Zoning codes would never allow the iconic buildings we now cherish. Seattle’s famous Smith Tower could never be rebuilt on this site because it’s too tall, has too much area, doesn’t step back upper floors, and doesn’t have a gargantuan loading dock
Logan Bowers
@loganb.bsky.social
Toots on housing policy, economics, computing.
Visited a friend in a new development in Bothell. It was all the density of the city with none of the walkabilty. Fine as an affordability matter, but why are we causing this outcome? Some of my AV optimism comes from hoping to break the car spell that drives at least some of it.
David Roberts@volts.wtf · 2d agoI know I'm a fey, out-of-touch coastal elite, etc. etc., not representative of heartland values etc. etc., but still ... I simply can not imagine wanting to live in a place like this.
NEW OP-ED// Op-Ed: Sound Transit Gave Us a Ballard Date. Here’s How To Accelerate It. By Seattle Subway via @theurbanist.org
Op-Ed: Sound Transit Gave Us a Ballard Date. Here’s How To Accelerate It.
Sound Transit recently revealed light rail won't reach Ballard until "around 2060" without further intervention. Seattle Subway lays out a path to greatly accelerate this delivery date, which they call “wildly unacceptable.”
theurbanist.org
Unfortunately this implies we need more military spending no matter what, to rearm. The world is getting more dangerous than any time in the last, probably 50 years.
Sky Marchini@sky.skymarchini.net · yesterday"US has used 'virtually all' PrSM and ATACM munitions" we are out of ammo www.reuters.com/world/us-has...
So the ones that get fired early aren’t getting pardons, right? So in ‘29 they’re gonna have strong incentives to flip on crimes for immunity. (Depending on what pardons the SC lets fly)
David Roberts@volts.wtf · 2d agoNo greater sin in this administration than telling the truth.
(I will also note that the defining trait of the "vibecession" is arguably "lower class incomes growing substantially faster than middle class incomes")
Tomorrow’s ballot in Missouri includes a GOP-backed proposal that would kill the popular initiative process that allows voters to use referendums to enact the policies that lawmakers refuse to act on: boltsmag.org/missouri-ame...
Under this August Measure, All of Missouri’s Recent Popular Initiatives Would Have Failed - Bolts
Republicans have dominated Missouri’s legislature for over two decades, but they haven’t entirely controlled state lawmaking, in large part because Missouri empowers citizens to petition for ballot re...
boltsmag.org
We are currently living in a time in Seattle where city employees are actively and openly requesting we violate state law, here’s the Director of Planning defending an illegal design review program last night bsky.app/profile/qagg...
Qagggy!@qagggy.bsky.social · 6d agoNow Rico Quirindongo is being pulled from the audience to answer questions.
The owner wants to replace the windows with in-kind versions to remove leaks and draftiness for their residents. Landmarks is now saying the state law doesn’t matter and because they designated it late they still want a $50,000 window assessment which makes housing cost more passing that to renters
The QA pool got designated a historic landmark, making maintenance and repair even more obscenely expensive than it already is, draining parks and recreation dollars away from everyone else. 🫠
West Seattle Bike Blob@westseattlebikeblg.bsky.social · 5d agoNumber of public pools by place White Rock BC (pop. 20k): 3 pools West Seattle (pop. 100k): 2 pools
Yeah, totally. Being a good boss and both picking and managing a staff is a real skill! It requires years of practice and experience for all but the most gifted leaders. We’re all responsible for our own choices, but charitably I’ll say I feel bad for her that she may not have known going in.
I think AV boosters recognize that for about 80% of the US population, cars will be the dominant form of transport this century, so AVs represent a more impactful safety improvement.
David Zipper@davidzipper.bsky.social · last wk.Researchers have repeatedly shown that bike lanes, automatic enforcement, and road diets save lives. The safety impact of AVs are far more speculative. Do AV boosters genuinely care about safety? Or is it just a useful talking point?
Just from the information in the article, I think this is a counterintuitive case where recycling is worse for the environment. Glass fibers are just melted down rocks. So who cares if we’re burying waste rock fiber? We’re not short land. Recycling the fibers is… 1/2
John Smillie@johnsmillie42.bsky.social · 2w agowww.ecoportal.net/uk/wind-turb... Opponents love the picture of the landfill filled with turbine blades, but that's not the primary outcome any more.
The nice thing about being wealthy (as a nation) is that you get to spend your resources (earned money) on whimsical things. As an engineer, I feel this way about anything that is a lifestyle brand. But people like branded stuff, so I guess that’s how it is.
David Roberts@volts.wtf · 2w agoSomething I think about a lot is how the US created a system that produces safe, clean, virtually limitless drinking water for every citizen -- a political & engineering miracle for the ages! -- & then went ahead & created a huge, polluting, pointless bottled water industry anyway.
An amazing quote from Lindsey Graham in this Atlantic story. It really captures an essential truth about politics that too few people ever really come to terms with. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
The NIMBYs in Paris (led by an architect, big shocker 🙄) protested one of the most iconic constructions in the world claiming it was “out of scale and ugly”. They are always wrong
Springtime for Hegseth@schroedinger.bsky.social · 3w agoGustave Eiffel had to promise his tower would be a temporary installation to get it approved. Its haters started coming around on it almost immediately after it was built, and within 20 years Parisians would shank you if you suggested taking it down.
Another example is in-unit appliance rental. A big reason this is done is because federal housing money is only available under a specific rent limit that is too low to build in Seattle. So renting out “add-ons” is a workaround for a high CoL city. So the solution is not build subsidized housing.
This is a great example of vibes making renters’ lives worse. Like, for example, pets do increase wear and tear, so the outcome here is either pets get banned, or non-pet renters subsidize renters with pets. How is that a good use of public policy?
Mayor Katie B. Wilson@mayor.seattle.gov · 4w agoJoin me, Councilmember Dionne Foster, City Attorney Erika Evans, and community leaders as we stand in support of new renter protections to curb junk fees and make Seattle more affordable. Rally at 12pm, Council hearing at 2pm. www.capitolhillseattle.com/2026/07/visi...
Make a list of the worst f***ing people in the discourse so we never have to take them seriously again.
Marisa Kabas@marisakabas.bsky.social · 4w ago"she asked for it"
ICE has murdered another person and is using the same lies they told after they murdered Silverio Villegas González and Renee Good. Rest in peace Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.
Man fatally shot by ICE officer during traffic stop in Houston
ICE officers were trying to arrest Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who the Department of Homeland Security said isn’t authorized to be in the country.
nbcnews.com
I’m renaming SEPA the SEattle Process Annihilator - the place where good ideas go to die.
Our Revolution, upon no longer being able to plausibly deny Platner is a sexual predictor: “We were really proud of him and he did great work”
Anyone who wants to come over and wield a 48" pipe wrench at my house to feel extra manly, you are welcome.
