Matt Gertz
@mattagertz.bsky.social
📍Seattle. Transportation. Cities. Coffee. Other stuff? 🏳️🌈
Pinned
Matt Gertz
@mattagertz.bsky.social
· Jan 13
Alert: if you want to follow the Media Matters guy, I’m not him. Try @mattgertz.bsky.social
It’s (kind of) snowing!
February 19, 2026 at 6:41 PM
It’s (kind of) snowing!
Reposted by Matt Gertz
Yoon Suk-yeol has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
February 19, 2026 at 7:02 AM
Yoon Suk-yeol has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Reposted by Matt Gertz
Cc: John Roberts
The judge is also stating that South Korean society as a whole has suffered immeasurable damage due to Yoon's insurrection, a cost that the entire nation must now bear.
February 19, 2026 at 6:57 AM
Cc: John Roberts
Reposted by Matt Gertz
Pioneer Square Alliance speaking out against this because it doesn't fit into the historic character of the neighborhood asking for more process.
If we are going to ban bike and scooter parking because they aren't historic, can we also ban all cars since the neighborhood pre-dates cars?
If we are going to ban bike and scooter parking because they aren't historic, can we also ban all cars since the neighborhood pre-dates cars?
February 18, 2026 at 5:20 PM
Pioneer Square Alliance speaking out against this because it doesn't fit into the historic character of the neighborhood asking for more process.
If we are going to ban bike and scooter parking because they aren't historic, can we also ban all cars since the neighborhood pre-dates cars?
If we are going to ban bike and scooter parking because they aren't historic, can we also ban all cars since the neighborhood pre-dates cars?
Reposted by Matt Gertz
Hopefully we won't be adding another example to this list, but I've heard there will be some opponents speaking out against the "loss" of [illegal] street parking, so do comment if you can. Not sure how street parking is historic the neighborhood that was built before cars, but there you have it...
In recent years, Seattle historic preservation groups have:
🪜 blocked removing ladders at Gasworks where 3 have died
🅿️ blocked housing to keep a historic parking garage in Pioneer Square
🏠 blocked housing in wealthy neighborhoods because of "historic" Craftsmans
🚙 tried to keep cars in Pike Place
🪜 blocked removing ladders at Gasworks where 3 have died
🅿️ blocked housing to keep a historic parking garage in Pioneer Square
🏠 blocked housing in wealthy neighborhoods because of "historic" Craftsmans
🚙 tried to keep cars in Pike Place
February 18, 2026 at 12:33 AM
Hopefully we won't be adding another example to this list, but I've heard there will be some opponents speaking out against the "loss" of [illegal] street parking, so do comment if you can. Not sure how street parking is historic the neighborhood that was built before cars, but there you have it...
Reposted by Matt Gertz
Seventh Immigrant Dies in ICE Custody This Year
open.substack.com/pub/austinko...
open.substack.com/pub/austinko...
Seventh Immigrant Dies in ICE Custody This Year
Lorth Sim, a Cambodian national, died in ICE custody on Monday according to an announcement sent to Congress today, marking the seventh detained death of 2026 and nearly the 40th since Trump took offi...
open.substack.com
February 18, 2026 at 1:51 AM
Seventh Immigrant Dies in ICE Custody This Year
open.substack.com/pub/austinko...
open.substack.com/pub/austinko...
Reposted by Matt Gertz
It's also important to note, that just putting up signs and paint at corners to increase visibility is not sufficient (www.nyc.gov/html/dot/dow...). You need to "harden" the corners by adding a curbbulb or corner corral. Otherwise sometimes drivers will make the turn even faster sadly.
February 17, 2026 at 6:13 PM
It's also important to note, that just putting up signs and paint at corners to increase visibility is not sufficient (www.nyc.gov/html/dot/dow...). You need to "harden" the corners by adding a curbbulb or corner corral. Otherwise sometimes drivers will make the turn even faster sadly.
Reposted by Matt Gertz
Recent CBS News news:
1. Anderson Cooper leaves 60 Minutes after two decades
2. Stephen Colbert reveals network won’t let him air interview with Dem
3. Producer says politics dictating what airs
4. Owner’s bid for CNN parent back on the table.
5. Not firing Epstein pal.
1. Anderson Cooper leaves 60 Minutes after two decades
2. Stephen Colbert reveals network won’t let him air interview with Dem
3. Producer says politics dictating what airs
4. Owner’s bid for CNN parent back on the table.
5. Not firing Epstein pal.
February 17, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Recent CBS News news:
1. Anderson Cooper leaves 60 Minutes after two decades
2. Stephen Colbert reveals network won’t let him air interview with Dem
3. Producer says politics dictating what airs
4. Owner’s bid for CNN parent back on the table.
5. Not firing Epstein pal.
1. Anderson Cooper leaves 60 Minutes after two decades
2. Stephen Colbert reveals network won’t let him air interview with Dem
3. Producer says politics dictating what airs
4. Owner’s bid for CNN parent back on the table.
5. Not firing Epstein pal.
Seriously who is asking for this? I need this bubble to burst.
