Neal Peirce has an interesting piece on city planning well worth reading. Check it out here. Could Seattle pull off what Barcelona has done? Yes, if we really want to.
I can think of several areas of Seattle that could use some Barcelona-type innovation:
- the Aurora Avenue North corridor
- Interbay
- Georgetown
- the Rainier Avenue South corridor
and perhaps other areas, too. What I like most about what Peirce writes about is how Barcelona has apparently integrated development with historic preservation, protection of homes for current residents, affordable housing incentives, and shared costs for infrastructure improvements.
Closely related to urban development is the need for strong public school education. David Brooks continues the discussion about education reform in this piece. Brooks gives kudos to President Obama's insistence on education reform. (Read my post about education reform and transformation I witnessed during a recent visit to Mercer Middle School in Seattle.)
