected BYD, a Chinese-based manufacturer that has faced criticism for its battery buses, which other U.S. transit agencies have portrayed as underperforming and prone to maintenance issues. For S1 and S2 line, the agency plans to purchase a total of 32 double-decker buses from Alexander Dennis, a British-based manufacturer, using their Enviro500EV model.

The Trump Administration’s efforts to claw back federal grants for climate and transit projects will also be a major hurdle, particularly if this continues to be the policy of the Republican leaders over coming decades. Biden’s Infrastructure and Jobs Act had provided generous federal matching for new bus purchases and electrification investments. That has not been Trump’s policy. The dearth of federal aid expected makes future bus fleet expansion much more costly to local transit agencies.

Unfortunately, the long delays and rising costs for the Stride program have also matched “BRT creep” criticism that holds that bus rapid transit projects are not immune to the pitfalls facing American rail projects, and often encounter similar issues with cost escalation, delay, and over-engineered facilities.

In 2023, Sound Transit revealed high-end project cost projections for its 45-mile Stride system had reached $2.7 billion, well above the original cost estimate range of $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion. Final costs may be higher still. While cheaper than light rail, Stride is not living up to hopes of being an affordable, quickly deployed rapid transit system.

On the other hand, the breaking of ground on the Bothell bus base makes Stride that much closer to reality. In his statement, Dave Somers, Snohomish County Executive and chair of the Sound Transit Board, pointed to the mobility benefits of the new Stride lines, as well as the “boost economic and workforce development in the area.”

“The start of construction on the new Bus Operations and Maintenance Facility for Stride is an exciting milestone that will lead to better mobility for hundreds of thousands of people,” Somers said. “Longer term, Sound Transit’s Stride network will knit together major transportation corridors so either light rail or bus rapid transit are available all along the I-5 and I-405 corridors between Everett and Tacoma.”

Editor’s note: This article was updated at 3pm Monday with the photographs from the groundbreaking ceremony.

The post Sound Transit Breaks Ground on Stride Electric Bus Base in Bothell first appeared on The Urbanist.

Dropping parking mandates is intended to help ease housing costs and provide more flexibility to homebuilders. Letting builders tailor parking to expected demand is intended to reduce the number of excess stalls, which can cost upwards of $60,000 per underground parking stall, according to the Sightline Institute, a local environmental thinktank that supports parking reform.

“This really takes a large step to addressing affordability in the city, and as parking is one of the largest pieces of affordability for new development,” Shoreline Mayor Chris Roberts, who has served on the council since 2010, told The Urbanist ahead of the vote. “It will make a difference, making sure that more houses are built within the city.”

Shoreline’s vote fulfills a promise the council made late last year to adopt the change as a part of updating the City’s 20-year growth plan.

One of the fastest-growing cities in Puget Sound, Shoreline has been aggressive about reducing barriers to homebuilding in the city, particularly around its two light rail stations, which opened last year. Well ahead of the start of train service, Shoreline rezoned significant areas around the 148th Street and 185th Street Station, a move which has clearly paid off. Between 2019 and 2024, the city issued permits for over 4,600 new homes, a number that translates to nearly 20% of the existing housing stock within Shoreline.

But Shoreline’s zoning code has continued to require 0.75 to 1.5 parking stalls for every unit, with only a potential 50% reduction in the amount of off-street parking available for projects near transit.

“We want affordable housing, and reduced hardscape, and trees, and something’s got to give if you’re mandating all those things, and parking is the obvious choice,” Councilmember Keith Scully said at a meeting last week on the topic.

Roberts also sees right-sizing the amount of parking being built in Shoreline as advancing the city’s goals around making it easier to get around the city by walking and biking. Shoreline’s safe bike network continues to be built out.

“There’s so many people in Shoreline who don’t drive and who rely on other forms of transportation to get around, whether walking, by bike or public transit, and we have to make sure that people have access to all different forms of mobility, and not just cater to one type of transportation,” Roberts said. “We want to see more of our development around the light rail stations, around places with frequent transit on Aurora, so that people who choose can get around the city and get around the region without a car.”

