On this episode of CascadiaCast I chat with Patty Lent, Bremerton Mayor and former Kitsap County Commissioner. Bremerton is the largest city in Kitsap County and home to the strategic Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Lent shared that she strongly believes families, Millennials, and the Navy are key to Bremerton's future success as a regional economic and cultural hub. She highlighted the importance of school-to-job pipeline programs and the city's capitalization of its downtown waterfront. We also discussed her vision for high speed ferry service to Seattle (and how to get tech companies to pay for it), a recent surge in housing developments, and the lost battle to bring NASCAR to the Pacific Northwest.

In this episode I sit down with Michael Maddux, a paralegal and Democratic Party leader running for Seattle City Council in District 4. Michael helped spearhead the formation of permanent parks and recreation funding through the voter-approved Seattle Parks District in 2013. And hailing from Eastlake, a neighborhood that has not seen its fair share of public investment over the past two decades, Michael has a vision for a more vibrant and equitable city. His ideas include reforming the land use code to better protect neighborhood character while increasing housing stock, improving how police officers and construction workers are recruited from within the community,  creating a more progressive tax structure, and investing more in schools as the city grows.

This week I'm joined by Cory Crocker, an active University District resident who helps head up U District Square. The group is working to secure parks and open space amenities as the neighborhood rapidly grows and faces a population boom with the arrival of a light rail station in only six short years. The U-District has a dearth of open space that the city is trying to address, and Cory is passionate about the option of a large central plaza. He's also been working on a streetscape project with a new parklet and possible sidewalk cafes. We also discussed the medley of transportation and housing options in the neighborhood and recent trends in the design and management of public space.

Today we start with Ben Schiendelman, a software developer who moonlights as an activist and policy wonk in the realms of transportation and land use. He founded Seattle Subway and cofounded local websites Seattle Transit Blog and The Urbanist. We discussed the future of the Puget Sound, including a vision for high speed rail and the potential impacts from climate refugees, along with the prevailing political headwinds that are challenging better urban development today. Ben also shared his views on removing height limits, how Sound Transit should expand, and the upcoming Seattle City Council races.