Meta has secured a patent for an AI system designed to simulate a user’s social media activity, including the ability to continue posting after the user’s death.
(www.businessinsider.com/meta-granted...)
(www.businessinsider.com/meta-granted...)
February 17, 2026 at 5:09 PM
Seriously who is asking for this? I need this bubble to burst.
Reposted by Matt Gertz
Sitting with the fact that if you run over someone and they become trapped under your car until first responders can lift it off, and then the person who you hit dies, you get to walk away if you come up clean on a drug and alcohol test.
February 17, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Sitting with the fact that if you run over someone and they become trapped under your car until first responders can lift it off, and then the person who you hit dies, you get to walk away if you come up clean on a drug and alcohol test.
Reposted by Matt Gertz
it keeps going back and forth between being infuriating and funny how much we study this when the answer is always the same and it never matters
My god do we need UBI
“Researchers have found that when a new plasma center opens in a neighborhood, foot traffic at local grocery stores increases, interest in payday loans declines and crime goes down, an indication of the way money from plasma props up households’ finances for necessities.“
“Researchers have found that when a new plasma center opens in a neighborhood, foot traffic at local grocery stores increases, interest in payday loans declines and crime goes down, an indication of the way money from plasma props up households’ finances for necessities.“
Middle-class Americans are selling their plasma to make ends meet
Last year, people in the U.S. made an estimated $4.7 billion selling their plasma. Donation centers are popping up in middle-class neighborhoods, including suburban strip malls and college towns.
www.nbcnews.com
February 16, 2026 at 4:56 AM
it keeps going back and forth between being infuriating and funny how much we study this when the answer is always the same and it never matters
Reposted by Matt Gertz
LA City Council: serving hyper local special interests over the greater good since 1850
Melrose was supposed to undergo a complete streets makeover from Highland to Fairfax that would have installed stormwater gardens to mitigate flooding, among other critical safety improvements. The previous councilmember killed the project
February 16, 2026 at 8:48 PM
LA City Council: serving hyper local special interests over the greater good since 1850
Reposted by Matt Gertz
(1/11) If you live in NY, you’ve probably started seeing a new warning: “THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.” This mandatory disclosure went into effect late last year, and it’s the first attempt by a US state to grapple with a new generation of surveillance pricing.
February 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM
(1/11) If you live in NY, you’ve probably started seeing a new warning: “THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.” This mandatory disclosure went into effect late last year, and it’s the first attempt by a US state to grapple with a new generation of surveillance pricing.
Reposted by Matt Gertz
15-Minute Cities are the best-branded idea in the history of urbanism. There is no mainstream critique. The only opposition comes from a cadre of conspiracy theorists so unhinged, they equate convenient grocery shopping with totalitarian government.
February 15, 2026 at 5:32 PM
15-Minute Cities are the best-branded idea in the history of urbanism. There is no mainstream critique. The only opposition comes from a cadre of conspiracy theorists so unhinged, they equate convenient grocery shopping with totalitarian government.
Hey I’m just glad to road diet we did on Anaheim St in Wilmington as a precursor to the ATP project didn’t get undone like McOsker kept talking about doing. Turns out the safety data showed that a lane reduction improves street safety. Who knew!
The City of LA is about to give back millions of dollars of previously won money for active transportation projects because it can’t build things in any reasonable amount of time.
February 14, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Hey I’m just glad to road diet we did on Anaheim St in Wilmington as a precursor to the ATP project didn’t get undone like McOsker kept talking about doing. Turns out the safety data showed that a lane reduction improves street safety. Who knew!
Reposted by Matt Gertz
LA's inability to deliver these projects by biting off more than they could chew meant that $100M worth of worthy projects across the state were robbed of funding.
Those projects could have been implemented while LA was sitting on this money, squandering scarce public resources.
Those projects could have been implemented while LA was sitting on this money, squandering scarce public resources.
February 14, 2026 at 7:03 PM
LA's inability to deliver these projects by biting off more than they could chew meant that $100M worth of worthy projects across the state were robbed of funding.
