The Elections Committee decides which candidates for office deserve The Urbanist’s endorsement. This volunteer commitment is around 20 hours, and requires some weekend and evening hours to complete interviews, vote on our selections, and write the endorsements.

We’re looking for passionate, locally-engaged volunteers to help guide our political endorsements. Email elections [at] theurbanist.org or apply by filling out our form. We have extended our deadline to March 6. Apply today!

Our endorsement process

The endorsement process begins in earnest in the spring, ahead of the primary election in August. The first step is to select races for endorsement. Having a broader array of members will allow us to endorse in more cities and races.

The Elections Committee selects the candidates to invite for an interview using criteria such as: having a reasonable platform, relevant experience, community presence, web presence, other endorsements, and affiliation with underrepresented communities. The committee devises a questionnaire for each set of races and sends it to selected candidates in May. Completing a questionnaire guarantees candidates’ eligibility for endorsement. Questionnaires are published verbatim for our readers.

Where we need more information, we invite candidates for an interview with the Elections Committee, typically a virtual interview held in June. This allows the Elections Committee to engage directly with the candidates for follow-up questions. It also provides a unique opportunity to get to know candidates better and get your lingering questions addressed.

After interviewing the candidates, the Elections Committee meets to vote on endorsements. The process allows for the endorsement of no, one, or multiple candidates in each race, though selecting a single candidate is preferred. Members of the Elections Committee collaboratively summarize the endorsement reasoning in an article published before ballots are mailed out. Sometimes we also create graphics to promote our endorsements.

For the general election, we update our endorsements based on who has advanced through the primary and what additional measures are on the ballot. Typically, most of the work is completed ahead of the primary. See our 2024 general endorsements for an example of the finished product. Other past endorsements are linked on our committee page as well.

Note that we have a conflict of interest policy. Members who are paid campaign staff or romantically involved with a candidate are required to disclose that conflict and recuse themselves in that race.

Apply today

Send in your application by March 6 to apply.

The post Apply to Join The Urbanist Election Committee first appeared on The Urbanist.

Some themes definitely jump out in our biggest stories of the year. Readers love reading about the reforms within Washington State around the use of streets and how more sustainable transportation is encouraged or hampered. 2025 was a big year for parking reform, with passage of a statewide measure and several cities going beyond that minimum standard to repeal off-street parking mandates on new buildings altogether.

Of course, in a long-running trend, Urbanist readers also devoured news pertaining to Sound Transit and regional rail, of either the Amtrak or high-speed rail variety. Sound Transit inaugurated service to Federal Way in December 2025 and is on the cusp of delivering East Link light rail across Lake Washington in spring of 2026.

1) First-in-the-Nation Shared Streets Law

Our most-read story of 2025 was a deep dive from Mark Ostrow delving into the impact of a bill he helped make happen as an safe streets advocate. Pedestrian-focused “shared streets” will be much easier to implement in Washington state thanks to Senate Bill 5595. Readers, like Mark, were dreaming on the possibilities. Check out or revisit the piece to see what could be in store, with examples gleaned from European pedestrian street standouts.

• Governor Signs Washington’s First-in-the-Nation Shared Streets Law

2) Washington’s Sweeping Parking Reform

In addition to passing shared streets reform, Washington also passed an ambitious statewide parking reform during the 2025 session. In February, Ryan Packer provided the definitive coverage of that big news, detailing how the bill cleared a key hurdle in the state senate. The prod for cities to lessen parking mandates will boost homebuilding over the long run.

• Washington State Senate Approves Sweeping Parking Reform Bill

3) Bremerton Ditches Parking Mandates

Given a nudge from the state, some cities opted to go beyond the bare minimum, repealing parking mandates altogether and doing so ahead of when the state policy would force their hand. Bremerton — the Kitsap County seat across Puget Sound from Seattle — was one such city, and this news made for our third most-read story of 2025.

• Bremerton Becomes Latest Washington City to Ditch Parking Mandate

4) Appeals Delay Harrell’s Growth Plan

In February, The Urbanist broke news that homeowner activists from some of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Seattle were appealing Mayor Bruce Harrell’s growth plan. The appeals — coupled with how late the Harrell Administration had been in submitting the plan — forced the city to push back its timeline for approving the plan, missing a state deadline by a year. Thanks to new state laws defanging appeals to housing growth plans, the City ended up being able to get the appeals dismissed relatively quickly, particularly when compared to similar appeals previously.

• Seattle’s Most Exclusive Neighborhoods File Appeals to Delay Harrell’s Growth Plan

5) Cascadia Forges Ahead on High-Speed Rail

In late October, leaders from across the Pacific Northwest gathered in Seattle for a Cascadia Innovation Corridor conference that touched on on-going plans to create a high-speed rail corridor connecting Seattle to Portland and Vancouver, British Columbia. Despite the headwinds creating by construction cost inflation and hostility from the federal government, government and corporate officials from across the region largely reaffirmed their commitment to pursue the vision. But the plan is still years in the making and potentially decades away from completion, with funding hurdles to clear.

