New Partners for Smart Growth arrive in the Emerald City February 4-6, 2010

The 9th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth “Building Safe, Healthy and Livable Communities”

Conference is being held next week in Seattle. The conference will tackle the balancing of environmental, economic and livability issues in our cities and towns necessary in order for the Pacific Northwest to continue being a most desirable place to live and work. Seattle was chosen due in part to its being named one of the top 10 green cities in the U.S. by National Geographic’s “The Green Guide”, (2005). In addition, the Seattle area has a variety of healthy, walkable, bicycle and transit friendly, livable towns and cities that will are models for the rest of North America making Seattle a very desirable venue for such a conference.

Last year the conference was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico and was heralded as a huge success bringing together local elected officials, city and county staff, landscape architects, developers and builders, planners, transportation professionals and traffic engineers, public health professionals, architects, bankers, realtors, urban designers, parks and recreation professionals, school superintendents and board members and facilities staff, environmentalists and a host of civic advocates.

The conference will include “a dynamic mix of plenaries, breakouts, implementation workshops, specialized trainings, peer-to-peer learning opportunities, and coordinated networking activities”. Most exciting will be the tour of local model projects in Seattle and the greater Puget Sound Region. This tour includes cities and towns such as Kirkland, Mercer Island, Mill Creek, Snohomish, Highpoint, Bainbridge and others. Overall there will be information and examples that will interest just about everyone with close to 90 sessions and workshops, tours and a wide variety of speakers. Registration is still open for the conference.

Making changes in 2010

Another new year has arrived and with it come resolutions for a healthier, happier more financially stable you. Some of the most popular resolutions are: Get in Shape, Lose Weight, Save Money, Buy a house and help others…

Every year, the resolution part is relatively easy, however it is the follow through that is most difficult. In my opinion, the reason we often do not achieve our resolutions is simple, we demand too much from ourselves. Creating a list of 20 life changing resolutions to accomplish in a year is easy on paper, but difficult if not impossible in our already hectic day to day life and will ultimately result in disappointment. So be real, focus on what is truly important and put together a specific yet simple plan that you can achieve. List out the small interim steps that will help you achieve your goal and will serve as a map to getting results. Make sure to put this plan somewhere you see it often and take necessary time each day to review it and determine where you are at and what is next. Most importantly stay positive and keep moving in the right direction.

So how does this relate to “walkable communities” you ask? As I stated at the beginning the most widely held resolutions are always: get in shape, buy a house, save money and get out of debt. A simple way to achieve a couple of the top ten resolutions is to make some minor changes in your lifestyle that over time will result in these outcomes. For example, instead of going to the gym which will only cost you additional money, resolve to ride your bike or walk to work. Start with just 2 to 3 days a week and build from there. This seemingly simple change will save you money, provide the exercise you need, help the environment, reduce traffic and increase your quality of life.

In Bellevue, City officials have recognized this demand and are working to make commuting via bike and feet safer, easier and faster. In the fall of 2009 City Planners conducted a survey of walkers and riders and found that a majority of them were commuting to work, (66 and 77 percent respectively). The study found the median length of commute approximately one mile for pedestrians and nine miles for cyclists. As a result, the City plans to make changes to infrastructure to further increase the safety and capacity of streets to handle the expected increase of pedestrian and cyclists commuters.

Oh, and one of my resolutions is to update this blog at least once a week so look for upcoming posts!!

The True Cost of Commuting

We are all looking for ways to save money in these tough economic times. Even better, how about earning extra cash amidst all the negative news?
One simple and guaranteed way is to put away the car (or better yet sell it) and begin walking and biking.

It is common knowledge that most households spend more than necessary on their vehicles. The American Automobile Association estimates that operating a typical SUV exceeds $8000 per year. Increase your commute distance and this can easily reach $10,000 - $12,000 based on the True Cost of Driving Calculator.

Now let’s say you buy a used but reliable car or sell an extra car and minimize your driving by utilizing transit, biking or walking you can easily cut your expenses in half. This results in an annual saving of $4000 - $8000 dollars.

This saving invested with a rate of return of 7% would yield $60,000 to $130,000 over ten years and $190,000 to $380,000 over twenty years. Do this for forty years and you would earn over a million dollars just by reducing your automobile use by half!!!!

This may seem far fetched, but combine this with rising fuel cost, climate change and ever increasing infrastructure cost paid for by the taxpayer and this represents real savings.

