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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

  • caption: Tourists on Coupeville's historic wharf, just off Front Street. They are Darren Humes of Florida, with his daughters Marie Mucciante and London Flowers from Illinois.

    In tiny Coupeville, tourists have returned. Workers have not.

    Now that so many people are vaccinated, tourists are flooding into the Pacific Northwest. That’s true in the tiny town of Coupeville Washington, on Whidbey Island. But there’s a problem. Coupeville can’t hire enough people to staff the restaurants and shops where tourists spend their money. And the tourists have picked up on it.

  • caption: Construction of the Sound Transit Northgate Link Light Rail continues on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, in Seattle. Projects currently under construction will not face delays, but projects still being planned could face delays of between 2 and 10 years, if projected budget shortfalls don't disappear.

    Plan for the worst, or hope for the best? Sound Transit board is torn

    Things are heating up at Sound Transit. Board members face difficult decisions about which projects to delay, given rising construction and land costs during the pandemic. But with the direction politics and the economy are going, some say it may be time to slow down the disaster planning before creating panic.

  • caption: Holly Yang of Kidder Mathews Bellevue

    Bellevue grabs attention of international investors

    Downtown Bellevue has attracted the attention of investors around the world. Amazon has promised to put 25,000 employees there by 2025. New light rail service there could carry 50,000 people a day by 2030. All that change has raised Bellevue’s visibility on the global stage. One Bellevue realtor has been fielding a lot of calls recently from China.

  • caption: Patricia Markovitch owns Alicia Peru with her mother.

    How car-centric Bellevue is embracing a more pedestrian-friendly future

    Bellevue is a city built around cars. But the next chapter in Bellevue’s growth could look very different. During the pandemic, plans have advanced to reorganize Bellevue’s downtown around a pedestrian and bike-friendly route from the shores of Lake Washington – to light rail stations and beyond. That plan is called “The Grand Connection.”

  • caption: Kay Fuengarom is one of the owners of Fern Thai in Bellevue

    On Bellevue's Main Street, businesses look forward to office workers' return

    Main Street in Bellevue runs through the heart of a popular commercial district, just south of Bellevue Square. It’s full of mom and pop shops. Business has been slow for many of them, these last few months. How quickly they recover depends partly on how quickly office workers return.

  • caption: Betty Jones and her daughter Elizabeth Burns

    This quilt was left unfinished during the 1918 pandemic. Now, these women will finish it

    Here’s a story about someone who discovered something unexpected in the pandemic. Betty Jones is 80 years old living in Edmonds. Recently, she was looking around at some old stuff she had, and she found a box. Inside, she found a stack of neatly sewn fabric squares, and a letter written to one of her distant relatives by her great, great aunt.