Fostering more small-scale commercial storefronts closer to homes also brings Shoreline closer to that goal, and it was a major impetus behind a December vote to legalize neighborhood cafes and corner stores, a policy that was replicated in nearby Bothell last month.

Shoreline’s vote is likely to be among the first in a wave across the state in the coming months, following the passage of Senate Bill 5184 this spring. That law sets a new ceiling on minimum parking requirements at 0.5 stalls for every unit in apartment buildings, and spells out an array of instances where no parking can be required, including with affordable housing, smaller apartment units, mixed-use commercial spaces, and senior housing. Cities and counties will have anywhere from 18 months to three years to comply, depending on their population, and many may decide that simply eliminating those minimums makes more sense.

In Seattle, a proposal wrapped up in the draft One Seattle Comprehensive Plan update wouldn’t even go as far as the new state baseline, requiring more work by the end of 2026. But citywide Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck has proposed an amendment that would follow Shoreline in dropping all parking mandates, which is set to be taken up in September.

“A growing number of cities right here in Washington state have found that when parking minimums are repealed, parking does still get built,” Shoreline resident Katie Lorah, founder and lead organizer with Urbanist Shoreline, told the council Monday. “It just doesn’t get over built based on arbitrary numbers that were set a long time ago, and it’s frankly just way more appropriate for an urban fabric like our own, where we’re trying to emphasize infill housing, middle housing, mixed use projects, everything that our zoning code is built to support.”

Parking is a topic that has prompted considerable rancor and debate elsewhere, but in Shoreline, the issue hasn’t proven incredibly controversial. Ahead of the final vote Monday, just one Shoreline resident voiced opposition to the change.

“I think we have a community that is largely aligned and largely recognizes the benefits of not only increased density, but also our commitment to — passion around — protecting the environment,” Roberts said. “I think we did a lot of work with the community to say: these are the benefits — from environmental benefits to affordability benefits to just general city revenue benefits — all of the things benefit from the more people choosing, and I think rightly choosing, to want to live in Shoreline.”

The post Shoreline Makes Good on Pledge to Stop Mandating Car Parking Citywide first appeared on The Urbanist.

Since 1947, Everett’s Funko Stadium has held everything from AquaSox games to grade school baseball games – but times are changing. The AquaSox are the High-A minor league affiliate of the Seattle Mariners and due to pressure from Major League Baseball to upgrade minor league facilities, AquaSox ownership says now it’s time for a stadium revamp. The league’s new amenity requirements include larger locker rooms, umpire accommodations, more parking, and enhanced seating. The 3,682-seat Funko Field does not meet these standards. 

The city had three options: renovate, build a new stadium, or do nothing. 

Everett chose the second option. On the eve of the new year, December 2024, the Everett City Council unanimously chose a site east of Angel of the Winds Arena — at the corner of Broadway and Pacific, right next to the Sounder rail line. 

As of June 2025, the project is in full swing and hoping to break ground in early 2026. The city is planning to tap Bayley Construction to build the new stadium. 

“The Outdoor Event Center is a key piece of our plan to grow Everett the right way – with more housing, better access to transit and a more vibrant, walkable downtown. It’s about bringing people together, creating new opportunities and growing our local economy to support the quality of life and robust public services our residents deserve,” Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin said. 

The City plans on spending $4.8 million to advance the (OEC) Outdoor Event Center stadium project to the shovel-ready stage. The City forecasts contributing a total of about $8 million toward construction and has budgeted an additional $20 million to acquire 15 properties needed to clear room for the facility. It’s likely some business relocation assistance and possible eminent domain will be needed, the City said. 

Some opponents of the new stadium are using a “No Frogs Downtown” slogan, referring to the AquaSox mascot. Legend says iconic mascot Weebly is a cross between a Pacific Tree Frog and a Central American red eyed tree frog. In a port town that can be soggy and gray, the logo is a nod to Everett’s amphibious identity.

Proponents argue the city risks losing the AquaSox team to another city with a newer stadium if they do not build the new stadium. And the transit-rich location helps Mariners fans from across the region see prospects play before they reach the big leagues. Fans can also see the franchise’s more advanced minor leaguers at Triple A team Tacoma Rainiers, the last stop before the majors.

