Joshua McNichols

Could fewer shops lead to lower housing costs in Washington? Gov. Ferguson hopes so Housing in Washington state is expensive. Now, Gov. Bob Ferguson wants to ease rules to bring costs down. The result could mean fewer ground floor businesses in new apartment buildings.

In neighborhoods with lots of pedestrians, many cities require apartment buildings to include storefronts on the ground floor. Should that requirement be axed to lower housing costs? There are pros and cons... and a lot of history that dates all the way to Jane Jacobs. www.kuow.org/stories/coul...

It's difficult to fact-check my story using US census data while the government website is barely functional due to the shutdown.

Game over or next level? The generative AI debate in video game creation Electronic Arts, the video game company that sold for $55 billion this month, has said it's investing heavily in generative AI. Many video game players in areas like Seattle are concerned this trend c...

One thing we're doing on Booming, our economics podcast, is looking at the impact of generative AI on different Seattle-area industries. This week: video games. www.kuow.org/stories/game...

yes! I wish I would have taken a photo of the horse rings this trip. But my neighbor, who lives part time in Portland, says you can find them somewhere in every neighborhood, so I'll have another chance on a different visit.

That one's right by Portland State University - it looks like it's been upgraded by the school. There's a nice trolley line that runs right in front.

Because it would take too much time to ask them all to move.

I spent a lovely, relaxing weekend in Portland, Oregon with my spouse. As always, I love looking at the wide variety of middle housing types, from small apartment buildings to duplexes to stacked flats.

Fun detail: many curbs still have iron rings for hitching horses.

The earthquake is coming. Is old Seattle worth saving? Seattle’s unreinforced brick buildings are a disaster waiting to happen — and the cash to fix them isn’t there.

The Nisqually quake happened almost 25 years ago (February 2001). It was deep underground, where the old seafloor deforms before breaking apart in the hot, sometime molten mantle. A modest quake on the shallow Seattle Fault would do far more damage locally - more than the "Big One" people fear.

In an extraordinary show of support, this community of listeners and local businesses raised $1.4M to support KUOW Public Media in a single day. We’re so lucky to be have so many people committed balanced journalism in Seattle.

+1. Public media plays a critical role in fostering an informed public and all these news orgs need our help to weather this unpredictable period.

KUOW statement: Congress votes to rescind public media funding Today, Congress voted to rescind $1.1 billion in federal funding for public media that had been approved earlier this year. This funding was intended to support public broadcasters through fiscal year...

Congress voted to claw back money already awarded to public media. News orgs like KUOW must now immediately raise money to stabilize.

Supporting transparent/balanced journalism is a choice. We're asking KUOW listeners to consider the value it provides.

www.kuow.org/stories/cong...

Will tariffs bring back the lumberjack? Could President Donald Trump's strategies help revive Washington's diminished timber industry?

We went in with a question: Is the lumber industry one place where tariffs could work as intended?
The answer is more complicated.
It's all on the latest episode of our podcast, Booming.
Here's a version you can read: www.kuow.org/stories/will...

How Seattle could raise more money by lowering most business taxes Seattle leaders want to give the city’s business tax system a makeover. Wealthy companies like Amazon could end up paying more and small businesses, like restaurants, could end up paying nothing.

Federal money go down.
Tax on Amazon go up.

www.kuow.org/stories/how-...

Love it.

Oh, wow. It's the graphic version of my headline.

I wonder if banks begin to see a payoff from dense, walkable communities. Certainly Richard Florida has been saying for years that this is the lifestyle that attracts young workers. I wonder if the smaller neighborhood centers in Seattle's comprehensive plan would provide that evidence for them.

Thank you, Scott

Housing, trees, and parking: In Seattle, you can pick two We can’t have all three. Not in equal measure. Right now, trees are slowly losing. But with sufficient incentives in place, that could change.

KUOW actually ran two stories on trees and housing today. Here's mine: www.kuow.org/stories/seat...

Who is going to be the first developer to submit a permit application under Seattle's new interim zoning rules, which allow more middle housing?

Assuming they pass today.

I guess I didn’t get out of the way of your camera after all 😆

I'm grateful that we have such a strong network of listeners who provide financial support. They help protect the mission of public media. Still, the potential loss of this funding would be a big blow.

Black homeownership program offers hope, but can it help people afford Seattle houses? Today in Seattle's Central District neighborhood, the number of Black homeowners has reached a historic low. And across Seattle, less than half as many Black households own homes as white families.

New episode of KUOW’s economics podcast, Booming

www.kuow.org/stories/prog...

Do townhomes drive down housing costs? Science has an answer Townhomes are cheaper to build than single-family homes. Homebuyers and renters may not see savings though, unless a lot more homes hit the market. In our continuing coverage of Washington State's lan...

This was a key story for me to understand housing supply and demand: www.kuow.org/stories/does...

I see it kind of like stories about technology and retraining. As a whole economy, new technologies generally create more jobs than they destroy. But some populations are less likely to get the retraining necessary to make that transition.

Undoubtedly downzoning is a root cause, and upzoning is critical to reverse that. I've written that story many times, having heard it from academics consistently over years.
That's not the focus of this story though. Here I've been looking into unequal impacts.

Thank you. Working on a story about this topic.

Hey Matt, where’s that stat from?
I’m looking for tree/development-related stats

If you're interested in this topic, I'm working on a longer story about the program to air on KUOW's economics podcast, Booming, next week.

Housing advocates hope other bills passed this legislative session could increase the stock of starter homes like this - at least when interest rates go down and builders feel free to start on new projects again.

The expanded program could unlock the door on pricier markets like Seattle. It won't buy a fancy house, but it can cover the cost of some starter homes, such as the new crop of condos being built through Habitat for Humanity.