New polling finds Seattle voters growing more pessimistic about City Hall. Support for the mayor's "taller, denser, faster" plan looks strong at first glance, but it falls apart once voters hear both sides. Read the full results.

A move towards more compact and climate-resilient cities is being encouraged around the world. As part of these plans, there is a need to manage the potential conflict between increasing urban densities and the extent of tree canopy in cities. Reductions in tree canopy are a major contributor to the urban heat island (UHI) effect, which will act to reduce rather than increase climate resilience in many cities.

Article challenges the common assumption that compact development and urban greening are inherently in conflict.
It provides a framework for rejecting the false choice between density and nature, arguing instead that cities can accommodate growth while investing in urban forests, public green spaces, and climate resilience infrastructure.

A Chicago study covering 2011–2021 looked at how year-over-year changes in tree canopy relate to mortality, rather than the single snapshot of canopy cover most research uses. Neighborhoods that gained canopy had lower death rates, including fewer deaths from cardiovascular, respiratory, mental health, and musculoskeletal causes. In the city's hottest areas — concentrated on the South and West sides — canopy loss tracked with larger increases in mortality. The takeaway: planting and maintaining trees, especially in heat-burdened neighborhoods, could reduce deaths and build resilience against rising temperatures.

Trees can help mitigate urban heat, but more detailed understanding of cooling effects of green infrastructure are needed to guide management decisions and deploy trees as effective and equitable climate adaptation infrastructure. The study investigated how urban trees affect summer air temperature along sidewalks within a neighborhood of Tacoma, Washington, USA, and to what extent urban trees reduce risks of high summer temperatures.

Through this 12-city study, conducted through the Forests in Cities network, examined how different types of urban green spaces affect air and surface temperatures, with a particular focus on urban natural areas such as forests, wetlands, and grasslands.

Heat Watch Seattle & King County maps neighborhood-level temperature variation across Seattle and King County to identify urban heat hot spots, understand disparities in heat exposure, and support climate adaptation, public health planning, and equitable infrastructure investments.

Analyzes nearly two decades of bird monitoring data collected through the Neighborhood Bird Project, one of the longest-running urban bird community science efforts in North America. The report examines trends in bird abundance and species diversity across Seattle-area parks and green spaces between 2005 and 2023.

Makes the case that urban forests should no longer be viewed as optional amenities or aesthetic features, but as essential public infrastructure that supports climate resilience, biodiversity, public health, and social equity.

A one-pager outlining the Green Neighborhoods Coalition's six principles for pairing Seattle's growth with tree protection, expanded parks, climate resilience, and anti-displacement safeguards in the City's Comprehensive Plan.

GNC wrote to Mayor Wilson on August 26 asking to be formally included in her Housing Production Task Force, which currently has no organizations focused on green space, climate resilience, equity, or displacement. The letter is clear that GNC supports building more housing, and offers to help connect housing production with tree canopy, green infrastructure, and protections for the neighborhoods absorbing the most growth.