With a price tag projected at $82 million or more, will the benefits of a brand new stadium outweigh the costs and how does the public feel about the project? And is it the best use of the land chosen, among the most transit rich areas of downtown Everett?

City promises revitalization and year-round activation 

The Franklin administration is all in on the stadium.

“At its core, this is an economic development project. Losing the AquaSox would have a negative economic impact on our community. A new facility downtown that can host baseball, soccer, concerts and other events, plus include a public park, has significant positive benefits – not just economically but also for the quality of life of our residents.” said Simone Tarver, spokesperson for the City of Everett. 

For the City of Everett, this is more than a passion project; it’s been their mission for the last several years. “It’s what we think about when we wake up,” said Dan Eernissee, economic development director at the City of Everett. 

To its backers, the proposed ballpark would be an investment in the future, contributing to downtown revitalization. The City is also hoping to use the new stadium to attract a minor-level pro soccer team, potentially both men’s and women’s. “The United Soccer League already is intending to be a big part of the project,” Tarver said. 

Everett council envisions over 100 days of annual use, including concerts, soccer matches, and festivals.

“106 outdoor events will dovetail well year-round,” Eernissee said. He added that the stadium will serve as a public park and community space, potentially including a dog park on the edge of the property. “tThe OEC will most definitely have a park element” Tarver says, “As density increases so do people with dogs.”

 “Do you know how many people in Everett have dogs?” Eernissee said. “50% of people in multifamily housing developments have a dog these days!” 

For businesses near the proposed site — between Hewitt and Pacific Avenues — the stadium means potential foot traffic, tourism, and a new wave of investment.

“It’s going to make Everett an all seasonal destination,” Eernissee said. “Now these businesses can provide pizza all year round, like Broadway Pizza could even start seasonal specials.” 

But where is the money coming from to fund such a venture? 

Questions about cost, transparency, and displacement

The stadium’s projected cost — budgeted at $82 million — has raised eyebrows. Everett’s Stadium Fiscal Advisory Committee released a report that said the downtown site would be the “most fiscally beneficial option” in the long-run, despite greater upfront costs, pegged between $102 million to $133 million.

The funding for the new Everett stadium is set to come from a mix of public and private sources and use a public-private partnership model. The plan suggests transferring project delivery to a third-party non-profit facilitator and recommends using Public Facilities Group as that facilitator.

The City’s “target budget” projects a $82 million, but they admit that a full picture of costs will not emerge until the design is finalized. The higher earlier estimate could indicate costs will rise.

• $42 million for hard construction costs.
• $20 million for soft costs (e.g., design, permits, taxes, fees, and contingency). 
• $20 million for property acquisition.

The City of Everett is committing around $7 million, potentially from capital improvement and park impact fees, while state and county support may include a $7.4 million infrastructure grant from Washington State and a $5 million contribution from Snohomish County. The AquaSox have pledged $10 million to the new stadium, and the City is hoping to secure $10 million from the United Soccer League. 

“Until design is closer to complete, we won’t have the final cost. The most recent approvals from Council provided funding to get design to 60% at which point we will have a more complete picture of the costs to share with the Council as well as our community,” Tarver said. 

To cover the majority of construction costs, it’s likely that the City will issue revenue-backed bonds, with repayment tied to stadium-generated income such as leases and ticket surcharges.

Eernissee says that the stadium is part of a larger marketing strategy for the future, while also trying to get ahead of the real estate bubble itself. 

“This is likely an area where there will be a lot of market pressure to develop,” Eernissee said. “Before the market rates get too high we’re trying to get a high enough facility that it’s appropriate for an urban center.”

Transit complement or impediment? 

The City contends that the new stadium aligns with Everett’s overall strategy of increasing public transport and development within the downtown area. 

“Sound Transit will work hand in hand with our city team,” Tarver said. “We anticipate this area will be close to a light rail station in the future.” 

And while the Everett Link extension isn’t expected until 2037 at the earliest (or 2041 if Sound Transit cost control and realignment efforts don’t go well), the city is already taking steps to prepare for it. 

“We’re still in the planning phase, so those specific decisions haven’t been made yet. Right now we are in the middle of Everett Transit’s Long Range Plan online open house to solicit input from the community on how transit services should evolve between now and 2044. Public input is such an important part of that,” Tarver said.

