Laura
@3deckerlaura.bsky.social
Housing, street safety, ultra-local politics. Somerville, MA
Guest Column from @aclum.bsky.social: For Privacy Advocates, License Plate Readers Are A Bigger Threat Than Carefully-Regulated Speed Enforcement Cameras mass.streetsblog.org/2026/08/05/g...
Guest Column: For Privacy Advocates, License Plate Readers Are A Bigger Threat Than Carefully-Regulated Speed Enforcement Cameras - Streetsblog Massachusetts
Traffic enforcement cameras do not pose the same threats to privacy as license-plate-reader surveillance, which is already in widespread use in Massachusetts.
mass.streetsblog.org
Beginning to think we should just abolish Milton www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08/05/m...
Milton schools aggressively investigate residency. Black students face more scrutiny, records show. - The Boston Globe
Milton’s tactics stand out compared to other school districts. In some cases, the town pays police officers to conduct surveillance of children’s homes.
bostonglobe.com
big 'we're all trying to find who did this' energy from the latest from the mayor on boston's streets
Well good news I guess www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08/04/b...
Waltham’s mayor vetoed a big new housing plan. The City Council said do it anyway. - The Boston Globe
The 15-member council voted overwhelmingly to override the veto and approve a special zoning district for a 135-acre stretch of office buildings off Winter Street owned by BXP, the city’s largest taxp...
bostonglobe.com
Laura@3deckerlaura.bsky.social · 4d agoI feel like I’ve forgotten how to read, is the veto rationalization really ‘you can’t build a new neighborhood close to existing neighborhoods’?? www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08/01/b...
He may ride forever ‘neath the streets of Boston He’s the man who never returned
Giovanni Colantonio@marioprime.bsky.social · 2d agothe odyssey is a realistic depiction of what it’s like when you’re trying to get home to your girl at 2 am on the mta. it’s always some shit
genital inspections to play sports are wrong at any age, but requiring them pre-puberty is a real “the cruelty is the point” moment
Ben Collins@bencollins.bsky.social · 3d agoCan't think of a thing that will radicalize a generation faster than "you've gotta let that old man in the corner over there see what's inside those pants before you play Kindergarten volleyball."
This is more Markey performative nonsense. The right answer is to use the money to electrify commuter rail and make it accessible. Way more ROI on that! www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08/03/m...
Pointing to Massachusetts’s fare-free experiment, Markey, Pressley press for a $25 billion federal free transit plan - The Boston Globe
The proposed legislation points to the success of free bus pilots that federal lawmakers say made Massachusetts a “national leader in fare-free transit policy."
bostonglobe.com
I feel like I’ve forgotten how to read, is the veto rationalization really ‘you can’t build a new neighborhood close to existing neighborhoods’?? www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08/01/b...
In Waltham, big landlords want to replace an old office complex with new homes. The mayor says no. - The Boston Globe
Plan to put housing in a Waltham office parks in Waltham meets a mayoral veto. Now what?
bostonglobe.com
No professional accomplishment has ever made me happier than this. theonion.com/translator-o...
Translator Of Original ‘Minions’ Epic Poem Slams ‘Sexless, Bloodless’ Film Adaptation
PHILADELPHIA—In a 4,500-word essay published in Harper’s Magazine, Emily Wilson, known for her popular translation of the Minions epic poem, blasted the latest film Thursday as a “sexless, bloodless” ...
theonion.com
there literally are no good-faith concerns about trans girls participating in high school sports. it is children playing games with their friends, its about confidence and relationship-building. let kids play with their friends.
Michael Hobbes@michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 7d agoGood-faith concern on this issue would be going, "hmm, professional sports leagues should probably have some standards in place to ensure trans competitors aren't getting an unfair advantage," googling for 5 minutes, realizing every sports league already has those standards and dropping it.
it’s pretty remarkable how one of Zohran’s COGE proposals is to streamline construction of bus and bike lanes while Michelle Wu is doing the literal opposite, bogging them down in red tape for some reason
StreetsblogMASS@mass.streetsblog.org · 2w agoA public records request reveals how @mayorwu.boston.gov's election-year "review" of transportation projects created a duplicate layer of authority inside City Hall that fomented confusion and stalled urgent safety initiatives: mass.streetsblog.org/2026/07/22/f...
This is peak both sides bullshit, because bike lane opponents don't care about "creating safe streets for everyone." They care about parking and being able to speed. And they draw false equivalences between drivers and bikers that car-brained pundits like Joan Venocchi lap up eagerly. Such garbage.
