Our old approaches to planning, including transit-oriented development, assume that we separate our days between home and work, and for many people on many days, that is no longer true. One third of the workforce in Bellevue doesn't regularly travel to work.
The plans look good on paper, but there has been only limited development in these downtowns, with little housing to buy and too little attention to livability.
While much of Vancouver's investment in the public realm has gone into pedestrian and recreation improvements, most of Seattle's has gone into moving workers and freight.