I recommend this book. I learned a lot and really enjoyed it, though how we switch from blaming individual behavior and decisions to system design for our major problems remains elusive.

Another in my occasional series of posting papers that I think should be more widely cited. This paper only has four citations but argues an important perspective.

Delta has now suspended 6 routes and cancelled 2 in the past couple days due to high fuel prices and ostensibly more marginal demand. 🔌💡

Crashes and serious injuries dropped 15 percent and 52 percent respectively in West Harlem after New York City swapped vehicle storage for curbside trash containers, according to data crunched by @davecolon.bsky.social nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/04/17/c...

A guess I'd add to the vibesession causes is that I think the US government is currently dismantling many of the foundations of the US economy (stability, rule of law, education, anti-corruption, international agreements and respect, etc.). So things are fine now but the table has no legs.

It's four flight daily total, but seems like sort of a biggish deal.

The struggle to make Phoenix roads multimodal is different than many other places. (It's insane that a plane was landed on 7th Street, which is one of the busiest arterials in the region.)

Regret to inform everyone that Peter Magyar beat the world’s smartest illiberal populist in large measure by working incredibly hard for 2 straight years, meaning the rest of us are just going to have to get off our asses and do shit rather than just complaining.

Maybe that roundabout will finally get its freight train.

This thread is adding to evidence that HOA fees are becoming problematic. The WSJ had a piece about this last week, too. This isn't just condos, either, and most new housing in the US is built under a HOA. Gift link.

Spider-Man’s foe wanted to turn people into dinosaurs rather than cure cancer. These guys just don’t want to cure cancer, which they could take credit for!

That LA would even consider historic preservation for TV houses so they stay exactly as kids remember them once the grow up seems insane, as LA needs every home the can get. Someone else’s nostalgia is not your housing solution.

Soul Asylum had a song about this strike.

Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, nearly half of Arizona recipients have lost food stamps. 180,000 are children. Read the full story: https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/food-drink/arizona-sees-largest-snap-drop-in-the-country-40658228/

Relative Injury Risk of E-bikes and Conventional Bicycles https://findingspress.org/article/157852-relative-injury-risk-of-e-bikes-and-conventional-bicycles

This essay argues that good public spaces are critical for healthy democracy, and agree. One things cities can do to help the state of things is invest in public community spaces.

This is a good essay about Japanese transit:

Bryce Cristiano wrote a piece about the heat related harms of parking in Phoenix. I enjoyed talking with him for this piece.

This is hardly the biggest issue today, but the only policy responses from Democrats I’ve seen in the face of elevated oil prices for the foreseeable future are pause gas taxes, prohibit Chinese EVs from ever entering the US market, and cutting transit funding.

I rarely think about whether a paper has the right number of citations but this paper I think should be cited much more than 210 times.

Reminds me of this gem.

It seems oddly coincidental that I learn on Easter that Minneapolis guitarist Paul Osby claims to have once been Jesus Christ.

In Arizona Turning Point USA is going after the local power utilities through elections. Is this happening elsewhere?

lol

BREAKING: In response to huge cuts in Trump's budget request, NSF is shuttering its SBE directorate. Staff will be transferred to other parts of the agency and "grants that align with Administration priorities" will be maintained. That & more w/ @maxkozlov.bsky.social & @edwrdchen.bsky.social

The NSF 2027 budget has noted that they will close out the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Science Program (SBE). This is not a good thing. nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/FY-202...

What To Know About ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ https://theonion.com/what-to-know-about-the-super-mario-galaxy-movie/

[April 3rd, 1946] The Minneapolis City Council license committee met to discuss complaints from downtown workers that they were being discriminated against by parking lot operators in favor of the shopping crowd.

Anyway, here are all the #BossDOT songs Bruce Springsteen has released with titles that include “Street,” “Avenue,” “Road,” or “Highway”

Do people with dogs like their neighborhoods more than people without dogs? With a dog, you walk around and see interesting things and meet your neighbors (dog folks, anyway). It seems to me walking around is the best way to come to like a place, and we know that people with dogs walk more. Hǒ

A friend sent me this, which is terrific:

12000 people per square kilometer is roughly what Manhattan or London are.

This looks like a very interesting fellowship opportunity for urban planning and adjacent graduate students and postdocs, especially for those who want to live in Paris for two years. "Research grants within the framework of the two-year theme 2026–2028: “The Image of the City” (DFK Paris)"

Phoenix No Kings was busy and people stayed exactly the in the shade.

Breaking the car dealer cartels is a critical step to improving transport choices and the switch the EVs. Additionally, diminished dealer values opens up redevelopment opportunities in high access areas. Gift link.

I’m giving up cash.

There's plenty of discussion about the impact less international migration has on big cities, which have grown because of immigrants the past few decades. But this is another damaging blow to the fiscal health of transit systems as immigrants are much more likely to be riders than domestic folks. GL

This is very bad for the US. Canada is also dramatically reducing student visas, which makes this all worse. Canada should be able to capitalize on bad US policy here but that’s not happening.

US public transit advocates: don't just envy Europe. Start by envying Canada. www.mironline.ca/how-canada-i...

This is very much a "we're not stuck in there with them, they're stuck in here with us!" turn of events. This should also be standard policy whenever there is a shutdown, because, again, TSA is self-funding and never should be in this position. (Regardless of whatever we think of TSA.)

Marc Barthelemy and I recently published an article in Physical Review Letters titled "Universal Model of Urban Street Networks." We present an algorithm to generate urban street networks that reproduce key empirical characteristics. Paper link: doi.org/10.1103/1vj4... Here's a short summary...

It’s faster to drive to Dallas from Houston and just fly out of DFW, where wait times are about 10 minutes.

Every photo of ICE at the airport has one guy who looks like he just got the joke on a sitcom as he stares at the camera as the frame freezes and the show goes to commercial.

TSA is funded directly through $5.60 fee per one way ticket. Travelers pay for it.

Waymo now takes such a long and meandering route from Sky Harbor that it reminds me of how taxi drivers take advantage of visitors not knowing where they are in order to goose the fare with extra long trips. While the cost doesn’t go up that much, my regular trip is nearly 20 minutes longer.

Zuzu's Petals - Madrid [Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, Girl Punk / Riot Grrrl / Alternative Rock] (1992) taken from debut album on Twin/Tone Records . https://redd.it/1lfltvw https://youtu.be/I19yuIN2UoQ

Here here. There are a few places where it's worth a shot - Nullarbor roadhouse motel and restaurant, Mawson Base Antarctica, and maybe that lighthouse in the North Sea. Everywhere else, growing plants outdoors in soil makes far more sense.

Things are going great at NYC area airports.

I, for one, am happy to see vertical farms wither. Nothing against the technology but outside of small community gardens we shouldn’t farm in cities. In rural areas the infrastructure also doesn’t make sense.

It’s the military-industrial polymarket now.