The exploded house went and did the most Arlington thing ever… wait for it… wait for it… 🎉 MISSING MIDDLE 🏘️

If you look at Peel's famous list of nine principles for ethical policing in London, I don't see a single one of them that ICE doesn't thumb its nose at:

One theme here is that what Americans think of as "loitering" is often treating a strip mall as a town square. What looks and feels to an affluent suburbanite is often the cultural retrofitting of suburbia into something like an old town

Yeah, I'm scared of heights. But I climbed 528 steps to the top of St Paul's Cathedral in London.

Take a guess how many times I've already almost died from not looking the correct way before trying to cross the street.

I've now seen Stonehenge and the Roman baths in Bath, England. Admittedly neither one of those things have appealed to me, but I'm glad I've now seen them with a knowledgeable guide to weave stories into the experience - that made a huge difference in actually appreciating them.

I'm a grown ass man. Why am I doing this to myself? Yeah, I've read about capsule hotels and am a fan of them policy-wise, but do I really need this life experience for myself? Yeah, I guess so. Now I have a story I can share for the rest of my life, so that's worth $50. #urbanism

I've landed, and taking the Elizabeth Line in 🚇

I finally got to experience fermented shark, hákarl. It was recommended to chew each piece 10 to 15 times, not because it is tough but rather to let the ammonia taste permeate my entire mouth and tingle my tongue. I also had a reindeer burger. 10/10 would do again.

Ironically after the northern lights tour was a bust the previous night, I just got a nice view of them from the hotel rooftop hot tub for free, lol.

Northern lights were a bust tonight, and I likely won't have the time to try again before my trip in Iceland ends, but my consolation prize is a midnight pylsur (hot dog).

What an incredible New Year's Eve in Reykavik, Iceland! I had expected fireworks, but the sheer amount unleashed by residents & tourists in front of Hallgrimskirkja stunned me. I also had the great pleasure to meet up with fellow Arlington resident @samer.is, who hopefully got a better selfie of us.

London urbanists: In a few hours I'll be heading to London (via Reykavik for a few days) for a two week college course ("Design of Cities"). Any London YIMBYs or other urbanists I should meet while there? Any neat housing, transit, or pedestrianization projects I should check out? #urbanism

One of many (too many) ideas I've had over the years was to start a fun, entertaining discussion-based podcast that corrected factual errors in popular media during that week. I wanted to grow that into serving as a "third-party ombudsman" to the infotainment sector. Alas no time & no funding.

Don’t pay rideshare prices this New Year’s Eve! Take advantage of free fares on Metro bus and rail from 8 PM on December 31 to 2 AM on January 1. 🎉

🎶 I'm dreaming of a beach Christmas 🎶 Hello from Jacksonville, Florida, friends. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas.

In lieu of "stuff" as Christmas presents, lately I've been buying treats to give to family. This year I'm taking down to Florida some cake lolipops I bought from JessyPop.com at the @rosslynva.bsky.social holiday market. I already ate an extra, and they are delicious!

Ballston, capital of Washington, DC

Although reforms for financing new housing via a revolving loan program & expanded bonding authority for localities are greatly needed (funding housing is just as important as zoning for it) this is otherwise uninspiring from @abigailspanberger.com. h/t @cbs6-richmond.bsky.social #urbanism

brb gonna go start a gig economy company called Hyperr to democratize hype men

Looks like someone took a machete to all of the young recently-planted sapling trees along Arlington Blvd between N Courthouse Rd and 10th St N 🤬🤬 There are now yard signs warning people that damaging the trees is a class 3 misdemeanor.

The civic association for the neighborhood in which I live in Arlington is trying to block affordable housing while extorting the developers for a new playground for the civic association's private park.

Huh, that's me in the pic testifying. I must have been talking about housing: everyone looks bored. I kid, I kid! @adelemcclure.bsky.social is GREAT on housing & our YIMBY champion. @hopeforvirginia.bsky.social is a fearless advocate for governance reform & reason Arlington is talking about it now.

President Trump’s legal immigration ban is the most extreme of his two terms, explains David Bier. It bans nearly all legal immigration from about 40 countries, covering about 1 in 5 legal immigrants from abroad and nearly 400,000 legal immigrants over three years. ➡️ https://ow.ly/Bn7050XLAxW

I've been a fan of both @theunpopulist.net and @liberalcurrents.com for the past couple of years. They are both great publications that naturally go well together like peanut butter and jelly. I'd love to see more team-ups and crossovers between the writers and even leadership.

Heads up: Texas Jack's BBQ near Clarendon is having their 10 Year Anniversary specials this week, including every cocktail being $10. I am trying the Black Manhattan.