• Cascadia Forges Ahead on High-Speed Rail Despite Headwinds

6) New Preferred Route for Tacoma Dome Light Rail

Without a ton of fanfare, Sound Transit modified its plan for light rail to Tacoma, dropping its earlier I-5 alignment and moving the planned line to SR-99 in a June revision. Up and down the agency’s light rail “spine” from Tacoma to Everett, advocates for transit-oriented housing have argued that SR-99 is a better fit than I-5, with better opportunities for building housing and community connections. Sound Transit has largely resisted those calls, only using SR-99 right-of-way when backed into a corner, as is the case with the Tacoma Dome Link Extension, which ran into numerous snags with the I-5 alignment. The agency hopes to open the line in 2035.

• Sound Transit Picks New Preferred Light Rail Route to Tacoma Dome

7) Sneak Peek at New Airo Trains for Amtrak Cascades

In some ways, Amtrak Cascades had a rough 2025, with a number of disruptions and a reduction in capacity tied to the need to pull aging Horizon traincars out of service and replace them with smaller Amfleet II cars. However, Amtrak is also working to launch brand new Airo trains on Cascades service in 2026 and it revealed new images of the soon-to-launch trains that garnered a ton of attention this summer. Even with the disruptions, Amtrak set a new record for ridership in 2025 both in Amtrak Cascades and nationwide.

• Sneak Peek: New Airo Trains Coming to Amtrak Cascades in 2026

8) A Return to Parochialism for Sound Transit Board

Recently, budget woes have dominated Sound Transit deliberations, with the agency estimating its long-range expansion plans are short more than $30 billion. This has sparked heated debate with some suburban boardmembers arguing that Seattle projects should be downsized and take a backseat to “completing the spine” — the 62-mile corridor from Tacoma to Everett. Seattle representatives firing back to argue their projects should not lose priority. From both corners, the saber-rattling appeared at least partially an election season ploy. In a September article, I wrote about how parochialism threatens to undermine Sound Transit mission and long-term success.

• The Sound Transit Board Signals a Return to Parochialism

9) 2 Line Hurdles Go Beyond I-90 Bridge

Sound Transit is in the midst of clearing the hurdles necessary to begin sending 2 Line trains across the Lake Washington I-90 floating bridge tracks. However, Ryan Packer reported on issues down the line trying to fit 1 Line and 2 Line trains in a Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel that will be increasingly taxed to maintain desired headways.

• Sound Transit’s 2 Line Faces Hurdles Beyond Crossing I-90 Bridge

10) Federal Way Light Rail Opening Moved Up

Readers were excited by the news this July that Federal Way Link would open before the year was out. Sound Transit was able to meet that deadline, clearing the way for 2026’s most anticipated rail opening: getting across I-90 sometime this spring.

• Federal Way Light Rail Extension On Track for Early Opening

Honorable mentions

Finally an honorable mention for two stories that came in just out of the top 10. Our primary endorsements writeup this summer was widely read, signaling strong enthusiasm behind The Urbanist’s slate of candidates, which ended up doing very well in the election.

Another story that nearly climbed into the top 10 was a late breaker with Ryan Packer’s story on some hiccups with the rollout of state e-bike rebates, quickly getting big readership over the last week.

1. 2025 Primary Election Endorsements
2. Washington’s First Try at E-bike Rebates Leaves Thousands of Vouchers Unredeemed
   

The post The Urbanist’s Most Popular Stories of 2025 first appeared on The Urbanist.

At the start of the year, things were not looking particularly promising for urbanists. America had just elected a corrupt autocrat with a fetish for fossil fuels, suburban sprawl, and turning back the clock on racial progress. Seattle’s mayor was preaching placation and collaboration rather than pledging to stand up and fight back.

Like Trump, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell appeared disinclined to tax the rich, or challenge the status quo of car-centric streets, parking mandates, and apartment bans pervading much of the city. Harrell’s housing growth plan arrived both late and severely watered down, like many major initiatives in his administration, and he opposed a funding measure for Seattle’s fledgling social housing development authority, which was put forward by grassroots advocates and passed by a wide margin despite the mayor’s efforts.

Nonetheless, the pundit class considered Harrell a shoe-in for reelection — too well-funded to fail.

But, an amazing thing happened over the remainder of 2025. Transit Riders Union leader Katie Wilson emerged as a viable urbanist alternative to Harrell and she rode into office in November on a wave of enthusiasm, largely from tenants, urbanists, and younger folks sick of being shut out of financial stability in Seattle’s supercharged market for housing, childcare, education, and other basic necessities. In addition to 15 years of organizing for progressive change, Wilson’s credibility was built on her thoughtful writing, including a “Policy Lab” column in The Urbanist.

