Cary Westerbeck
@caryw.bsky.social
Architect, developer, builder, placemaker, cyclist, Urbanist, planning commissioner seeking to build civilization...the neighborhood is the amenity. LGBTQIA+ & Black Lives Matter ally, keeping it real in Bothell, WA.
It’s not the basic stuff. It’s that much of it is nonsense, not based on current realities, data, science, or relies on worst case scenarios that hurt affordability, such as requiring 24’ driveways and turnarounds for huge fire trucks on small sites, rendering an infill site unusable.
November 25, 2025 at 3:40 PM
It’s not the basic stuff. It’s that much of it is nonsense, not based on current realities, data, science, or relies on worst case scenarios that hurt affordability, such as requiring 24’ driveways and turnarounds for huge fire trucks on small sites, rendering an infill site unusable.
Wow, so much better than architecture. You’d finish an *electronic* test and then wait about 2 weeks for results in snail mail. It was the stupidest thing ever. And there were 7 tests. Painful.
November 25, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Wow, so much better than architecture. You’d finish an *electronic* test and then wait about 2 weeks for results in snail mail. It was the stupidest thing ever. And there were 7 tests. Painful.
CONGRATULATIONS Max!
November 25, 2025 at 1:00 AM
CONGRATULATIONS Max!
They're basically smaller, boutique, luxury housing and the sales prices are high because they use more land, don't share walls, and fewer fit on a site, among other drawbacks. I'd be happy to see more built, but not in areas zoned for higher density.
November 21, 2025 at 10:06 PM
They're basically smaller, boutique, luxury housing and the sales prices are high because they use more land, don't share walls, and fewer fit on a site, among other drawbacks. I'd be happy to see more built, but not in areas zoned for higher density.
There are about a dozen developments I'm aware of built in the last 20 years or so in Redmond, Kirkland, Seattle, & Shoreline. A bunch of those were built early 2000s with Cottage Co. & Ross Chapin. Bottom line, they squander height and density, so cost more per unit compared to THs, 'plexes, etc.
November 21, 2025 at 9:18 PM
There are about a dozen developments I'm aware of built in the last 20 years or so in Redmond, Kirkland, Seattle, & Shoreline. A bunch of those were built early 2000s with Cottage Co. & Ross Chapin. Bottom line, they squander height and density, so cost more per unit compared to THs, 'plexes, etc.
@pushtheneedle.bsky.social This explanation is exactly what I see and have explained as the reason everybody wants cottages. It's a mini SF home, so empty nesters, singles, couples, and NIMBYs love them. Least threatening of the MM home types. Suburbia lite.
November 21, 2025 at 7:55 PM
@pushtheneedle.bsky.social This explanation is exactly what I see and have explained as the reason everybody wants cottages. It's a mini SF home, so empty nesters, singles, couples, and NIMBYs love them. Least threatening of the MM home types. Suburbia lite.
I've visited that one, built by my friend, Jim Heid. These are in Healdsburg, CA. They are very nice, and were not inexpensive to build or buy. That said, there are small, medium, and large units, and the prices varied. It would be a great place to live, and replaced 1-2 houses there before.
November 21, 2025 at 7:53 PM
I've visited that one, built by my friend, Jim Heid. These are in Healdsburg, CA. They are very nice, and were not inexpensive to build or buy. That said, there are small, medium, and large units, and the prices varied. It would be a great place to live, and replaced 1-2 houses there before.
This is it! So real.
November 20, 2025 at 5:45 AM
This is it! So real.
💯🎯 Agree. And I'm sure disabled folks could pile on here 100x!
November 20, 2025 at 12:22 AM
💯🎯 Agree. And I'm sure disabled folks could pile on here 100x!
While I need them as a guy in my 50s, raising my kids we would frantically seek out bathrooms. Towing little kids all over town will radicalize you about bathrooms real fast. Again, I don't mean to discount anyone bc humans just need bathrooms! When I travel I judge cities by toilet access.
November 20, 2025 at 12:11 AM
While I need them as a guy in my 50s, raising my kids we would frantically seek out bathrooms. Towing little kids all over town will radicalize you about bathrooms real fast. Again, I don't mean to discount anyone bc humans just need bathrooms! When I travel I judge cities by toilet access.
I too would trade the World Cup in Seattle for transit station bathrooms, every time.
November 20, 2025 at 12:00 AM
I too would trade the World Cup in Seattle for transit station bathrooms, every time.