YIMBY News for 3/12

[Eric Budd]

Wilson's Library Levy Renewal Focuses on Maintaining Services

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 30.33. comprehensive plan, downtown, growth, housing, project, public space, rent, urban

[image: Wilson's Library Levy Renewal Focuses on Maintaining Services] Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson on Tuesday rolled out the first ballot measure set to go to voters during her term in office, a $410 million renewal of the Seattle Public Library (SPL) levy. By a three-to-one margin, voters approved the last library levy in 2019. Adjusted for inflation, the new levy is around 50% larger than the previous one, and will last the same amount of time – seven years. The spending plan would focus on providing dollars for core library services, in the face of looming pressure on Seattle's general fund

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Seattle Growth Plan Appeal Tests Laws Removing Roadblocks to Housing

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 30.11. comprehensive plan, construction, density, growth, house, housing, rent, urban, zone

[image: Seattle Growth Plan Appeal Tests Laws Removing Roadblocks to Housing] A pair of cases moving through the Washington Court of Appeals will represent a crucial test of recent statewide legislation intended to speed up the production of housing in urban areas. The appeals target the environmental review of Seattle's updated Comprehensive Plan, which was approved in December. Two different groups have been pushing for more than a year to get the City of Seattle to go back to the drawing board, alleging that specific issues weren't adequately considered when a plan to increase capacity for

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King County's New Leader Makes Big Changes

Governing

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KEYWORD SCORE: 27.73. affordable, downtown, growth, house, housing, income, rent, supply, urban

In Brief: The King County, Wash., executive office had been led by the same person for 16 years when Girmay Zahilay won the county executive job in 2025. Zahilay’s intent to restructure the office was a shock to some longtime staff, and raised concerns about the scope of layoffs. In an interview with Governing, Zahilay outlines his objectives and the ways restructuring will help the county achieve them. From his office window in downtown Seattle, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay can see a building that housed a homeless shelter where he once lived. His family came to Seattle fleeing war in

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Trump’s Funding Freeze Has Derailed Transit, Undermining Growth and Economic Opportunity For All Americans

Streetsblog Net

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KEYWORD SCORE: 20.42. affordable, construction, development, growth, project, transportation, urban

The second Trump administration has yet to sign a single contract to build new transit rail lines under a key grant program — and it’s deepening a crisis that’s already pushed America out of the ranks of the top rail-builders in the world, a new analysis finds. More than a year into his second term, the self-described “builder president” hasn’t authorized any new subways, elevated rails, monorails or automated light metro under the Capital Investment Grant program, one the largest sources of federal matching funds for shared modes. Trump’s Department of Transportation has also clawed back, thr

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