Okay but that definitely won’t affect any of the outlets I like or potentially want to work for, right?

Looking over some old docs at the moment, and Plano really did go all out for DART when they got light rail service back in 2002.

From yesterday's @dallasnews.com editorial piece on Plano increasing its property tax rate. Decisions like this might seem unrelated, but how cities manage their revenue and land is immediately upstream of transit.

We have to find a new state for the pundit class to be weebs over for a bit. Personally, my vote would go to India because endless think pieces about the Dedicated Freight Corridor Project would make the American rail market squirm in a really funny way.

DART system maps have been updated to include the new Silver Line, which will open on October 25th.

"You know, a lot of people have that Texas pride and are just proud of Texas and all this stuff. Well, clearly those people aren't from here. This is one of the most pointless places I've ever seen." - Jim Stobie on Temple, TX

How come Jefferson City, Independence, Joplin, and other smaller Missouri towns had streetcars, but Columbia never did?

Which platform do you prefer for reading articles and following authors on, Medium or Substack? I plan to keep publishing on both sites, but I'm trying to figure out which one I should primarily link to.

Finally

Hands down the best prose I’ve ever seen on the suburbs, from The City in History by Lewis Mumford.

I've made a rough back-of-the-envelope map of the origins of rail DART right-of-ways. Granted, I have taken some liberties with what counts as what kind of right-of-way. Obviously something like the Cityplace tunnel is not an old route, but it does follow an old right-of-way, so I counted it.

Started it today for an upcoming piece on downtown McKinney. The man's not wrong.

Shapiro didn't manage to stop the SEPTA cuts, Newsom seems reluctant to bail out BART, and Pritzker has yet to save CTA funding. Political memories can be short, but I would be surprised if these decisions, however they go, don't come back around in a few years during the Dem Primary.

Getting some peak fall semester aesthetics this afternoon.

🧵In Dallas and 18 other cities, the Texas Legislature has made it legal for developers to build multifamily or mixed-use projects on any land zoned commercial, retail, office, or warehouse without a zoning change. Like here, on Columbia Ave. in East Dallas.

The actual Dallas flag from 1916–1954. I kinda like it.

SHIP IT ON THE FRISCO!!!

Some stunning photos of DFW transit from photographer Blair Kooistra:

It's been like five hours since I cleared these. I cannot possibly be that important.

New story about trains and corporate mergers, and why you should never ever stop spending money on the railroads. medium.com/p/c6ab8375d4f0

American river barges seem like a really poetic mode of transport, yet I never see anyone talk about them or reference them in media. Feels like a missed opportunity.

Some great photos of Texrail from u/AstroG4 on Reddit. These pics really show that while TexRail essentially uses a freight rail right-of-way, it never really uses freight tracks, instead weaving through railyards and junctions with viaducts.

Thinking of that @katewagner.wehwalt.net post about spending all your time writing when you should've been reading, because every time I think about starting a new story, I realize I need to read a dozen books first.

For @thenation.com i wrote about how I think Trump’s ballroom is vaporware and also about the 80s lore behind his choice of architect www.thenation.com?post_type=ar...

Thinking about this tonight

I should not be trusted with access to an academic library.

The DART board voted to delay a final decision on proposed service cuts, buying time but losing money.

the people who made this thing should be treated like dealers who mix fent into drugs.

Actually ran into this photo for the first time at the Mizzou Library yesterday.

Some recent articles have been mentioning Dallas alongside cities like Philly and Chicago in terms of transit funding crises, but I think DART's predicament is a little bit different, though still related. (1/5)

Conor is peak, and I won't hear otherwise from anyone.

Here's Dallas map for SB840: gray areas are "probably applies" green is "definitely applies".

New Macbook Background

The DART Chatbot only gets better.

I don't think that is true, Mr. DART chatbot...

Many, many, many such cases!

Imagine your city's flag having the skyline and landmark of a different city in it

Wrote a new piece for @dmagazine.bsky.social about the latest Dallas transit news and the leaky roof in the DART HQ, among other visual metaphors.

sometimes those negatives that never got scanned turn out to be the most useless construction site photos ever

"I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand"

Also, TexRail feels weirdly low here. I've been on those trains pretty recently, and I saw them consistently getting riders. I'm not sure if frequency or long operating hours are distorting the data, or maybe those trains just felt more crowded than they actually were.

These number aren’t pretty for DART, to say the least.

Jesus Christ, the A-Train

Hi Missouri

Going to college in Missouri fixed this problem for me.

Bye Texas

We are so back

I don’t know what I should post on here compared to twitter, should I just duplicate everything?

The T&P Station building gorgeous, probably the best skyscraper in Fort Worth.