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typewriteralley.bsky.social
Ryan Packer
@typewriteralley.bsky.social
10K followers 440 following 6.9K posts
Pedestrian
Reporting at The Urbanist as Contributing Editor
Transportation advocate
Probably covering a random public meeting
(they-them)
📍Puget Sound
https://www.patreon.com/typewriteralley
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typewriteralley.bsky.social
WA's middle housing law doesn't include a size limit on cottage housing. Keep in mind that Clyde Hill is only required to allow up to two units per lot anyway.

They have to go to Merriam-Webster to find a defense for the idea that cottage housing should be smaller than a single-family house.
6. The state legislature, in ESSB 1110, created this definition for cottage housing: “residential units on a lot with a common open space that either: (a) Is owned in common; or (b) has units owned as condominium units with property owned in common and a minimum of 20 percent of the lot size as open space.” RCW 36.70A.030(10). As a form of middle housing, the implied intent is that cottage-style homes be affordable homes. This is consistent with the generally held understanding of the meaning of the word, “cottage.” For example, Mirriam Webster’s dictionary defines “cottage” as “(1) the dwelling of a farm laborer or small farmer; (2) a usually small frame one-family house; (3) a small detached dwelling unit at an institution; or (4) a usually small house for vacation use.” The Municipal Research & Services Center (MRSC) describes cottage homes as “community-oriented, close knit, and smaller scale..,” adding that these detached housing units are “typically 800 to 1200 square feet....”
November 11, 2025 at 2:50 AM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
"The City Council finds that an exemption under SEPA for this action is necessary to prevent an imminent threat to public health and safety through construction of overly large cottage housing."
The City Council finds that an exemption under SEPA for this action is necessary to prevent an imminent threat to public health and safety through construction of overly large cottage housing.
November 11, 2025 at 2:46 AM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
I'm tuned into the Clyde Hill City Council tonight, which just approved an *emergency* ordinance scaling back the city's middle housing code when it comes to cottage housing, adding a 1,500 square foot maximum size.

Clyde Hill is apparently concerned that large cottages won't be affordable?
8. It has come to the city’s attention that some developers may seek building permit applications to construct two “cottage” housing units, each potentially consisting of approximately 5000 square feet gross floor area, on one single-family lot. Immense homes at this scale do not meet the intent of cottage housing and frustrate, rather than serve, the legislature’s intent to increase affordable community-oriented housing stock. 9. The city council has determined that an emergency exists to stop the construction of new large-scale cottage housing in the city of Clyde Hill that fails to serve the purpose and intent of the state’s middle housing legislation. The city council elects to place an interim zoning control on cottage housing and to revise the definition to limit the total gross floor area for cottage homes to 1500 square feet.
November 11, 2025 at 2:40 AM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
Meanwhile in Kenmore, progressive council candidate @tracyforkenmore.bsky.social is now just 37 votes behind her opponent, Joe Marshall.
City of Kenmore Ballots Counted: 7,596 * Registered Voters: 15,948 47.63% Council Position No. 2 Tracy Banaszynski 3,521 49.34% Joe Marshall 3,558 49.86% Write-in 57 0.80%
November 11, 2025 at 12:22 AM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
Kurt Dresner still trails incumbent Jon Pascal. But right now it looks like three of the four Cherish Kirkland-aligned "sanity slate" candidates are going to lose.
Council Position No. 1 Ken Oberman 11,620 49.19% Jay Arnold 11,940 50.54% Write-in 64 0.27% Council Position No. 3 Shilpa Prem 12,119 51.09% Catie Malik 11,525 48.59% Write-in 77 0.32% Council Position No. 5 Ken MacKenzie 10,457 44.28% Neal Black 13,106 55.50% Write-in 50 0.21% Council Position No. 7 Jon Pascal 12,330 52.15% Kurt Dresner 11,237 47.52% Write-in 78 0.33%
November 11, 2025 at 12:19 AM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
JUST IN: Washington's Growth Management Hearings Board has invalidated the Seattle City Council's ordinance legalizing housing in a small slice of SoDo near the sports stadiums, siding with the Port of Seattle in its appeal against the move.
Based upon review of the Petition for Review, the briefs and exhibits submitted by the parties, the GMA, prior Board orders and case law, having considered the arguments of the parties, and having deliberated on the matter, the Board finds: • The City has failed to comply with SEPA’s procedural requirements; • The Board defers consideration of Issues 15 and 16; • Ordinance 127191 is non-compliant with the GMA; • Ordinance 127191 is remanded to the City for compliance pursuant to the following schedule below; and • Continued validity of Ordinance 127191 substantially interferes with the fulfillment of GMA Planning Goals 10 and 11 and therefore declares it invalid.
November 10, 2025 at 11:46 PM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
Honestly Portland should lean into being the city of gingkoes.
November 10, 2025 at 4:43 AM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
Pretty great weekend in Portland tbh
November 10, 2025 at 4:32 AM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
Zohran for New York style font reading: You're not stuck in traffic, you are traffic
November 9, 2025 at 4:07 AM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
In its draft 2026 legislative priorities, the City of Medina says that it "recognizes our regional housing crisis and has invested deeply to identify and achieve density goals through proven and creative housing solutions."