In fact, the Urban Land Institute recently reported in “Creating A Framework for a Green Economy”, Spring 2009 that families are searching for “foreclosure resistant neighborhoods where transit costs are low (about 9% of household expenditures)” as opposed to the “foreclosure-risky neighborhoods in the exurbs where transportation costs are high (25% of household expenditures)”. In this scenario, say the family expenditure is $4000 per month. If transportation costs are 25% of that number or $1000 versus 9% or $360 this represents and annual savings of $7680.

Put another way, by using the True Cost of Driving Calculator a home buyer can determine the real cost of choosing a “walkable” neighborhood versus a home requiring commuting and additional vehicle trips for all of life’s necessities. Using the cost savings of $8000 per year discussed above, a family could afford an additional $650 dollars per month. This monthly savings represents an additional $100,000 in home purchasing power. By utilizing this buying power a family could choose a home in a walkable neighborhood which reduces transportation costs and thereby reduces impact to the environment, is healthier for the entire family while improving the sense of community and for all these reasons is a significantly better financial investment.

UW Bothell Sets Fall Enrollment Record

Founded in 1990, the University of Washington Bothell was created to bring the world-renowned University of Washington traditions of academic excellence to residents on the Eastside, North King and Snohomish counties, as well as from around the state, the nation and the world.


The campus, which is shared with Cascadia Community College is situated on a 128-acre site and is home to one of the States most successful wetland restoration projects. Bordering this important area are trails connecting the UW to the Sammamish River and Burke Gilman Trails. Originally, this property was home to the Boone-Truly Ranch.

The UW Bothell’s architecture truly stands out by combining modern architecture with an emphasis on blending into the surrounding environment. Construction materials and techniques used were environmentally friendly and the buildings utilizes advanced technology for both faculty and student use. As a result, the campus received the American Institute of Architects 2002 Honor Award for Washington Architecture.


The UW Bothell is an accredited unit of the University of Washington and home to more than 2600 students. Both graduate and undergraduate programs are offered at the UW Bothell campus.


By participating in and hosting locals events, attracting the brightest students and educators and being located less than a mile from Downtown Bothell the University of Washington brings economic stability, diversity and vitality to the entire region, and specifically to the Bothell area.


Whether simply using the grounds to take a scenic run, visiting the library, attending special events or actually attending classes at the UW Bothell, this important amenity guarantees the continued growth and vitality of the Bothell area. In fact, this year’s fall enrollment set an all time record with 2,374 full time equivalent (FTE) students, or a headcount of 2,801 walking through the doors. This represents an overenrolled at 116% and in comparison, 2008 enrollment included 1,899 full time equivalent students and a headcount of 2,288.

Both Village Walk and Ross Road Communities were designed to take advantage of all that Downtown Bothell has to offer. Restaurants, Civic Buildings, Recreational Opportunities, Shopping, Libraries and of Course the UW of Washington Bothell Campus are all located in safe and walkable distance from these two new and exciting communities within Downtown Bothell.

Village Walk is located just under 1 mile from UW Bothell

Ross Road Townhomes is located just half mile from UW Bothell

Google unveils the new Kirkland Campus Wednesday

This past Wednesday, October 25^th, Google held a ceremonial opening of the new Kirkland Campus located at 747 6^th Street South. Brier Dudley of the Seattle Times attended the opening and discusses the reasons why Google selected Kirkland for its new campus:

“best high-tech places in the world” states Alan Eustace, Google Senior Vice President.

“I’d rather be part of a community than just another building.” states Larry Page, Google Co-Founder.

Google’s reasons for choosing Kirkland are not only held by the business community but echoed by residents and employees as well. First and foremost whether resident, employee or employer we are all striving to be part of a larger community and in turn, community needs all these components to thrive. The pieces need to be thoughtfully designed, compact, sustainable and with a focus towards quality of life. Something Kirkland has.

A walkable community (i.e. Kirkland) by definition fulfills all these criteria by putting work, play, home and the environment together in a safe and thoughtfully designed way that merges resident, employee and employer into one.

The Google campus is another significant addition to the areas cluster of high tech companies, higher education such as the University of Washington, and other businesses together creating collaboration and synergy that will foster stability and confidence in our region for both residents and employers. This confidence in turns supports necessary infrastructure required to sustain a vibrant urban area.