The Boston LOL 💜 🚲 ⚡@thebostonlol.bsky.social · 2w agoAnother day, another 💩 anti-bike editorial, this time in the Globe @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social Absolutely fact-free Joan Vennochi screed that says Vision Zero is unpossible and bikers choose their own deaths 😡 LET THEM KNOW THIS IS TRASH letter@globe.com www.bostonglobe.com/2026/07/22/o...)
nice to see some names get named
StreetsblogMASS@mass.streetsblog.org · 2w agoA newly-released FOIA dump of @boston.gov emails reveals extensive failures in internal communications, dysfunctional working relationships, and erosion in employee morale inside @mayorwu.boston.gov's City Hall: #mapoli mass.streetsblog.org/2026/07/22/f...
cops hate automated enforcement *because* its fair. They conceptualize their role not as punishing rulebreakers but punishing "bad people" (poors and minorities). They dislike red light/speed cameras because they wind up punishing "good people" for doing something they see as essentially harmless
William B. Fuckley@opinionhaver.bsky.social · 2w agoit's fucking insane that so many people get away with hiding their license plates so that they can get away with running red light cameras and cops mostly don't care (I'm sure some of them do on their personal vehicles too). like this is something where broken windows policing actually makes sense.
I don’t think you should uncritically print that the elderly and disabled must drive and can never bike
Cambridge Day@cambridgeday.com · 2w agoOn Broadway, bike lane debate continues In the densely-populated neighborhood, concerns about accessibility, safety remain....
1. In an incredible new landmark review, the Health Council of the Netherlands has declared that gender-affirming care for trans youth works, reducing wait times is "morally urgent," and regret is rare. It is the latest of many Euro countries to advance care. Subscribe to support our journalism.
Landmark Official Dutch Review Recommends Trans Youth Care, Call For Expanding Treatment
The review finds that wait times must be shortened, that few people detransition, and that trans youth care has enormous benefits.
erininthemorning.com
i think people look at homelessness as a relatively new phenomenon and reason backwards to think that in the Before Times, poor people must've all been able to afford houses/their own apartments etc. Most of the housing types the poor used were actually just outlawed (boarding houses, SROs etc)
Max Dubler 🏳️🌈@maxdubler.com · 2w agoThe two hardest and most unforgiving facts in housing policy are that it actually costs a lot of money to build new homes and that the rents that poor people can afford are not enough to pay off the cost of construction.
MNDOT’s “Bike+” is a far better and clearer branding for bikes and the various micromobility devices that operate like bikes than anything else out there. If we were to rebrand on-street facilities as ‘bike+ lanes’ I’d be very happy.
Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT)@mndot.mn.gov · 2w agoHey, MN! We're updating our Statewide Bicycle+ System Plan and want to know: • How do you use bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters? • What improvements would most impact your experience? • What changes would encourage you to ride more? Visit our website to take the survey. 🚲
Waiting for the bus out by Teele and saw a bunch of coach buses go by, presumably practicing for tomorrow? Including one double decker bus, and wouldn’t that be a wild commuting experience
You don’t miss the area being ‘gritty and authentic ’ you miss being young.
not an art thief@famousartthief.bsky.social · 3w agorich people don’t live in “gritty” places this is just romanticizing poverty. poverty is a bummer, generally.
Environmental review helps to tackle the tough trade-offs, like "This will prevent the spread of disease" vs "The containers may not blend into the visual character"
And yet the Globe ran a front-page story by a vehicular cyclist blaming Louisa for her death.
The Boston Globe@bostonglobe.com · 3w agoA week after a truck struck and killed Boston transit planner and cyclist Louisa Gag, there is still very little known about the circumstances of her death.
I wish this "speed cameras are cash grabs" trope would die. We have recent studied in the U.S. showing that after an initial surge in ticketing, fines decline as behavior changes and people speed less.
No. This thinking needs to change. Apartments are homes and should not be thought of merely as buffers between busy roads and 'real' neighbourhoods. Just stop. www.therecord.com/news/waterlo...
Faster buses matter—in fact, they are at the core of making transit work for people.
Alex Hudson@blacksandpaper.bsky.social · 3w agoComing home from a community meeting in N Aurora tonight my two-bus trip home took 77min. It’s a 14min drive. That’s the hidden time tax riders pay every day. I never take for granted how far we’ve come in delivering a fair transportation system in Seattle, and yet we have so much further to go.
That's right. Anti-immigrant hysteria in America is always an exercise in telling people that the sky is green. They can simply look around at their immigrant neighbors, co-workers, friends, service providers, etc. & see it's not true.
Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li@sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com · 3w agoagain, i really cannot emphasize enough, the united states has accepted an enormous number of immigrants over its history, and--this may come as a surprise to you--they integrated pretty successfully like there's just no there there
People are gonna fucking hate this if it actually happens. Enjoy all these post 8am sunrises
Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 3w agoThe House overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill to make daylight saving time permanent