Sightline Institute Research

Dec 11 2024 60 ep. 15 mins 1

Sightline Institute Research Podcast artwork

Cascadia’s sustainability think tank brings you a feed of its latest research articles, in text-to-audio recordings. Learn how the region can advance abundant housing for vibrant communities; reform our democratic systems and elections to honor the public’s priorities, including its support for climate solutions; make a just transition away from fossil fuels and into a 21st-century energy economy; and model forestry and agricultural practices that rebuild our soils, ecosystems, and rural economies. View articles in full at sightline.org.

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Parking Mandates Are Keeping Kids Out of Daycare

Dec 11 2024 9 mins

But cities can ditch these arbitrary rules and help families out of the daycare desert. Children can't drive cars. Yet across Cascadia, onerous rules defining how much parking new daycares must provide on-site are blocking those wee non-drivers - and their families - from the care they need. Even as the majority of families live in childcare deserts, jurisdictions that enforce mand

In Race after Race, People Keep Electing Pro-Housing Politicians

Nov 26 2024 9 mins

Contrary to some misconceptions, most voters seem to understand that housing is good. The claim comes again and again like clockwork: That allowing homes to exist can be hazardous to a politician's career. Even at the annual picnic of her own neighborhood association, surrounded by pasta salad and barbeque, Jessica Bateman couldn't escape the threat. It was summer 2019. In her firs

One of Washington’s Anti-Climate Initiatives, 2066, Eked Out a Victory. Why?

Nov 26 2024 17 mins

And how leaders can still help families and businesses electrify for safer, cleaner buildings in line with the state's climate values. Washingtonians narrowly approved Initiative 2066, the ballot measure that will hinder the state's efforts to reduce climate pollution from buildings. It is the only one of the four state ballot measures backed by conservative group Let's Go Washingt

Four Ways Gov.-elect Ferguson and Washington Lawmakers Can Build on the State’s Big Climate Win

Nov 26 2024 20 mins

After Washingtonians overwhelmingly voted to keep the Climate Commitment Act, their leaders have powerful opportunities ahead. Voters in Washington state delivered a resounding endorsement of climate action on Tuesday. They overwhelmingly rejected Initiative 2117, which would have repealed the state's cap-and-invest law, the Climate Commitment Act. In fact, as of the latest ballot

Montana: So Close to Better Elections

Nov 26 2024 6 mins

Primaries featuring more choice for voters and candidates almost became the law in Big Sky Country. Nearly half of Montana voters elected to open Montana's primary elections to all candidates and all voters. They almost made Montana the second state, after Alaska, to adopt this reform that gives voters more freedom to choose. Surprisingly, many of the same voters split their ballot

Almost One in Three Idahoans Wanted Open Primaries and Instant Runoff Elections

Nov 26 2024 3 mins

In the reddest patch of Cascadia, a sizable minority of voters wished for a system to thwart spoilers, promote cooperation, and allow participation beyond partisan labels. In Idaho, about 30 percent of voters saw room for improvement in the state's pick-one, closed primary voting system. But a majority chose to stick with the status quo, rejecting Proposition 1, the open-primary, i

Oregon Elections Will Continue to Suffer Spoiler Candidates

Nov 26 2024 2 mins

The state's voters rejected Measure 117 to implement ranked choice voting in the state, though notably not in places where voters use ranked choice voting locally. Current vote totals show that a large majority of Oregon voters chose not to approve Measure 117, which would have established ranked choice voting for statewide and federal offices (similar to the model currently in pla

Portland Voters Are Shifting into a Higher Gear

Nov 26 2024 4 mins

More choices mean more legwork but should lead to a more effective and representative government. By now, many Portlanders have received and opened their ballots to vote in this November's election. For the first time, they see a grid ballot where they can choose up to six candidates in order, for both mayor and their city council district. Many Portlanders are still learning how t

Idaho Has a Spoiler Problem

Nov 05 2024 12 mins

Closed primaries exclude voters, encourage divisive behavior, and can subvert the will of Idahoans. Janice McGeachin's four years as Idaho's lieutenant governor were fraught with controversy. In what Governor Brad Little called an "abuse of power," McGeachin on two occasions issued wide-ranging executive orders while the governor was temporarily out of state. She also spoke at a co

To Fix Inclusionary Zoning, Fund It

Nov 05 2024 26 mins

Lessons from places that are solving the biggest problem in abundant housing politics and policy. On Labor Day weekend, Sound Transit opened four more stops of its light rail line north of Seattle. But when I took my inaugural ride, I had my eye on something equally important as the shiny new transit line to the future of the region's cities: new apartment buildings sprouting up ne