Sure, Jan.
MANAGE REGIONAL GROWTH THROUGH MIDDLE HOUSING Medina recognizes our regional housing crisis and has invested deeply to identify and achieve density goals through proven and creative housing solutions proportionate to our small city, while maintaining Medina’s historic charm and diverse populace. Small cities face disproportionate operational burdens and expenses in trying to meet the blanket Housing Bill deadlines. Medina believes we can achieve an even greater vision and outcome with adequate time to use our valuable local expertise to craft policy to successfully achieve the goal of adding gentle density. We have made significant progress defining methods, and identifying means to meet new housing mandates, however we need more time for implementation (along with clarification and consistency around options for tier 3 cities to partner, innovate and comply.) We ask the legislature to consider the unintended consequences and potential negative transformational impacts continued revisions to these mandates can have on small municipalities struggling to comply in a manner reflective of their community character.
November 8, 2025 at 5:20 PM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
Unlike in Seattle, we didn't see a major shift in the breakdown of the ballot drops in Kirkland as the week went on.

The path for incumbent Deputy Mayor Jay Arnold looked promising on election night, but now looks bleak. Meanwhile the open race between Shilpa Prem & Catie Malik is super close.
Council Position No. 1 Ken Oberman 8,953 51.21% Jay Arnold 8,480 48.51% Write-in 49 0.28% Council Position No. 3 Shilpa Prem 8,635 49.16% Catie Malik 8,869 50.49% Write-in 61 0.35%
November 8, 2025 at 4:51 PM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
PAC spending tried to tie Katie Wilson to Kshama Sawant during this campaign.

Meanwhile Sawant's Workers Strike Back org includes Wilson in the "two parties of Wall Street & War" when advertising an event this weekend, with Andrew Cuomo wedged in between her and Bruce Harrell.
Graphic showing Kshama Sawant in red with Bruce Harrell, Andrew Cuomo, Katie Wilson, AOC and Zohran Mamdani in blue. The text reads November 2025 Election Results Next Steps to Fight the Two Parties of Wall Street & War
November 8, 2025 at 4:24 PM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
The Decemberists really dug into the back catalog for their show with the Oregon Symphony tonight, and it was pretty great.
Marquee at the Arlene Schnitzer auditorium with a large Poetland sign ascending vertically. It reads Oregon Symphony The Decemberists
November 8, 2025 at 6:52 AM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
I like these signs, but I wish more cities were going for the Full Hoboken.
Yard sign reading: Back it up Portland! Showing how drivers should park 20 feet from intersections. There's a cute Zebra crossing at the zebra crossing.
November 7, 2025 at 10:29 PM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
Imagine building one-way bike lanes (in downtown!) that are this wide.
SW 4th in Downtown Portland, not yet open
November 7, 2025 at 7:17 PM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
Good morning Portland.
View of downtown Portland from the Burnside Bridge south. The day is overcast but the sun is coming out.
November 7, 2025 at 7:01 PM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
URGENT BOLLARD ALERT.

SDOT is going to the Pike Place Market Historical Commission next Wednesday to get initial guidance on the "physical protective barriers" planned ahead of the FIFA World Cup.

