Neighborhoods: Seattle's first public housing development, Yesler Terrace has been highly successful, and a source of pride for its residents and the rest of the city. Its history brings together Seattle's New Deal politics with award-winning mid-century design. More.

Public Policy: The City of Seattle is currently assessing the impacts of height and density changes downtown. This proposal is coming directly from the Mayors office, in hopes of promoting more development downtown and increasing livability in urban neighborhoods. What do changes in height and density zoning have to do with preservation? How does the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) consider historic resources? Why should you care? More.

Voices: James Fearn, general counsel for the Seattle Housing Authority, is chair of Historic Seattle's governing council. He has been an active member of Seattle's preservation community since the 1970s when he worked in the City of Seattle's law department. In this interview, James shares his thoughts about the value of preservation, the evolution of the local movement, and what's keeping preservation from becoming all that it needs to be in Seattle. More.

Preservation & Environment: In the best possible scenario, preservation satisfies more than one community goal: e.g., the preservation of a cultural asset also preserves open space, or air and light, or helps attract tourist dollars. Once in a while, however, the significance of the cultural versus natural environment at a historic site provokes controversy over what really is the best use. Such has been the case in at Fort Lawton and Seattle's Discovery Park for over 30 years. More.

Techniques & Technology: The Nisqually Earthquake of February 2001 hit a number of landmark properties hard, and in some cases cost property owners millions in repairs and seismic upgrades. Many of these property owners applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for low interest loans of up to 1.7 million dollars for earthquake-related repairs. FEMA received 336 applications following the Nisqually quake, 68 of which were withdrawn. Of the remaining 267 applicants, only one was denied -- the Seattle Hebrew Academy, located in a landmark convent building on Interlaken Boulevard. More.

Pending Landmarks: The controversy surrounding First United Methodist Church will heat up again with the release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement related to the new, 35-story development proposed for the historic church site. The building is now threatened by demolition, made possible by a 1996 State Supreme Court ruling siding with the church in its claim that landmark designation impeded its First Amendment right to practice religion freely by restricting its ability to generate income to support its mission. The ruling also coincided with the end of an era for landmark designations for historic religious properties in this city. But this January, Seattle's Landmarks Preservation Board will review a nomination for Mount Baker Park Presbyterian Church, gladly supported by the congregation. It's been 18 years since the last designation of a historic religious property in Seattle.