Michael McLean
@michaelmclean.me
Ideal city: ⚛️ nuclear-powered, 🏙️ dense housing, 💰 affordable, 🚇 transit. Aka Chicago. Posting about those things here, and trying to make them better IRL.
Vote, knock, and donate to this campaign
Patrick Gilsenan for 32nd Ward@patgilsenan.bsky.social · 2h agoYou can’t solve a housing shortage by saying “no” to housing. We need to build more homes, protect renters, and make sure the 32nd Ward is a place where people can afford to put down roots and families can grow. My thoughts on housing and affordability: www.patrickfor32.com/news-updates...
This is huge news. Jeff is a titan. Also a 'where there's smoke' situation for the haters.
Techmeme@techmeme.com · 1h agoJeff Dean and three other Google execs are leaving to launch Discovery Loop, which will seek AI-powered breakthroughs in drug discovery, chip design, and more (Steven Levy/Wired) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
The leaded gasoline side of Chicago Facebook has discovered quick build crosswalk bumpouts that I didn’t even know existed. Anyone know the spec?
Burbank, Roth, and now Beaudion have all done the right thing and consolidated for the independent candidate. They are all patriots. But in Montana, Bankhead has an ego the size of the sun and still refuses to do it. Polling shows she wont win, but the independent is break even. Aug 10 is deadline
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 18h agoJulian Beaudion, the Democratic Senate nominee in South Dakota, dropped out, clearing the way for an independent candidate to challenge Senator Mike Rounds, the Republican incumbent.
The Michigan primary result you should really be fretting about is the Ann Arbor mayoral primary, where the pro-housing incumbent (Christopher Taylor) lost to the nimby-aligned DSA guy (Yousef Rabhi)
Edmonton’s broad upzoning has (so far) added $15 million to the city’s yearly property tax revenue.
Jacob Loo Dawang@jacobdawang.com · yesterday🧵 NEW POST: Edmonton’s $15M infill property tax dividend Matching permits to assessment data shows that small-scale infill from just 2024-26 will grow the tax base by $1.8B, and revenues by $15M. That's equivalent to a 0.7% property tax rate increase! #yegcc www.jacobdawang.com/blog/2026/pr...
There’s a chance this Cubs team makes the World Series. Our triple A pitcher just dog walked the Dodgers and got the win over Skubal 😮💨
Chicago Safe Streets PSA: There is a town hall meeting Aug 17th for Chicago Ave improvements at Ukrainian Cultural Center. The 36th Ward has requested this meeting prior to the project moving forward. If you live in the area & want safer streets please attend if able www.chicago.gov/city/en/site...
chicago.gov
Aldermen, and CDOT, are still comfortable designing bike lanes that literally kill city employees
C Tomaszkiewicz @ctomaszkiewicz.bsky.social · 21h agoAnyway to design this so the bike lane doesn't zig-zag into the door zone between intersections?
YIMBY martial law. Build the towers, or else you get fined $10k per unit of housing that is blocked! Incredible state level wins by CA YIMBY. www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/a...
Exclusive: In Menlo Park housing fight, Bonta sends a potential warning to California cities
The decision by California’s attorney general offers a glimpse into how the state intends to enforce a growing collection of state housing laws aimed at limiting local development.
sfchronicle.com
Here’s the clip of Mendoza blaming bike lanes and CTA crime for congestion, rather than, you know, the cars.
Jeremy Glover@jgrantglover.bsky.social · yesterdayJust listened to Susana Mendoza taking caller questions on In The Loop. Somebody asked about traffic congestion and the first thing she did was blame bike lanes. The second was to blame crime on CTA, as opposed to bad service. Disqualifying.
Susana Mendoza just slammed the Archer Av. bike lanes as a debacle that has made traffic worse, saying that Archer used to be a great shortcut & a fast thoroughfare. On @wbez.org with @sashaannsimons.bsky.social Anyone who has ever traveled on Archer knows this is BS. It's always been a car sewer
There's a new 8 flat going up next to my condo, and the building permit took 396 days to be approved. If you are wondering why there is a housing shortage...
A white guy shot up some Tesla owners in Idaho while they were charging at a supercharger, and Elon didn't say anything about it. Weird!
A fond goodbye to my Avondale apartment, which breaks every part of its RS-3 zoning and could never be built today ❌ 12 units (2 unit max) ❌ 40 ft tall (30 ft max) ❌ 260 sq ft lot area/unit (2,500 min) ❌ 0 ft rear setback (35 ft min) And way above the 0.9 floor-area ratio cap
Vision zero would save more lives than preventing all murders from firearms
David Zipper@davidzipper.bsky.social · yesterdayNew research shows that the US has been a global laggard curbing crash deaths. If the US had merely matched improvements in 14 peer nations, 500,000+ lives would have been saved from 2000-24. doi.org/10.1080/1538...
On the beach across from urbanist Bluesky’s favorite development
Car into townhome in West Town Chicago @carintobuilding.bsky.social abc7chicago.com/post/west-to...
'A car is in our house': Vehicle remains lodged in couple's West Town townhome after crash
The couple was told that the car cannot be removed until there's an inspection by the Buildings Department.
abc7chicago.com
July was a HUGE month for @divvybikes.bsky.social ! 🚲 ✅1M+ rides - a new monthly record ✅Busiest day ever, with 47,400+ trips on July 11 ✅New stations near popular lakefront destinations ✅New charging station outside the Obama Presidential Center www.chicago.gov/city/en/dept...
chicago.gov
There are more interviews, details, and pictures in this than there are for articles about people horrifically dying
Block Club Chicago@blockclubchi.bsky.social · 2d agoA botched overhaul of a North Side dog park is leaving pups with bloody paws, pet owners say. blockclubchi.co/4fAG43P
This IMO is the best ongoing study of NYC congestion pricing. An update w/data thru 6/26 is encouraging: "The toll raised cordon-area speeds by 11%, with little effect on air quality, consumer spending, or foot traffic. Speeds also rose outside the cordon." shoshanavasserman.com/papers/the_n...
I don’t know what the hell they are doing with the Facebook algorithm but anytime I open the app it shows a bizarre post like this from someone I don’t know. Usually has less than 5 engagements.
I don't like our multi-mile contraflow bike lanes. What I like is using them to improve crossings at major intersections in shorter two-block stretches. I wrote and visualized where they could go in Chicago. Article: nikhunder.substack.com/p/using-cont... Viz: nikhunder.github.io/Short-Contra...
Using Contraflow Bike Lanes in Chicago
Using them in smaller stretches and how they can improve connectivity.
nikhunder.substack.com
First idea for our Secretary of State: Hold drivers accountable. We simply don’t do that at all in this city. Put more of them in jail.
Michael McLean@michaelmclean.me · 3d agoI guess it’s time for me to start submitting ideas here. Uh. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
There’s a pretty good chance that Skubal starts his first Dodgers game at Wrigley field this week
