Joshua McNichols
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
Podcasts
Stories
-
Near term: Seattle is in the black. Long term, well...
Top officials at the city of Seattle are trying to plan for the city’s economic future. But, with so many big trends creating so much uncertainty, predicting that future is no easy task.
-
Big-box businesses have taken over Seattle's industrial zones. New legislation could change that
Seattle’s population has grown, and the scarcity of land has led to more big-box stores and more self-storage facilities on industrial land. Now, there’s an effort to preserve that industrial land for industry, whether it’s brewing beer or building ships.
-
Seattle's first affordable housing high-rise tower in 50 years welcomes its first residents
This week, people who used to live outside began moving into a new building on First Hill. It’s the first new affordable housing high-rise tower Seattle has seen in 50 years. It represents a different approach — in terms of scale and strategy — for addressing homelessness in the region.
-
Vacant storefronts are common downtown but rare in Seattle suburbs
Vacant retail stores may be common in downtown Seattle and its surrounding neighborhoods, but they’re exceedingly rare in the Seattle metro region as a whole. In fact, retail vacancy rates are at near record lows.
-
Do townhomes drive down housing costs? Social science has an answer
Townhomes are cheaper to build than single-family homes. Homebuyers and renters may not see savings though, unless a lot more homes hit the market. In our continuing coverage of Washington State's landmark "middle housing bill," which would encourage more townhomes statewide, we dig into the question of whether density can bring prices down, and bring in a (social) scientist.
-
Will increased density through HB-1110 actually lower WA home prices?
KUOW Housing Reporter Joshua McNichols walks us through the details behind how housing density can help lower housing costs through increased supply.
-
Corrections Corner: HB 1110 and Small Communities
KUOW Housing Reporter Joshua McNichols sits down with Soundside host Libby Denkmann to talk about a quick correction to reporting about HB 1110.
-
More housing is on the way, but parking? Maybe not
One parking stall on small lots, two stalls on larger lots: That's all cities can require on middle housing developments, whether the project is a duplex or a six-unit building.
-
Final steps for Washington state's middle housing bill
The middle housing bill passed the Washington State Senate this week. It would allow duplexes and townhomes in neighborhoods now dominated by single-family homes. But where the density goes is still being negotiated.
-
Seattle City Council debates details of proposed $1 billion housing levy
The most recent housing levy will expire this year. On Wednesday, the city council started planning for the next one. Most support the mayor's call for a $1 billion levy, but not without tweaking how the money's spent.