Is Kirkland really as green as it says it is?
Being a reporter, you learn a lot about your beat. But what you write on a day to day basis is often influenced by the press releases you get. It’s unfortunate, but I simply have not found a way to be in five different places at once. Hence, a good PR person, whether private or government, can be a reporter’s best friend (or worst nightmare).
Today I got a press release from the city of Kirkland on its sustainability efforts. So, just for being proactive, I’m going to tell you, dear reader, about all the things Kirkland is telling me.
First off, I don’t live in Kirkland so I can’t really understand the green things that they’re doing… because I don’t see it with my own eyes. But I do know that they’re making a concentrated effort to become a green city. I also know other cities have complained that they don’t have the time or money to think about green issues because they’re thinking about things like affordable housing. Does the balance matter? You decide.
Recently, Kirkland comissioned a survey to study the “sustainability of its economy.” Though I’m not positive what that means, it’s certainly something. According to that press release the survey wanted to figure out where residents shop, what eco-sound products, services or practices should be available or practiced in Kirkland, etc. (P.S., Kirkland people, I’d love to learn more about these results.)
So here’s what Kirkland wants you to know about it’s green-ness: it has won three 
awards recently for everything from smart planning to counting its greenhouse gas emissions.
It won a 2008 Smart Communities Award from Gov. Chris Gregoire for city-wide zoning regulations that allow for cottage, carriage and two/three unit homes. It won a ICLEI milestone award for conducting a greenhouse gas emission inventory, after which Kirkland adopted reduction goals of 10 percent below 2005 emission levels by 2012, 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 2007 levels by 2050. And it won a Cascade Land Conservancy Stewardship Legal Award for the Green Kirkland Partnership. The partnership commits resources to remove invasive plants and replant parks with native trees and shrubs.
So is Kirkland really as green as it sounds, or does it just have a great pr machine? If you live there I’d appreciate your input, as I don’t and therefore, do not know.
Want to know more about Kirkland’s amazing green-ness? Check out the official site here. More for life in Kirkland? Check out The Eastside Life blog here. Want Kirkland news? Check out Kirkland Views here. And the Kirkland Highlands Real Estate Buzz has some green news here.
Live in another non-Seattle city that can never seem to get out of the Seattle sustainability shadow? Tell me about what your city’s doing below, or e-mail me at katiez@djc.com. I’d love to know what I don’t.
To learn more about the Smart Communities Awards, read the DJC’s story here.
Tags: awards, Kirkland, Measuring performance, Suburban cities
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June 19th, 2008 at 1:39 am
I grew up in Kirkland during my highschool years and my dad still lives in the Norkirk neighborhood, which is just north of downtown kirkland.
For my CEP (Community, Environment, and Planning) program senior project at the UW I worked with Transportation Choices Coalition to audit how sustainable 5 cities transportation system are. They included Kirkland, Seattle, Edmonds, Bellevue, and Redmond. I specifically worked on the parking aspects of the project, however a large portion of the project focused on zoning.
In general I can tell you that each city, besides Bellevue (which is a newcomer to sustainability), had some very encourages policies.
- Kirkland has been especially progressive in its zoning codes and of all the suburban cities it has the most compact and walkable downtown. I also know that the city council and public works department are very committed to sustainability. There is a reason that Kirkland is the model community that agencies like PSCR looks to when they define smart growth.
- Seattle was obviously in the lead. The field that they lead the most in was parking requirements (or lack there of) and on-street parking management. A lot of the changes that have been made in SLU are a perfect model of what a sustainable transportation policies create.
- Edmonds was a surprise to me. They greatly outshine any other Snohomish county city. They are very clear about the kind of development they want in their downtown and it is all good. Of suburban cities Edmonds and Kirkland are tied for the most sustainable.
- As I said earlier Bellevue has been MIA until just recently. They are expecting to take a large portion of the eastside’s growth in a very dense downtown, which is good, however I question what kind of form it will take. Here is one example (please correct me if I’m wrong). Bellevue’s first and only LEED project (Bellevue Towers) is currently under construction while Seattle has how many?
- Redmond has done a lot especially on the TDM side. They are the only city with a TDM program that goes above the state mandated program. They have also implemented a complete street ordinance as well. Until recently however their downtown has not seen much development besides Redmond Town Center.
June 19th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
As a landscape architect working in and with the city of Kirkland, I feel they are doing more than most cities.
Triad was involved with the design of a cottage project within the city of Kirkland and it was a great success with many sustainable and low impact elements worked into the design. The cottage zoning regulations were a great incentive for the developer to create a sustainable project.
The Green Kirkland Partnership is a great program for the removal of invasive species, expanding public awareness of invasive species, and reclaiming native habitits within thier parks and open spaces. But the program is focused on only this item and is not development based. So it may be hyped a bit but still a very important issue.
They also won a Built Green Hammer Award for the city’s Green Building Pilot Program which provides expidited and priority permit review for developers who integrate sustainable practices into thier resedential developments within the city.
So all in all I think they are ahead of the curve compared to most city’s within the Puget Sound region.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Thanks for this post!
January 30th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
[...] Bellevue tends to have a mixed reputation when it comes to green buildings. In my wanderings, I’ve heard about city codes that make it difficult for projects to do low impact development, and green techniques that relate to stormwater. I’ve also heard dissapointed reactions that the city wasn’t more receptive to green building earlier. (For a reaction on how Bellevue has been MIA, see the comments to a previous post regarding Kirkland here.) [...]