The board is getting its temperature taken on a "hybrid approach" of bollards and vehicle barricades.
A slide that reads Bollards to Barriers with an array of bollards and raising barriers at major event venues around the world A slide reading mix of solutions with some photos of barricades and bollards including the large truck currently at the front entrance of Pike Place
November 7, 2025 at 5:10 PM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
Signs your municipal tax structure is fundamentally broken: the Town of Yarrow Point is asking residents to get their new iPhone delivered to their house instead of buying it in Bellevue so they get the sales tax revenue.
!!! Please consider this information as you make purchases both this Holiday Season and throughout the year. The Town receives a very small percentage of the sales tax we all pay for purchases of goods and services delivered to Yarrow Point. Each time you use your Yarrow Point address to receive goods and services, 1.1% of the 10.3% sales tax you pay is passed through to the Town as unrestricted revenue. This revenue helps us run the Town, pay for Public Safety — Police and Fire, repair and maintain our streets and stormwater systems, preserve our parks, light our roads, etc. Sales Tax Example: If you take delivery on a $1,000 iPhone in Yarrow Point instead of buying it in Bellevue, Yarrow Point will receive that $11 portion of city sales tax instead of Bellevue. This adds up for our Town. For larger ticket items, it can be an enormous help to our town coffers. $100,000 in Sales will generate ~$1,100 in sales tax revenue for our Town. Please keep this in mind as you purchase anything this Holiday Season and throughout the year, especially when purchasing more valuable items, so Yarrow Point will receive this important sales tax revenue instead of another city. Art is a great revenue-generating example! Please override the auto-filled city if the merchant inputs Bellevue. If you are able to override it, please correct the city to be Yarrow Point. This will help ensure we get the revenue instead of inflating Bellevue’s.
November 7, 2025 at 5:00 PM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
Incumbent Edwin Obras has officially overtaken Burien Mayor Kevin Schilling in the race for the 33rd Legislative District Representative, Position 1.
Edwin Obras 49.69% to Kevin Schilling 48.62%
November 6, 2025 at 11:52 PM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
It looks like the only incumbent in Sammamish who is on track to win re-election (Amy Lam) will only win because of a write-in campaign that was started because her opponent wasn't anti-growth enough.

The irony.
City of Sammamish Ballots Counted: 10,179 * Registered Voters: 40,728 24.99% Council Position No. 1 Harlan Gallinger 3,830 39.49% Amy Lam 4,038 41.63% Write-in 1,831 18.88%
November 6, 2025 at 2:12 AM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
Bainbridge Island is set to elect two new councilmembers who explicitly campaigned against the idea of building affordable housing directly near the Winslow ferry terminal.
Mike Nelson campaign website: Stop 625 Winslow Way I oppose the current City Council's plan for a massive development in front of the ferry terminal without adequate consideration of environmental traffic and community impacts Lara Lant website: We need housing that works for Bainbridge: affordable, diverse, and in the right locations. The 625 Winslow Way proposal currently under discussion isn’t the right site for a large-scale housing project. Smaller projects are easy wins, and I look forward to the Comprehensive Plan updates that will make creative, small-scale housing easier to build. We can further support these solutions by reducing fees and promoting ADA-accessible design, ensuring that housing growth is both practical and inclusive
November 5, 2025 at 7:48 PM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
Even more than the fact that the trains don't go to these places yet, the new signage is confusing to visitors in that it might lead them to believe Federal Way has a downtown.
Signage showing federal way downtown and downtown redmond
November 5, 2025 at 6:53 PM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
Another one that is too close to call: the Lynnwood mayor's race, with current councilmember George Hurst fewer than 200 votes ahead of incumbent Christine Frizzell.

Frizzell is a member of the Sound Transit board.
City of Lynnwood Mayor (Vote for 1) 5538 ballots (15 over voted ballots, 15 overvotes, 150 undervotes), 23812 registered voters, turnout 23.26% George Hurst 2766 51.48% Christine Frizzell 2582 48.06%
November 5, 2025 at 7:11 AM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
How do we get this man to go the fuck away
Up and down the ballot, voters Tuesday were mostly going for whichever candidate seemed the farthest away on the political spectrum from you-know-who, writes columnist Danny Westneat.
November 5, 2025 at 6:08 AM
typewriteralley.bsky.social
Big salute to whoever put these up at U District station.
Flyer reading: "Have you voted local? It's important" with an orca whale flag and QR codes directing folks on where to register and turn in their ballots
November 4, 2025 at 9:04 PM