Joshua McNichols
Growth and Development Reporter
About
As KUOW's Growth and Development reporter and co-host of KUOW's Booming podcast, Joshua's "growing pains" beat sits at the nexus of housing, transportation, urban planning, government and the economy. His favorite stories also include themes of history, technology, and climate change.
Joshua holds a B.A. in Architecture from the University of Washington. Public Radio is his second career; architecture was his first. He is proud of the many odd jobs he's held in his life, such as salmon fisher, author, bike courier, and bed-and-breakfast cook.
Location: Seattle
Languages Spoken: English
Pronouns: he/him
Professional Affiliations: The Society of Professional Journalists, Western Washington Chapter
Stories
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What would make you live in downtown Seattle? Residents answer, city listens
One of the big lessons to come out of the pandemic – is that downtowns need people. Not just office workers – but people who live there. But how do you get people to move downtown? That’s a question Seattle officials are grappling with right now. In part 3 of our series “Downtown Reimagined,” KUOW’s Joshua McNichols went looking for downtown residents to find out what’s working, and what’s not.
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From offices to apartments and back: Could transformable buildings help revive downtowns?
All across this region, we have a housing shortage. On the other hand, downtown Seattle is littered with vacant offices. This has some people asking: Why don’t we turn underused office buildings into apartments?
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Business
With office employees gone, downtown Seattle residents became the neighborhood's economic lifeblood
Downtown Seattle was decimated by the pandemic. Office buildings are 22% vacant right now — that’s like one in five towers being dark. But the downtown core is showing surprising signs of life.
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Government
Should rent be stabilized? Washington lawmakers hear the pros and cons
Supporters say the bills would guard against massive rent increases. Critics say the measures would suppress the production of new rentals at a time when the state is already hurting for housing.
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Business
Can Seattle turn underused office towers into apartment buildings?
They’re already doing it in Tacoma. We explore that idea, along with other strategies to get people to move downtown so they can help revive it.
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What is the social housing initiative? You asked, we have answers
Initiative 135 would create a publicly owned developer that builds and preserves affordable housing. KUOW’s Joshua McNichols recently reported on some of the arguments for and against I-135, which is the only item on the Feb. 14 ballot. We received a number of questions about the initiative. We looked into a few of those questions.
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Middle housing bill passes major milestone in Olympia
Lawmakers advanced a “middle housing” bill out of a key committee this week. It would basically eliminate single family zones, so that people can build duplexes, fourplexes and townhomes instead.
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Social housing in Seattle? Arguments for and against it
Initiative 135 would create a publicly owned developer that builds and preserves affordable housing in Seattle. The apartments would serve a broader range of incomes than most affordable housing does today. We looked at the arguments for and against it.
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Business
How are tech layoffs impacting downtown businesses?
Behind the scenes as we report on the downtown economy
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WA bill promotes dense, walkable communities around transit stops
Many cities across Washington State have invested heavily in transit. But there aren’t a lot of people living around the many stations set to open north and south of Seattle in the next few years. A bill introduced in Olympia aims to change that.