I am begging you not to believe gazillionaire baseball owners when they tell you Skubal going to the Dodgers means we need a salary cap. Competitive balance is not the reason they want a salary cap. They just want to spend less, and with more predictability, on total payroll. That is all.

It’s time for the Seattle Parks Department to move into the 21st Century: build and preserve places for people, not cars.

Qagggy!@qagggy.bsky.social · 5d ago

I hope this is the last year we allow Genesee Park to be used as a parking lot for Seafair. It creates a large barren space that degrades the park year round.

Exploring Granville Street Pedestrian Zone today with Downtown Van showing us the big success and the problem points and learnings they’ve had along the way!

Stone Way is a major gap in the safe bike infrastructure (blue on the map). Seattle won’t reach Vision Zero or substantially increase the share of bicycle travel until we fix such gaps www.reddit.com/r/seattlebik...

“Can we build Ballard link” is a central question for the American transit construction establishment.

Ryan Packer@typewriteralley.bsky.social · 5d ago

Sound Transit: "If the region does not secure additional savings or financial capacity and must wait for existing revenues to accumulate, Link service to Smith Cove, Interbay, and Market Street could be delayed until around 2060." www.soundtransit.org/blog/platfor...

A masterclass in how to conduct an interview in an era when vibes matter more than information

Razzball@razzball.bsky.social · 2w ago

2 thoughts, 1. this should be how all interviewers go after every single oligarch. 2. Generational loser shit from Elon when he hears his Twitter follower count and mumbles "popular guy"

Great movie. The 20 year long journey home reminds me of navigating our SEPA process. We’re approaching that for Fort Lawton and Missing Link. media1.tenor.com/m/_AzWdWsoOB...

Councilmember Eddie Lin@cmeddielin.bsky.social · 3w ago

Excited to watch Odyssey at Tasveer cinema in Columbia City. Plenty of tix left and great location!

Counterpoint: www.seattletimes.com/life/food-dr...

Dutch Bros Coffee plans first Seattle location in a former Starbucks

Dutch Bros Coffee will open its first location in Seattle on the site of a former Starbucks in Sodo, according to a construction permit filed last month.

seattletimes.com

The Needling@theneedling.com · 3w ago

Seattle Mourns Starbucks as Old Locations Fill with Infinitely Better Coffee and Pastries: tinyurl.com/bp797hn2

Environmental review at the urban level has become a farce.

Ryan Packer@typewriteralley.bsky.social · 3w ago

The project on the left is completely through environmental review and is approved to move into construction and the project on the right needs more environmental analysis, everything is working great.

So many single points of failure

Ryan Packer@typewriteralley.bsky.social · 4w ago

Two things are true at the same time: ST has made immense improvement on service disruptions. And demand to use the system is so high that the current lack of redundancy is going to continue to cause problems.

SEPA when you want to grow by one million people in a sustainable and compact way:

Qagggy!@qagggy.bsky.social · 4w ago

One achievable aspiration for Seattle is to gain a metro population equivalent to Sydney, Australia. So, about a million more people with a substantial portion inside the city limits.

STRAIT IS OPEN

George Pearkes@peark.es · last mo.

We're getting some really encouraging headlines from Hormuz today. *USUAL HORMUZ TRAFFIC LANE MAY HAVE ABOUT 80 MINES: IMO

“We do a Watergate twice a day” is a crazy way to confess your own corruption…

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last mo.

JD Vance: "I think Nixon's historical legacy is enjoying a bit of a renaissance, and deservedly so. I joked that if Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12 hours news story. The idea that it took down a presidency is crazy."

Heidi Simon: “We know what works. We don’t need more studies. We need the will to get done what needs to get done – and that means changing the roads.” Beth Osborne, Heidi Simon, Joe Martinez and Nichole Rogers walk us through Dangerous by Design 2026, by @smartgrowthusa.bsky.social (link below).

This budget request is moving forward, but Claudia Balducci and Jorge Barón did put secure funding for a report asking for Zahilay's full RTO strategy. That amendment followed a failed attempt to put a hold on the funds to reopen the Admin Building until that report was delivered.

Ryan Packer@typewriteralley.bsky.social · last mo.

The King County Council is about to approve a budget request from Girmay Zahilay's office, which includes $5.4 million in facilities upgrades and moving expenses to support the county's 3-day RTO mandate. Several county employees are commenting at council right now, voicing concerns about the plan.

Rerouting and reclaiming SR 99 through South Park would result in an 86% reduction in Pollution Generating Impervious Surfaces, per this report. It really seems like that would help Southern Resident Killer Whales more than keeping housing banned.

Olraca@olraca.bsky.social · last mo.