While Wilson’s victory was a squeaker, other Seattle urbanists dominated against weaker opponents. Resounding victories for Eddie Lin and Dionne Foster mean urbanists have picked up two seats on the Seattle City Council. These wins could swing outcomes toward housing abundance as Seattle takes up phase two of its growth plan in 2026. Likewise, Seattle has more champions for transit and safe streets at the helm as the City contemplates a renewal package for the Seattle Transit Measure, set to go before voters in 2026, and decides how to invest transportation levy dollars.

Outside of Seattle, urbanists made big strides, too. Progressive urbanists swept the Burien election, winning control of a city council that had fallen to regressives hellbent on scorched earth policy to dealing with homelessness. Urbanists beat back an anti-housing backlash in Kirkland, winning three of four races, and dispatched a similarly regressive effort in Woodinville.

Organizationally, The Urbanist has never been stronger, as we integrated more members into our team and reinvigorated our programming. In January, Diego Batres joined our team as Director of Events and Development and set to work expanding our events offerings, hosting nearly 40 for the year, and working on a wide variety of other projects. One thing we have up our sleeve for 2026 is a website overhaul with new features for subscribers, thanks to Diego’s tireless efforts.

At its core, however, The Urbanist will remain a trusted, independent news source with no paywall. To make that feasible, we rely on reader support. Please keep us in your year-end giving plans and consider becoming a member or upping your monthly subscription.

Donations to our 501(c)(4) nonprofit are not tax-deductible. However, readers can make tax deductible contributions to our 501(c)(3) supporting organization, The Urbanist Fund, which can also benefit from corporate matches.

Thanks to steady reader support for our freelance program, Amy Sundberg also expanded her beat as our public safety and city hall reporter. And of course, our Contributing Editor Ryan Packer continues to be this region’s go-to reporter for transportation and housing issues and all the shades in-between, serving as a watchdog for an astounding number of local city councils and agencies. Overall, we produced more than 600 articles in 2025 and set new readership records.

Even with all that output, we still could not get to all the stories happening across the region. One goal we have for 2026 is to hire another reporter to help us reach more stories.

We have big plans for 2026 and we have huge opportunities with a growing group of allies in office. But it takes resources to keep reporting and trumpeting the virtues of urbanism. With your help, you know we’ll keep sleuthing and sounding the horn.

The post Looking Back on The Urbanist’s 2025 first appeared on The Urbanist.

Stuck on a tricky clue? It might help to check out some recently published articles.

Note, dear puzzlers, this will be my last puzzle for a while, because I am getting busier at work and in my personal life. And while The Urbanist Crossword feature is going on hiatus, I want to extend a big thanks to everyone who gave it a try. Constructing all these puzzles has been a blast!

Dive into the puzzle below.

The post Quiz Your Knowledge with The Urbanist Crossword Puzzle for November 30 first appeared on The Urbanist.

Every two weeks, a new handcrafted grid will feature clues related to the current news and discussion in The Urbanist. Stuck on a tricky clue? It might help to check out some recently published articles.

Dive into the puzzle below.

The post Test Your Wits with The Urbanist Crossword for November 16 first appeared on The Urbanist.

Every two weeks, a new handcrafted grid will feature clues related to the current news and discussion in The Urbanist. Stuck on a tricky clue? It might help to check out some recently published articles.

Dive into the puzzle below.

The post Quiz Your Knowledge with The Urbanist Crossword Puzzle for November 2 first appeared on The Urbanist.

Every two weeks, a new handcrafted grid will feature clues related to the current news and discussion in The Urbanist. Stuck on a tricky clue? It might help to check out some recently published articles.

Dive into the puzzle below.

The post Test Your Wits with The Urbanist Crossword for October 19 first appeared on The Urbanist.

Every two weeks, a new handcrafted grid will feature clues related to the current news and discussion in The Urbanist. Stuck on a tricky clue? It might help to check out some recently published articles.

Dive into the puzzle below.

The post Quiz Your Knowledge with The Urbanist Crossword Puzzle for October 5 first appeared on The Urbanist.

Every two weeks, a new handcrafted grid will feature clues related to the current news and discussion in The Urbanist. Stuck on a tricky clue? It might help to check out some recently published articles.

Dive into the puzzle below.

The post Test Your Wits with The Urbanist Crossword for September 21 first appeared on The Urbanist.

Every two weeks, a new handcrafted grid will feature clues related to the current news and discussion in The Urbanist. Stuck on a tricky clue? It might help to check out some recently published articles.

Dive into the puzzle below. This edition is a mini, so it’ll be a quick one!

The post Quiz Your Knowledge with The Urbanist Crossword Puzzle for September 7 first appeared on The Urbanist.