Downtown Everett’s future light rail station is expected to be sited near the existing Sounder station, which would put the light rail stop in close proximity to the proposed stadium. Sound Transit’s preferred option is just west of the existing transit center, but Alternative D would overlap with the stadium site. If light rail is ever extended farther north, having two stadiums bookending Broadway could prove to be an obstacle for siting a path for the extension.

Transit boosters have argued that high-density housing should be the top priority within a short walk of light rail, given the huge investment the region is making and the incredible transit access those areas will have.

Everett upzoned its downtown core in 2018, allowing 25-story towers in some areas — though highrises have yet to materialize and Everett’s population has grown slowly compared to its peer cities in the region. The proposed stadium site is in that 25-story highrise zone with a buildable square footage of 3 million. 

While the stadium would negate the site’s housing capacity, the City seems to be banking on the project being a catalyst to spur redevelopment elsewhere in the downtown core.

Property acquisition and displacement

The land the stadium is set to build upon is currently the site of some retail businesses, but most of the site is made up of older auto repair shops and specialty businesses. 

Of the local businesses still operating there, most owners are actually in support of the plan, even if it means possible displacement. 

“Stadiums are always good,” said John, a cashier at Chevron. He was made aware of the city’s plans when they did a survey, and he said his coworkers are in support. 

Eernissee says they plan to offer all of the businesses displaced leases elsewhere in Downtown Everett. 

“There’s a process to follow here. We are doing our part in following that prescribed process,” Eernissee said.

This process typically includes feasibility studies, environmental reviews, public meetings, and formal approvals from city and state agencies. It also involves finalizing funding agreements — such as bonds, grants, and private investments — alongside competitive bidding for design and construction. 

Criticism of stadium subsidies 

As a publicly funded economic development tool, stadiums have drawn criticism for often falling short of their economic promises. In 1997, two Brooking Institute researchers — Andrew Zimbalist and Roger G. Noll — wrote a book raising the alarm that publicly funded stadiums were a bad investment and failed to live up to their rosy projections, but the practice has persisted relatively unabated.

“A new sports facility has an extremely small (perhaps even negative) effect on overall economic activity and employment,” they wrote. “No recent facility appears to have earned anything approaching a reasonable return on investment. No recent facility has been self-financing in terms of its impact on net tax revenues. Regardless of whether the unit of analysis is a local neighborhood, a city, or an entire metropolitan area, the economic benefits of sports facilities are de minimus.”

Even when stadiums spur significant redevelopment, they have drawn criticism for furthering displacement and siphoning money away from social infrastructure. For example, Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., was a publicly funded MLB stadium that ultimately cost $693 million by the time it was completed in 2008. Built to anchor redevelopment in the Navy Yard, it did spur real estate investment and boost tourism, but it also drew criticism for relying heavily on public money and failing to address housing affordability or racial equity concerns. 

Located in a retail and warehouse area, Everett’s stadium will not directly displace residents. “The good thing about this project is that there’s no residents affected,” Eernissee said. 

The City has pledged to uplift existing communities and support local businesses, promising it could be a massive boon for the city. 

As a minor league stadium, the scale of investment is smaller than big league parks, but similar risks exist. If the stadium and associated redevelopment only results in benefits for sports team and rich investors, or if it becomes a long-time liability sapping City resources, it may go down in history as a boondoggle. 

What community members are saying

Residents have raised a few different arguments against the new stadium build, the most prominent being relocation of small businesses. 

“I’m incredibly annoyed that the stadium isn’t being entirely privately funded. Who asked for this? It’s fine where it is. Meanwhile we don’t have any park rangers in the city and our library services have been cut,” an Everett resident complained on Reddit. 

But Tarver says that these are misconceptions. 

“There are some major misconceptions about this project, like what funding the City would be using, the idea that this funding could bring back park rangers (it couldn’t), that this adds to the structural deficit (it doesn’t), and why Funko Field isn’t a viable option,” said Tarver. 

Some Everett residents shared the fear the new stadium could ramp up displacement pressure and change the neighborhood. 

