Brendan Wallace
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brendanwallace.bsky.social
Brendan Wallace
@brendanwallace.bsky.social
UW grad student studying transportation networks | coach/play ultimate | bikes & trains
[on the latest Ezra Klein show]

Kimberly: I don't know if you've bought a car lately...
Ezra: I live in NYC. It is the best part of living in NYC that I did not have to buy a car lately.
Kimberly: Actually I live in Los Angeles and I don't have a car here, which is funny.
Ezra: God bless you.
🔥
March 12, 2025 at 7:36 PM
I can't recommend @leedrutman.bsky.social's op ed from today highly enough. Seriously worth a read

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Opinion | How to Fix America’s Two-Party Problem
Proportional representation could help restore American democracy.
www.nytimes.com
January 14, 2025 at 7:26 PM
I'm so thankful for what @spottnik.bsky.social and SDOT have accomplished in the past few years. As someone who bikes and walks, the city feels like a completely different place. My mom bikes around with me when she visits, she did not used to.

Greg, I wish you the best with whatever comes next!!
December 10, 2024 at 9:02 PM
My impression is that @spottnik.bsky.social is extremely good at getting things through planning and actually built, and tries hard to avoid the "seattle process"
Fortunately, the current administration at SDOT has gotten pretty good at greenlighting projects, so I am hopeful they will finally close this critical gap. bsky.app/profile/thet...
Planning for a bike lane in Seattle has taken nearly 3x as long as building the 31 mile Channel tunnel.

We need to desperately change how we plan and build things at every level of government.
December 9, 2024 at 2:59 AM
I'm teaching a new intro programming class at UW this winter, and for a project I want my students to implement trees and use them for something genetics themed. Could anyone suggest a simple-ish application? Maybe building a covid lineage from (toy) RNA sequences?
December 7, 2024 at 10:48 PM
Reposted by Brendan Wallace
If you’re frustrated this Council all but killed outdoor dining, failed to lift parking mandates citywide, and is considering ebike licensing, allow me to send you a Save the Date:

June 24, 2025
Democratic Primary Elections
December 6, 2024 at 3:30 AM
I've seen the little sketch graphics about this, but to see it in a real-life picture is kind of wild
Approximately 480 commuters in this photo.

200 cars = 240 commuters
4 buses = 240 commuters
November 23, 2024 at 8:44 PM
This is so good
Big news: Senator-elect Jessica Bateman, the architect of Washington's 2023 Missing Middle law as a member of the WA House, will be chair of the Senate Housing Committee in 2025.
November 21, 2024 at 7:15 PM
Randall Munroe... welcome to the The War on Cars? @xkcd.com @thewaroncars.bsky.social

These are both so good... Does anyone know of others?
November 18, 2024 at 6:32 PM
This is a model of desire-path formation I'm working on for my dissertation. Walkers (blue) move between points of interest (orange). They erode the landscape as they go to slowly form trails, and they choose their paths to prefer staying on the trails.
November 17, 2024 at 4:17 PM
Play a board game (say, Settlers of Catan) with two players and you'll find that the cooperative aspects of it (trading) don't make sense to engage in. You'd just as soon hurt your opponent as help yourself. Add one more player and the missing dynamics come back to life.

Our politics is the same!
Delighted to join @wbur.org's On Point for a great conversation what to do re: mounting voter frustration.
Of course, I argue for more parties, and more competition. Better choices, better parties.
Break this goddam Two-Party Doom Loop, already.
www.wbur.org/onpoint/2024...
How to get Americans excited about voting again
Millions of voters who turned out in 2020 didn't show up this year. Why they stayed home or left the top of the ticket blank -- and how we might reinvigorate Americans' belief in voting.
www.wbur.org
November 16, 2024 at 5:54 PM
@leedrutman.bsky.social in Seattle someone just ran for state rep as a "prefers Democratic party" candidate, but now that she lost she's made it clear she's actually quite right-wing. open primaries where you declare your party affiliation and the party gets no say are weird!
November 15, 2024 at 4:40 AM
eyes closed, tongue out
November 15, 2024 at 4:13 AM
Fremont desperately needs a wider sidewalk here. People queue for bagels and pedestrians are forced into the tree planter because the sidewalk is *less than 3 feet wide*!!

Take out 2 parking spots, put outdoor seating in the road, the queue next to the building, and pedestrian walkway in the middle
November 13, 2024 at 10:54 PM
It's wild that this paragraph from 1961 feels topical 60 years later (it's Jane Jacobs)
November 12, 2024 at 9:40 PM
this particular corner on phinney ridge is my favorite spot to watch the sunset
November 12, 2024 at 3:37 AM