Keeping Tabs

Links and other updates from Sierra Club Seattle Group

Articles

What’s In a Name: Ending Exclusionary Zoning (The Urbanist)

Big changes are underway to right historical wrongs, and we can’t rebuild Seattle in a day or with one piece of legislation, but this one piece of legislation is absolutely a critical launching pad for starting the substantive changes we want to see.

The Gender Divide in Transport Is Starting to Crumble (CityLab)

As cities across Europe look to make transport greener, the overhaul is revealing gender issues as well. In auto-intensive Germany, men travel roughly double the distance by car compared with women, who are more likely to walk and take public transport. Urban planning, which has traditionally been dominated by male decision makers, is now under pressure to make networks less-focused around men commuting to work.

Car culture disproportionately kills Black Americans. The pandemic made things worse. (Grist)

Early last month, Randle made the trek for the last time. As he walked home, crossing the wide five-lane street, he was struck and killed during a hit-and-run collision. His life and death underscore a sobering and growing reality for Black Americans.

Communities of color are the ‘first and worst’ hurt by climate change (Seattle Times)

Many of these disparities can be traced back to the legacy of housing segregation, neighborhood redlining and environmental racism, such as placing polluting businesses in communities of color. One study found that formerly redlined neighborhoods in nearly every city were hotter than those that were not redlined, according to NPR.

Vancouver Park Board decides to just let grass grow long as part of new pilot project (Daily Hive)

The VPB said creating meadows in urban settings for the provision of native or naturalized grasses, wildflowers and flowering plants will attract beneficial insects, butterflies, bees, and birds. In addition, wildflowers “add a changing palette of colour to the urban environment throughout the seasons.”

Events

Join Councilmembers Mosqueda and Morales for a community panel on Combating Displacement and Addressing Exclusionary Zoning:

Announcements and Opportunities

• Puget Sound Regional Council is seeking public comment on their draft Regional Housing Strategy. Click here to comment in support of making it easier to create housing in urban areas.
• Please help us tell Sound Transit that delaying transit projects in the midst of a climate crisis is an unacceptable choice.
• Ballots are hitting mailboxes! Become a member to be notified about our endorsements, and remember to return your ballot by August 3. Need to register to vote? Click here!