“The proposed site is in the middle of a historic district.” said Louley, an Everett local, when asked in an online poll about the community’s idea of the new project. “In the past 20 years, this neighborhood has completely turned itself around. We are a tight-knit community that looks out for each other, as well as the large unhoused population that travel through on a daily basis.”

“Putting a sports stadium in the middle of our neighborhood is going to undo EVERYTHING. North Everett has really been leading the positive changes in the city, but because historically this was a ‘slum,’” Louley added. “The entire county wants to raze us to the ground.” 

On the other hand, some Everett residents back the project and favor out with the old, in with the new. Sverre is one such Everett resident. 

“I think long term it will be great for the city,” Sverre said. “The current facility is owned by the school district, and its priority is for student use. Players have to cross the football then up the hill to even get to the locker room or trainers offices, which are the EHS football team locker rooms. They haven’t been updated in 50 years, and are massively outdated, even for high school sports use, let alone professional athletes. It would cost way too much to upgrade Funko field to meet new MLB standards, and it still wouldn’t be owned by the team or city.” 

Beyond improving the stadium experience, Sverre sees the project as furthering the revitalization of downtown: “This new stadium is going to connect downtown Everett’s core, with the east side of Broadway, which has fallen in disrepair and is mainly older manufacture type buildings and old warehouses. It will bring a large amount of new urban housing and commercial spaces that will link up with the Everett Transit Center. This is also where the downtown light rail station will be built. I know future development will follow.” 

Looking forward

As Everett pushes forward with its vision for a modern, multipurpose stadium, the project stands at a crossroads between transformation and tension. For some, it represents long-overdue progress—an investment in economic development, public amenities, and city pride. For others, it raises concerns about displacement, equity, and whether the return will truly match the cost.

At the end of the day, one thing is clear: this isn’t just about baseball. It’s about identity and the kind of future Everett wants to build. With construction slated to begin in 2026 and a completion date eyed for 2027, the stadium is beginning to look like a done deal, but it will be a test of the city’s planning prowess and commitment to inclusivity, transparency, and thoughtful urban growth to ensure it’s a success.

The post Everett Forges Ahead with Downtown Stadium for Minor League Sports first appeared on The Urbanist.

Like other cities across the state, Kenmore is updating its development codes to comply with Washington’s Middle Housing and accessory dwelling unit (ADU) laws intended to address the housing affordability crisis. Most of Kenmore’s proposed changes will meet the minimum requirements of the law.

But Kenmore may adopt an inclusionary zoning (IZ) policy alongside state mandates that would require developers to offer 10% of units as affordable or pay a fee-in-lieu. A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH) recommended the IZ plan to Kenmore, as the influential Eastside organization has done in other cities.

At the May 12 meeting, the city council told staff to rewrite a key provision in the Planning Commission’s recommended IZ proposal — instead of a “project-size” exemption threshold, the council wants to exempt developments based on “unit-size.”

The difference matters.

The “project-size” threshold recommendation from the Planning Commission would have exempted projects with less than four units (such as single-family homes, duplexes, and triplexes) from the mandate. That could raise the cost of multifamily projects with more than four units, potentially encouraging developers to build larger, more expensive homes. Because there would be no funding or bonuses attached, the plan could stifle middle housing projects with four or more units.

In contrast, the “unit-size” threshold policy the council preferred would exempt smaller, typically more affordable multifamily homes from the mandate, while larger, more expensive homes would pay the fee or offer an affordable unit. New homes smaller than 1,750 square feet would be exempt from the IZ mandate.

Kenmore’s Mayor Nigel Herbig supported the “unit-size” threshold, saying it “both penalizes what we already have too much of, which is large single-family houses, and incentivizes what we’re looking for, which is smaller, more affordable units.”

Smaller homes tend to be more affordable than larger homes. Last year, the median size of a new condo in Kenmore was 1,487 square feet and sold for $712,353, according to ARCH data. In contrast, new single-family homes in Kenmore list for over $1.5 million and typically are larger than 3,000 square feet. 

The Planning Commission approved the “project-size” threshold recommendations by a 4-3 vote. The dissenting commissioners wrote a “minority report” arguing the proposed exemption for projects with three or fewer units could unintentionally incentivize larger, more expensive units and continue a common development pattern of large single-family homes, limiting production of more affordable units. 

