Seattle is designated as a Platinum-level community due to top-notch planning and engineering, outstanding outreach and education, and strong enforcement and evaluation practices. Highlights of Seattle’s application include:

• Seattle is a leading example of positive evaluation practices and has developed an outstanding reputation as a walkable city due, in large part, to the understanding of trends in pedestrian travel. This understanding comes from significant pedestrian counts that have been occurring biannually since 2006. Data is collected during the peak summer and winter periods and analyzed for seasonal and time of day impacts on walking volumes.

• One of the main reasons Seattle’s Pedestrian Master Plan is such a successful document is the clear establishment of goals and measurable performance indicators. With the objective of becoming the country’s most walkable city, Seattle established baseline measurements, performance targets, and data collection processes to improve walkability. These indicators fit into the four main goals of the plan: Safety, Equity, Vibrancy, and Health and contain such examples as reaching ten new schools a year with outreach and increasing pedestrian volumes in selected count locations.

Read the rest here.

An inch of rainfall doesn’t sound like much. But when it falls on an average-size roof, it adds up to a 1,900-gallon torrent sluicing off the eaves. That’s an awful lot of water that can cause an awful lot of damage if your gutters aren’t up to the task of controlling it. Yet we barely give gutters a second thought until they’re clogged and overflowing, or ripped from their moorings by ice and snow.

So now that summer’s here, it’s time to take notice. Maybe a simple cleaning is all your gutters need, or maybe they need to be replaced altogether.

If you’re starting fresh, there is a veritable deluge of shapes, sizes, and materials to choose from. Aside from pricey, maintenance-heavy wood troughs and short-lived vinyl ones, the best option for most of us is metal—elegant copper, understated zinc, rugged steel, or affordable aluminum. Metal gutters are durable and need relatively little care.

Pictured: Copper half-round gutters and round downspouts nicely complement traditional house designs. Note how each section has been neatly soldered to the next for long-lasting, leak-free joints and a handcrafted look.

Find out everything you need to know to properly size your gutters and downspouts.

Read the whole article at thisoldhouse.com.

I’d have to say that, for me, some of the most creative and interesting work at this year’s ICFF and its satellite shows came from design students. One of these is Vivian Chiu, a furniture design student at RISD. What first caught my eye was her Inception Chair at the Noho Design District show, then later I noticed her Fu Lei Zhi bench at ICFF as well, and have since visited her website to see a slew of interesting work.

Chiu seems fascinated by repetition and intricate pieces fitting together perfectly in a puzzle-like fashion. Together the pieces create a whole, yet separately, they function (to some degree) as well. In addition to the originality of the work, her craftsmanship is remarkable.

To see more of Vivian Chiu’s work visit her site.