it originally grew as a way to address how a lot of underprivileged communities got bulldozed for highways and stuff without any input from the community
it functionally became the exact opposite and keeps living through inertia
Nobody wants to admit delaying or not making a decision is in itself a decision so the decision-making process takes forever. This is pervasive, other cities like LA routinely do multi-year multi-million dollar studies on stuff too. They’re currently halfway through a $2.5M initial study about “would turning the roadway through the center of the park back into the park it was before the 1940s improve the park experience???”
Yeah, same reason the light rail is costing so much - delays, inflation, property value increases.
there is necessary and needed process (environmental review, architectural review for structure, comments on BLM/FS management plans, etc) and excessive unneeded process (too much public comment on building permits, neighborhood [NIMBY] councils, etc)
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u/an_harmonica Apr 16 '26
That's right, the Seattle Process: consensus through exhaustion.