Under the Kenmore IZ proposal, 10% of new units would need to be offered as affordable. An owner-occupied home must be affordable for people earning 80% of the area median income (AMI). Rental units would need to be affordable to people earning less than 50% of the AMI. Developers could pay a fee-in-lieu for fractional units or to avoid offering the affordable homes. 

ARCH recommended the city set a fee-in-lieu of $6 per square foot, and said the fee would be modest compared to other ARCH cities such as Kirkland and Redmond. Sammamish recently adopted a 10% IZ requirement similar to the one under consideration in Kenmore. 

Proceeds from the fees-in-lieu would go into Kenmore’s fund for affordable housing, and could be used by groups like ARCH to pay for regional housing needs.

Kenmore is a member of ARCH, a partnership of East King County cities working to preserve and increase housing for low- and moderate-income households. ARCH coordinates resources, shares staff and technical resources, and helps administer programs. ARCH is helping Kenmore draft their ADU and Middle Housing code amendments, and provided the city with financial modeling and feasibility analysis.

While the funds might be useful for building new affordable housing, Mayor Herbig had reservations. “I’m concerned about adding additional costs. I would much rather […] find additional sources of revenue for housing. It’s something I really want us to figure out. I’m not sure if taxing housing to incentivize housing, or taxing housing to fund other housing. […] There just seems something a little almost perverse about it.”

Kenmore currently has a voluntary Residential Density Incentive program, which offers incentives, such as bonus units, for developers who build affordable housing units. The city also offers tax breaks for affordable housing through an existing Multi-Family Housing Property Tax Exemption (MFTE) program, but that MFTE program does not apply to the neighborhoods where the proposed IZ would be implemented.

Kenmore’s proposed IZ policy would apply to the city’s R-4 and R-6 zones – its largest, traditionally residential neighborhoods. These formerly single-family-only zones will be upzoned to follow the state’s Middle Housing laws. The city plans to exempt properties along Swamp Creek and the Sammamish River and tributaries from the middle housing rezone, which represents about 14% of total single-family lots. State law allows cities to exclude up to 25% of lots in single-family zones from middle housing requirements.

Kenmore has until June 30 to adopt the state Middle Housing and ADU code changes. Formerly single-family zones will permit Middle Housing home types such as duplexes, townhouses, and cottage housing. At least two homes per lot, and up to four units if at least one is affordable, will be permitted. Within a quarter mile of a major transit stop, the allowed density increases to four units, with up to six units allowed if one is affordable. Up to two ADUs per lot will be permitted, and parking requirements will be reduced. 

Those changes will increase the development capacity (and land value) of properties within the upzoned areas. According to ARCH and city staff, implementing IZ concurrently allows the city to “capture” a portion of that increased land value created by the upzoning to help fund affordable housing, without necessarily causing undue financial pain to developers. ARCH said their analysis suggests the plan would leave a net gain and warned the city that trying to adopt new IZ requirements later, after the capacity increase is already in effect, could face legal challenges.

However, many builders view mandatory inclusionary zoning requirements differently, arguing such policies raise the cost of homebuilding and the price of housing, especially at high percentages and deep affordability levels. The Master Builders Association warned the planning commission their draft IZ policies could unintentionally hinder housing production. 

Small-scale builders also argue their margins are smaller and access to capital more limited, making it harder to absorb IZ costs in middle housing projects. Caitlin Sullivan, a Kenmore real estate investor focused on middle housing infill development, criticized ARCH’s research. “When the ARCH inclusionary zoning proposal was first introduced, it didn’t look right. […] We cannot risk adding a fee onto small developments, especially when we’re doing it on bad data.” 

Sullivan urged the city council to adopt a square footage exemption. “We have enough large single-family homes which decrease affordability in our community, and we need to start rebalancing the scales,” she said.

A public hearing on the draft rules is planned for June 9, with a final council vote anticipated on June 23. Kenmore has until June 30 to adopt development code changes, or the state model ordinance will take effect. 

This artile is an expanded version of a piece that first appeared on Oliver J. Moffat’s personal site.

The post Kenmore Considers McMansion Tax in Zoning Overhaul first appeared on The Urbanist.