I’ve been working on and off with the Old Bellevue Merchants Association for the past six years on projects that rethink the way they use public space. Tonight, they’re self-hosting their first-ever market, complete with 25 vendors, music, a beer garden, and food trucks. I’m so proud of them!

1️⃣ Hop on the 2 Line toward Redmond. 2️⃣ Hop off at BelRed Station. 3️⃣ Check out this incredible and colorful Andy Arkley art piece, an excellent and dance-y DJ, artist vendors, and Cascadia Pizza. It runs until 8pm tonight!

I want to be very clear: The people who trash downtown Seattle are wreckers, plain and simple.

The pandemic and the phones have really done a number on the social contract.

There’s still a tool available. It’s called an election.

Seattle needs a legitimate alt-weekly. The Stranger is so snarky that it’s counterproductive. The indy journalists are great but don’t have the reporting resources or brand they need. There needs to be a legit newsroom. (Really Seattle needs something like the @inlander.com or @rangemedia.co.)

Sometimes we progressives can be slow to pick up on shifts in the discourse and voter concerns. In cities like Seattle it took way too long to pick up that homelessness and public safety was an issue. Similar thing is happening on the economy. CEOs are doing layoffs — and blaming progressives.

Our region has at least 400 miles of paved and dirt trails, but each is seen as an individual park rather than part of a cohesive system. Spokane could see huge economic benefits if we invested in connecting these into a trail network like other communities have.

Why is Futurewise always talking about stacked flats? A 🧵 (1/5)

It's hard to avoid the conclusion that Bluesky has been a net negative for US politics. They corralled everyone on the left into a little glass fishbowl where they shout at one another & everyone else ignores them. Meanwhile, all the pols & institutions stayed on X & are being dragged farther right.

The tone of this piece is so off-putting that people will probably miss the nugget of truth within it: Washington’s leaders ARE too quick to raise taxes and fees without addressing the underlying system. We can have a more progressive, competitive tax code. We need leaders who’ll fight for it.

The tone of this piece is so off-putting that people will probably miss the nugget of truth within it: Washington’s leaders ARE too quick to raise taxes and fees without addressing the underlying system. We can have a more progressive, competitive tax code. We need leaders who’ll fight for it.

It’s also wild that anyone cares about the legal status of employment. More employment period is better for the American economy. More consumers. More tax take. More gross domestic product growth. More R&D capabilities. More use of institutions. More wealth and prosperity for every single American

This is a party asking to die

If only the state legislature would pass laws that actually address safety issues, like the noise camera bill or the BAC bill www.krem.com/article/news...

#GoSpo today, #GoSpo forever. 🏡

Do you think there are ~410,000 voters in King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties who would sign an initiative to the legislature on a bill to Fix Sound Transit governance, planning, and operations?

After many years of delays, looks like the McKinley School project might finally be kicking off -- it had another Pre-Development Conference. Supposedly $4.5M in construction costs. - 29 housing units and 1 retail unit in the school itself - 64-72 units in new buildings around the school

Downtown Seattle is still only at 64% of office foot traffic compared to 2019. To make that up with residents we would need to add 49,000 more homes and to grow the downtown population by 75% (from 109k to 190k). www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

In the seven years since the pandemic, my fare has been checked on Sound Transit zero times. I ride at least weekly, and more like 3 days/week recently. Why even have a fare at that point?

In the seven years since the pandemic, my fare has been checked on Sound Transit zero times. I ride at least weekly, and more like 3 days/week recently. Why even have a fare at that point?

I work in public space management. It is extremely important to understand that the demise of Pig Out cannot be distilled to a single cause. Yes, events like this are more expensive to stage. Yes, vendors and partners are requiring more commitments, sooner. But consumer demand is also changing.

Spokane for the win, as usual. 🙌

News: The state’s Growth Management Hearings Board has ruled that Mercer Island’s recently-adopted Comprehensive Plan failed to adequately plan for housing for all income levels. The case, brought by @futurewise.bsky.social, was the first big test of HB 1220, one of WA’s big new housing laws.