Viva La Cola!

Founded in January 2009, PubliCola is a blog about Seattle written by journalists who are dedicated to non-partisan, original daily reporting that prioritizes a balanced approach to news. Started by longtime local editor and award-winning reporter Josh Feit, PubliCola is the first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol.

PubliCola was off and running. In June 2009, PubliCola hired another award-winning journalist, super-sourced Seattle city hall reporter Erica C. Barnett.

People were afraid that blogging would change journalism. Instead, we believe journalism can change blogging. Twenty-first century journalism may look and feel different, and yes Erica isn't afraid to get cranky, but we're committed to making sure online news still delivers independent, reliable, even-keeled coverage. And most of all, we're committed to making sure the coverage sparks honest civic debate.

Bringing you cola for the people, PubliCola is named after Publius Valerius PubliCola, the alias for the authors of the Federalist Papers—the original bloggers.

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The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

This Morning

News   May 5, 2010 at 8:11 am Josh Feit

Last Friday’s announcement about playing to our strength—politics news—doesn’t mean we’re  actually going to  stop living in the city that we’re so riled up about. We’re still going to post about cool bands and restaurants—the cultural life that makes the politics stuff all the more important—when we get a chance.

For example, our “Last Night” feature is still in the mix. Erica’s supposedly got one queued up for later today about her adventures on the bus last night. She texted me something about a guy lighting up a crack pipe.

And here’s a “This Morning” post.

I was sixth in this bike line up on my morning commute downtown this morning.  Maybe it’s because of this, but whatever the reason, it added to my sense that the times they are a changin’.

The latest numbers have Seattle at No. 3 in the country when it comes to the percentage of people who bike to work—we’re at 2.9 percent. The national average is .4 percent. And we’ve jumped 52 percent in the last decade, from 1.9. That trounces our population growth over the same time—6.2 percent.




  • Guest

    I agree! Last Friday evening, on my ride home, (before Bike Month officially began, by the way) I was one of about a dozen cyclists in the bike lane queued up at Denny and Dexter.

  • N8

    “Maybe it’s because of this…” Does the 'it' in this sentence refer to the number of cyclists or to the accident (possible caused by many new/amateur cyclists)?

  • davidhiller

    I don't believe Josh was referring to a collision, but rather that he was queued at the light with half a dozen other bicycle commuters.

    At Dexter and Mercer, large volumes of bicyclists queueing at the light during peak hours has been common for some time , but as we complete or improve the network of facilities, we're seeing it happen more frequently throughout the city.

    For whatever its worth, I'm pretty anxious to see what we observe in the city's upcoming bi-annual neighborhood bicycle counts in September.

  • Trevor

    I bet no one has ever done drugs on Sound Transit.

  • Josh Feit

    I changed “pile up” to “line up” to make it clear that I wasn't talking about a collision or accident, which I wasn't.

  • alexjonlin

    The other day I saw someone biking down Capitol Hill while smoking a joint. That's not safe.

  • Barleywine

    Safer than biking up Capitol Hill though, eh?

  • Chris Stefan

    I knew Seattle's share of bike commuters was high, but I didn't realize we are #3.

    Something maybe to remember when discussing how much better a cycling town Portland is. If with the hills, weather, and lack of first rate cycling infrastructure we're doing this well, think of what the numbers could be with some investment and active promotion by the powers that be.

    I'd also say that Seattle has a fairly high bike share for non-commute trips as well. Sure people may not be picking up a load of lumber on their bike, but plenty seem to go to the grocery store.