Portland view from the OHSU Aerial Tram

December 26, 2024

Looking across Portland’s South Waterfront by OHSU, where mid‑rise lab and clinic buildings line the riverfront. The district is tied together by the Portland Aerial Tram and the car‑free Tilikum Crossing just to the south—seen here near this Street View pano.

Opened to the public in 2007, the tram connects the South Waterfront campus to OHSU’s main Marquam Hill campus, carrying commuters and patients up the hillside in a few minutes. Alongside the streetcar and light rail, it helped catalyze South Waterfront’s transformation from industrial yards into a dense medical and research hub.

Roosevelt Light rail station

August 5, 2025

From inside Roosevelt Station, looking into the Link light rail tunnel. The neighborhood has seen steady infill around the station, with mid‑rise housing and small shops replacing surface parking and older low‑rise structures.

Downtown Seattle’s transit tunnel opened in 1990 for buses and was retrofitted for light rail in the mid‑2000s; Link began service through downtown in 2009, later extending north. Roosevelt Station opened in October 2021 with the Northgate Link Extension, connecting the U District and Northgate to the spine toward Capitol Hill, downtown, and Sea‑Tac. Photographed near NE 66th Street.

Rotterdam Centraal – Metro tunnel, Line E

November 4, 2010

Underground at Rotterdam Centraal’s metro platforms, looking toward the light at the end of the tunnel. Bands of colored LEDs wash the tunnel wall, a contemporary counterpoint to the clean concrete and steel of the rebuilt station. This is the north–south trunk that carries RET services, including Line E.

Line E is the former Hofpleinlijn reborn as part of RandstadRail, linking Rotterdam with The Hague via the Blijdorp tunnel, Pijnacker, and towns like Berkel en Rodenrijs. The integration opened in stages in the late 2000s–early 2010s, tying the metro directly into the main rail hub. Above ground, Rotterdam Centraal’s new hall and forecourt were delivered by Team CS (Benthem Crouwel, MVSA, West 8), reshaping the station area for cyclists and pedestrians.

Exterior view at Rotterdam Centraal, Stationsplein.

Seattle – MoPOP

August 5, 2025

Frank Gehry’s undulating, metallic form houses the Museum of Pop Culture (originally the Experience Music Project), a museum founded by Microsoft co‑founder Paul Allen and opened in 2000. The building’s colorful skin and sculptural volumes were inspired in part by deconstructed electric guitars, a nod to Seattle’s deep musical lineage from Jimi Hendrix to grunge.

Over the years, the institution broadened beyond music to film, science fiction, gaming, and contemporary pop culture, officially adopting the MoPOP name in 2016. The museum anchors the Seattle Center campus next to the Space Needle—seen here from 325 5th Ave N—and remains a striking piece of 21st‑century architecture.

U District – Recycled Fashion Store mural

August 7, 2025

The University District’s main drag, “The Ave,” has long supported a rotating gallery of murals and hand‑painted storefronts—thrift and vintage shops especially—set alongside cafes, student bars, and record stores. This block looks toward the University Post Office (4244 University Way NE), an anchor for the corridor.

Growth around the University of Washington has periodically remade the strip: streetcar days, post‑war expansion, and most recently light rail, which brought new housing and foot traffic. Through it all, The Ave’s low‑rise storefronts have remained a canvas for neighborhood identity—murals refreshed by local artists as businesses change hands.

Vancouver – 1313 Main St, construction

August 28, 2025

Downtown Vancouver’s Esther Short district at 1313 Main St, a corridor that links the city’s historic core with the waterfront. The area has steadily infilled with mixed‑use housing and retail, replacing surface parking and low‑rise commercial buildings.

Centered on Esther Short Park—the oldest public square in Washington—the neighborhood’s renaissance accelerated in the 2000s–2010s with civic investment, independent restaurants, and the nearby Waterfront Vancouver project. Construction at 1313 Main reflects that momentum, as longtime institutions like iQ Credit Union share the street with new residential and storefront spaces.

The Alaskan Way Viaduct, Seattle

April 28, 2002

April 28, 2002

For over 65 years, the Alaskan Way Viaduct was a prominent and controversial feature of Seattle’s waterfront, running along Alaskan Way. Opened in 1953 as part of State Route 99, the elevated double-decker highway offered breathtaking views of Elliott Bay and the Olympic Mountains, but was also criticized as an eyesore that cut the city off from its shore.

After being damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, its seismic vulnerability became a major concern, and its fate was sealed. After years of public debate, the viaduct was permanently closed to traffic on January 11, 2019, and replaced by a two-mile-long tunnel that runs beneath downtown. Demolition of the iconic structure began shortly after and was completed in late 2019, forever changing the Seattle cityscape and opening up new public spaces and views.