Those projects could have been implemented while LA was sitting on this money, squandering scarce public resources.
Those projects could have been implemented while LA was sitting on this money, squandering scarce public resources.
Reposted by Matt Gertz
The City of LA is about to give back millions of dollars of previously won money for active transportation projects because it can’t build things in any reasonable amount of time.
February 14, 2026 at 6:21 PM
The City of LA is about to give back millions of dollars of previously won money for active transportation projects because it can’t build things in any reasonable amount of time.
Reposted by Matt Gertz
Wakey wakey Bluesky boyfriend bebes! Happy Valentine’s Day - you’re all truly to die for 🤗 🥰
February 14, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Wakey wakey Bluesky boyfriend bebes! Happy Valentine’s Day - you’re all truly to die for 🤗 🥰
Reposted by Matt Gertz
It’s so hard to imagine no BART that it’s challenging to process that phase 2 (cutting service 70%, closing 15 stations) will ultimately lead to BART suspending service entirely.
Slashing service would crater ridership and revenue and lead to end of BART.
We must pass Connect Bay Area measure!
Slashing service would crater ridership and revenue and lead to end of BART.
We must pass Connect Bay Area measure!
February 13, 2026 at 11:55 PM
It’s so hard to imagine no BART that it’s challenging to process that phase 2 (cutting service 70%, closing 15 stations) will ultimately lead to BART suspending service entirely.
Slashing service would crater ridership and revenue and lead to end of BART.
We must pass Connect Bay Area measure!
Slashing service would crater ridership and revenue and lead to end of BART.
We must pass Connect Bay Area measure!
I haaaate being mostly homebound and that injury recovery is not a quick fix. I need to leave the apartment but it’s still agony to walk more than a block or on a hill. Good thing Seattle isn’t a hilly city.
February 14, 2026 at 1:04 AM
I haaaate being mostly homebound and that injury recovery is not a quick fix. I need to leave the apartment but it’s still agony to walk more than a block or on a hill. Good thing Seattle isn’t a hilly city.
Reposted by Matt Gertz
After housing, this is the next big zoning reform: the right to do business. Always found it odd that the USA, supposedly the land of the free market, makes it the hard if not outright illegal to open a business in most places.
Like many other planning failures, this one's also rooted in racism.
Like many other planning failures, this one's also rooted in racism.
The al pastor taco truck at sleepy North Berkeley BART is booming every night with neighbors, cyclists and families. Imagine what we could do with fully legalized street vending citywide.
February 13, 2026 at 2:52 AM
After housing, this is the next big zoning reform: the right to do business. Always found it odd that the USA, supposedly the land of the free market, makes it the hard if not outright illegal to open a business in most places.
Like many other planning failures, this one's also rooted in racism.
Like many other planning failures, this one's also rooted in racism.
I don’t get why people add people on LinkedIn they don’t know/haven’t met without sending any kind of message. If I haven’t interacted with you, I need you to at least say hello.
February 12, 2026 at 6:55 PM
I don’t get why people add people on LinkedIn they don’t know/haven’t met without sending any kind of message. If I haven’t interacted with you, I need you to at least say hello.
Reposted by Matt Gertz
I know we dream a lot about the Big Beautiful Obituary, but the day Pam Bondi gets imprisoned for life for her role in facilitating the coverup of the biggest child sex trafficking scandal in US history is also going to be a very good day
February 11, 2026 at 4:57 PM
I know we dream a lot about the Big Beautiful Obituary, but the day Pam Bondi gets imprisoned for life for her role in facilitating the coverup of the biggest child sex trafficking scandal in US history is also going to be a very good day
Reposted by Matt Gertz
With the race still too close to call, former congressman Tom Malinowski conceded to challenger Analilia Mejia in a Democratic primary to replace the seat vacated by New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill. n.pr/3O9gZ4H
Malinowski concedes to Mejia in Democratic House special primary in New Jersey
With the race still too close to call, former congressman Tom Malinowski conceded to challenger Analilia Mejia in a Democratic primary to replace the seat vacated by New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill.
n.pr
February 10, 2026 at 7:55 PM
With the race still too close to call, former congressman Tom Malinowski conceded to challenger Analilia Mejia in a Democratic primary to replace the seat vacated by New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill. n.pr/3O9gZ4H
IT band acting up after running too much/too hard. This is what I get for starting to run in my mid-30s I guess?
February 10, 2026 at 7:48 PM
IT band acting up after running too much/too hard. This is what I get for starting to run in my mid-30s I guess?