Reconnect South Park and Seattle released their Potential Futures Analysis report today. www.seattle.gov/documents/De...

We build vehicles that weigh 9000 pounds with 1000HP, can go 0-60mph in 3 seconds and market them recklessly. We then ask people to wear construction vests to cross the street. This is all so beyond absurd and it's truly incredible that we've normalized this.

live feed of Trump's name being removed from the Kennedy Center: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZfk...

Trump Name Removal from Kennedy Center

YouTube video by C-SPAN

youtube.com

In total transit ridership per capita, the highest ranked large urban areas are: 1—NYC 2—SF 3—DC 4—Boston 5—Seattle 6—Chicago 7—Philly 8—LA 9—Portland 10—Salt Lake www.urban.org/urban-wire/t...

@mclindblom.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I'm catching plenty of reader comments that say "What about New York?" "What about Chicago and Washington, D.C.?" A little known subtlety, found in the National Transit Database, tells us that metro Seattle transit use is slightly more per capita than Chicago, and similar totals to Philly.

You know some folks said hardly anyone would ride this line … It is beyond gratifying to see so many people get use out of it so quickly. 🚊☀️🎉 www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

Seattle’s daily light rail ridership jumps to No. 1 in U.S.

An expert called Sound Transit's 58-mile, two-line system the busiest light rail in the U.S. Sound Transit noted the system acts like a subway in places.

seattletimes.com

Million-dollar car storage condos in Seattle suggest all capital isn’t fleeing Washington state. www.seattletimes.com/business/whe...

New $1M ‘condos’ in Seattle will house people’s things, not people

Collectors of luxury cars and yachts may soon have a place to convene and showcase their possessions near the Ballard Locks.

seattletimes.com

Wait, so there are multiple single points of failure?

Ryan Packer@typewriteralley.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This impacted riders on the entire network, including the 2 Line. Can we actually talk about building "the spine" without the long term fix for the at-grade segment though the Rainier Valley?

It's not just coho (and getting pointed to articles like this is why I subscribe to @theoverheadwire.com newsletter. thanks Jeff!)

Tire Pollution May Threaten Human Health, Study Finds

e360.yale.edu

Sound Transit’s $34.5B funding gap and delayed lines are a sobering reminder: the richest nation on earth has a systemic capital project delivery crisis. If we want a sustainable, mobile future, we absolutely must solve our project costs and controls problem. www.king5.com/article/news...

'No longer affordable': Sound Transit outlines future of light rail projects

Sound Transit passes funding gap plan, prompting a sweeping overhaul of its ST3 expansion plan and delaying some projects while seeking new revenue sources.

king5.com

Sound Transit Sacrifices Light Rail to Ballard, Moves Long-Deferred Graham Station Forward, in Latest "Realignment" Claudia Balducci, the longest-serving board member, told PubliCola the latest crisis has made her rethink the transit agency's governance by a changing roster of elected officials.

Sound Transit Sacrifices Light Rail to Ballard, Moves Long-Deferred Graham Station Forward, in Latest "Realignment" Plan - PubliCola

By Erica C. Barnett The Sound Transit board voted to approve a new “affordable” light rail plan on Thursday afternoon…

publicola.com

Studying up for tomorrow’s big @sound-transit.bsky.social vote and trying to stay positive by soaking in the atmosphere at the Spring District, our biggest TOD success story. Feel free to drop thoughts in the comments. Or show up and join the fun. It’s a beautiful evening for reading amendments.

Good news for cash-strapped cities hesitant to upzone: "Building homes near existing jobs, stores, and transit saves public dollars, in both up-front infrastucture and ongoing maintenance, and produces more property taxes per acre than local gov'ts can expect from development at the edge of town."

Building Homes Near Jobs, Stores, and Transit Saves Public Dollars

Amid a national housing shortage, momentum is growing at the state and local levels to make it easier to build more homes—a proven way of reducing unaffordable rents and home prices. A key question fa...

pew.org

Work is underway to perform the first-ever station platform extensions on #SkyTrain's Canada Line. Broadway-City Hall Station will see longer platforms for more room, before the station turns into a transfer hub with the Broadway Subway. #vanpoli #vanre dailyhive.com/vancouver/ca...

Canada Line station platforms extended for interchange with Broadway Subway | Daily Hive | Urbanized

The platforms of the Canada Line's Broadway-City Hall Station are being extended for the interchange with the Millennium Line extension.

dailyhive.com

Exciting news!

Abigail Murray and Bashir Tofangsazi: “Our results indicate tickets are not associated with locations of high-fatality intersections when taking race into effect, indicating safety was not a motivating factor in jaywalking enforcement.”