@nbcwashington.com just activated the entire DMV with their evening broadcast to track down the loathsome and reprehensible armed robbers who stole these puppies.

Any local or foreign urbanists / YIMBYs in Reykjavik, Iceland from Dec 31 to Jan 4 and want to hang out? Anyone know of cool urbanism things going on I can learn from?

I'm going to be in Reykjavik for New Year's Eve through January 4th. Any suggestions for fun things to do? Food, museums, cultural tours? I've been once before for a couple of days, and loved it. Yes, yes, I'll ping @samer.is 🤣

New (to me) tool for urbanists: "Upload an architectural render. Get back what it'll actually look like on a random Tuesday in November. No sunshine. No happy families. No impossibly green trees. Just cold, honest, depressing reality." #urbanism h/t @alongthepike.com

Formulaic, and the writing is a little flat at times, but still a solidly entertaining movie.

Submitted my final assignments for the semester. I am now 100% done w/ Fall classes. Big lift was 23-page physical feasibility study of converting part of Clarendon Blvd into a car-free corridor. It's my first "full" proper research paper & I'll keep working on it to be useful to county planners.

#ArlingtonVA was molten tonight! View looking across the river from a friend’s West End DC apartment. @capitalweather.bsky.social

Arlington is evaluating how to limit impervious area in low-density residential neighborhoods to improve stormwater management and create more space for trees. Please share your feedback by Dec. 21. https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Programs/Sustainability/Stormwater/Low-Residential-Study

Is it just me, or does this Facebook ad for Temu read to me as everything about America itself is on sale for cheap? Good bye liberty. All theirs for $3.99. Good bye national monuments. Sold off for $2.50. Good bye democracy. Gone for less than a dollar.

Via @janefgreen.bsky.social: YIMBYs are meeting in County bldg at 9:20am Saturday for morning public comment. One of our Leads is going to speak for a bold pro-growth Comprehensive Plan. Then coffee at Simona Cafe & back in time for the River House hearing. 3rd Floor of 2100 Clarendon Blvd. Join us!

Arlington County should definitely 💯 take full control of Glebe and Langston from VDOT. Without control we will never be able to fix those corridors to improve #VisionZero pedestrian safety or expand transit access. We are at the whim of people who think in terms of highways and faster VMT.

Semester is almost done. I've wrapped up 3 of my 5 courses (Media Criticism, Administration in the Political System, and Money & Markets econ). Working on my final term paper for Transportation Geography and will take the exam for Modern Nonprofit Leadership soon to close it all out. Whew.

Arlington, we have our official snack

Join local legislators this evening to help support Commonwealth Housing Coalition Priority Bills: *Yes In God's Backyard (YIGBY) *Parking Reform *Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) *Housing Near Jobs *Housing Targets Info: www.commonwealthhousingcoalition.org/priority-bills #ArlingtonVA #urbanism

I'm hearing good things about Nick Donohue, our new Virginia Secretary of Transportation. For one, he helped secure dedicated funding for @wmata.com.

Preparing for a final exam and am disappointed as I pour out my flask of bourbon.

YouTube Music's Recap had a neat feature this year that fits your Myers-Briggs personality based on your music listening and other YouTube browsing history. I've received INTP in the past with almost every Myers-Briggs test I've taken, so there might be something to this.

Success! My band posters (with new additions of TV on the Radio and My Morning Jacket) now hung up on the wall behind my desk.

Hanging pictures. I *eventually* got the right hole placement.

@pahlkadot.bsky.social speaks about her #RecodingAmerica work 1) Get the right people, being able to pay and retain talent. 2) Be able to do the work with tools and processes. 3) build purpose-fit systems that are designed for specific needs in govt. 4) Be able to test and implement new systems.

Getting ready to bring Egon Tuckerberg to life, as best I can with my non-douchy wardrobe.

👀 This Thursday evening: a talk on Arlington's history of racially restrictive housing covenants hosted by the Arlington Historical Society, which will "dive into the extensive research conducted to date and mapped by Documenting Exclusion and Resilience, the collaborative web-based project".

Couple of nights ago a friend and I went to Salt in Rosslyn for the first time. Fabulous cocktails! My fav was the G.O.A.T, a goat fat infused vodka cocktail. Also had a fizzy drink on fire and mushroom gnocchi.

@vademocrats.bsky.social win largest majority in 40 yrs w/ huge mandate & immediately pledge to not use it. "‘The word of the day is restraint. We can’t overreach,’ [Del. Don] Scott said during a news conference in [RVA]. ‘We have to be wise with the gift that the voters have given us to govern.'”