My latest Urban Upgrade column for the magazine is out.

It's about a recipe for revitalization in Southeast Seattle inspired by the Transit Oriented Development concept. TOD is a popular idea in urban planning that new development should tack to transit lines and hubs to create vibrant one-stop shop communities, where you can get to work, get to the store, get to entertainment, and get home without getting in a car.

The recipe in Southeast Seattle is for Food Oriented Development. The city and neighborhood activists want to leverage both the Rainier Beach urban farm and the neighborhoods diverse community, to create a food Mecca that will inspire growth.

If you really want to get into the weeds, here's the report that was prepared for the city on the idea, which includes the notion of a "Kitchen Incubator." 

The column begins:

IT’S TYPICALLY NOT until a neighborhood shows signs of revitalization that the farm-to-table bistros pop up and artisanal hot dog food trucks roll in. But what if it were possible to flip that formula and food inspired growth?