Similarly, the new Nettleton Community is also a significant addition to the City of Kirkland, in response to the demands to live closer to employment, entertainment, schools… The new community provides a variety of housing to the area, maintains the look and feel of Kirkland through classic Northwest Architecture and the restoration of the Nettleton Mansion a local landmark all within an once underdeveloped urban infill site. The location of the Nettleton site is only a little over quarter mile from the new Google Campus making living and working here “eco” and “economically” friendly (i.e. lose the car), and healthy and sustainable, (i.e. walk and frequent local businesses).

Why Is a Walkable Community Important?

The simple fact is, if you live in a walkable community, one that has some where to walk to, you are more apt to get out and do it. This motivation over time will lead to a better quality of life, better health and is fun.

This is becoming more and more important as our hectic lives, modern conveniences and electronic age reduce our our activity levels significantly. This has led to increasingly sedentary lifestyles for more and more people. In fact the percentage of adults who spend MOST of their day sitting increased from 36.8% in 2000 to 39.9% in 2005. This inactivity is now the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States, second only to tobacco use. Walking is considered by many fitness professional as a way to supplement or begin an exercise program, add to quality of life and reduce stress. Medicinenet.com created an important list of 10 reasons we should all walk get out and walk more:

1. Walking prevents type 2 diabetes. The Diabetes Prevention Program showed that walking 150 minutes per week and losing just 7% of your body weight (12-15 pounds) can reduce your risk of diabetes by 58%.

2. Walking strengthens your heart if you're male. In one study, mortality rates among retired men who walked less than one mile per day were nearly twice that among those who walked more than two miles per day.

3. Walking strengthens your heart if you're female. Women in the Nurse's Health Study (72,488 female nurses) who walked three hours or more per week reduced their risk of a heart attack or other coronary event by 35% compared with women who did not walk.

4. Walking is good for your brain. In a study on walking and cognitive function, researchers found that women who walked the equivalent of an easy pace at least 1.5 hours per week had significantly better cognitive function and less cognitive decline than women who walked less than 40 minutes per week. Think about that!

5. Walking is good for your bones. Research shows that postmenopausal women who walk approximately one mile each day have higher whole-body bone density than women who walk shorter distances, and walking is also effective in slowing the rate of bone loss from the legs.

6. Walking helps alleviate symptoms of depression. Walking for 30 minutes, three to five times per week for 12 weeks reduced symptoms of depression as measured with a standard depression questionnaire by 47%.

7. Walking reduces the risk of breast and colon cancer. Women who performed the equivalent of one hour and 15 minutes to two and a half hours per week of brisk walking had an 18% decreased risk of breast cancer compared with inactive women. Many studies have shown that exercise can prevent colon cancer, and even if an individual person develops colon cancer, the benefits of exercise appear to continue both by increasing quality of life and reducing mortality.

8. Walking improves fitness. Walking just three times a week for 30 minutes can significantly increase cardiorespiratory fitness.

9. Walking in short bouts improves fitness, too! A study of sedentary women showed that short bouts of brisk walking (three 10-minute walks per day) resulted in similar improvements in fitness and were at least as effective in decreasing body fatness as long bouts (one 30-minute walk per day).

10. Walking improves physical function. Research shows that walking improves fitness and physical function and prevents physical disability in older persons.

Village Walk in Bothell Scores 88 on Walkscore.com

Walkscore.com a website that allows you to find a walkable place to live by calculating a Walk Score for any address ranks Village Walk in Bothell an 88 which equates to “Very Walkable”.  Walk Score uses a patent-pending system to measure the walkability of an address. The Walk Score algorithm awards points based on the distance to the closest amenity in each category. If the closest amenity in a category is within .25 miles (or .4 km), it assign the maximum number of points. The number of points declines as the distance approaches 1 mile (or 1.6 km)—no points are awarded for amenities further than 1 mile. Each category is weighted equally and the points are summed and normalized to yield a score from 0–100. The number of nearby amenities is the leading predictor of whether people walk.

The ranking goes from Car Dependant to Walkers Paradise. The general guidelines for interpreting your score:

·       90–100 = Walkers' Paradise: Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car.

·       70–89 = Very Walkable: It's possible to get by without owning a car.

·       50–69 = Somewhat Walkable: Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a bike, public transportation, or car.

·       25–49 = Car-Dependent: Only a few destinations are within easy walking range. For most errands, driving or public transportation is a must.

·       0–24 = Car-Dependent (Driving Only): Virtually no neighborhood destinations within walking range. You can walk from your house to your car!

In addition to your walk score, Walkscore.com provides great information on what makes a neighborhood walkable, why walking matters and provides links to a host of related websites and blogs.