City Observatory
@cityobservatory.bsky.social
Original research and commentary on what matters for city success.
This is AI: braddelong.substack.com/p/wetware-ha... Using a roiling boil of 3000-dimensional linear algebra to output the word-sequences I hope will please the human, w/o having any idea what the words mean, 'cos I have zero world model & understand neither events nor time nor duration as concepts.
Wetware-Hardware Centaurs, Not Digital Gods: Wednesday MAMLMs
Faster GPUs won’t conjure a world model from out of thin air we’re scaling mimicry, not understanding: that is my guess as to why the MAMLM frontier is spiky, with breathtaking benchmarks...
braddelong.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 4:22 AM
This is AI: braddelong.substack.com/p/wetware-ha... Using a roiling boil of 3000-dimensional linear algebra to output the word-sequences I hope will please the human, w/o having any idea what the words mean, 'cos I have zero world model & understand neither events nor time nor duration as concepts.
Reposted by City Observatory
what concerns?
that they're actually affordable?
they aren't massive?
they're less deadly to pedestrians and cyclists?
that they're actually affordable?
they aren't massive?
they're less deadly to pedestrians and cyclists?
President Trump, apparently enamored by the pint-sized Kei cars he saw during his recent trip to Japan, has paved the way for them to be made and sold in the US despite concerns
Trump Wants Asia’s ‘Cute’ Kei Cars to be Made and Sold in US
President Donald Trump, apparently enamored by the pint-sized Kei cars he saw during his recent trip to Japan, has paved the way for them to be made and sold in the US, despite concerns that they’re too small and slow to be driven safely on American roads.
bloom.bg
December 4, 2025 at 4:11 AM
what concerns?
that they're actually affordable?
they aren't massive?
they're less deadly to pedestrians and cyclists?
that they're actually affordable?
they aren't massive?
they're less deadly to pedestrians and cyclists?
Reposted by City Observatory
Ex-official explained this in a way that will stick with me forever: Within fire departments, the EMTs are overworked and underpaid and don’t have time to advocate for policy. The fire chiefs, on the other hand, have a lot more time on their hands. So fire response, not medical, dictates policy.
November 30, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Ex-official explained this in a way that will stick with me forever: Within fire departments, the EMTs are overworked and underpaid and don’t have time to advocate for policy. The fire chiefs, on the other hand, have a lot more time on their hands. So fire response, not medical, dictates policy.
Reposted by City Observatory
Anyways they should try tolling this thing and seeing how many people actually use it.
Everyone constantly is like “truck this, truck that” when a super majority of users are cars.
Everyone constantly is like “truck this, truck that” when a super majority of users are cars.
November 28, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Anyways they should try tolling this thing and seeing how many people actually use it.
Everyone constantly is like “truck this, truck that” when a super majority of users are cars.
Everyone constantly is like “truck this, truck that” when a super majority of users are cars.
Reposted by City Observatory
Interesting new working paper that studies chains of movers after the construction of a new apartment building in Honolulu.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
uhero.hawaii.edu
November 28, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Interesting new working paper that studies chains of movers after the construction of a new apartment building in Honolulu.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
Reposted by City Observatory
...in Seattle and in Washington. Using traffic models that assume current car volume is a political choice. At the very least in this workgroup we should be presented with projects of how we could induce less car volume in the heart of our city by reducing available highway merge lanes.
November 25, 2025 at 4:12 PM
...in Seattle and in Washington. Using traffic models that assume current car volume is a political choice. At the very least in this workgroup we should be presented with projects of how we could induce less car volume in the heart of our city by reducing available highway merge lanes.
Reposted by City Observatory
Why are we starting with the assumption that we should plan for traffic volumes that are the same as current volumes? Traffic responds to induced demand. If it's easier, faster and cheaper to drive, more people will drive. The opposite is also true. If we want more people to ride transit, we...
November 25, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Why are we starting with the assumption that we should plan for traffic volumes that are the same as current volumes? Traffic responds to induced demand. If it's easier, faster and cheaper to drive, more people will drive. The opposite is also true. If we want more people to ride transit, we...
Reposted by City Observatory
Why are we assuming that we want to maintain car volumes? To meet our climate, public health and road safety goals as a city, there is no reason any on or off ramp in #Seattle should require multiple lanes. #Rainier
If you want to be angry, watch (starts at 1:05): youtu.be/Lr-C4k0EEf4?...
If you want to be angry, watch (starts at 1:05): youtu.be/Lr-C4k0EEf4?...
Judkins Park Community Advisory Group Meeting 4
YouTube video by wsdot
youtu.be
November 25, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Why are we assuming that we want to maintain car volumes? To meet our climate, public health and road safety goals as a city, there is no reason any on or off ramp in #Seattle should require multiple lanes. #Rainier
If you want to be angry, watch (starts at 1:05): youtu.be/Lr-C4k0EEf4?...
If you want to be angry, watch (starts at 1:05): youtu.be/Lr-C4k0EEf4?...
Reposted by City Observatory
This is a city on Robo-Taxis. (Don't let it happen to yours.)
Waymo privatized another public street:
Chanel approaching 4th, San Francisco
Possibly queued for a Billie Eilish show at Chase Center ~half mile away.
The light rail train on 4th seen passing in front of this roboherd has more passenger capacity than all of them combined.
OP: .tiktok.renaspam18
Chanel approaching 4th, San Francisco
Possibly queued for a Billie Eilish show at Chase Center ~half mile away.
The light rail train on 4th seen passing in front of this roboherd has more passenger capacity than all of them combined.
OP: .tiktok.renaspam18
November 25, 2025 at 7:39 PM
This is a city on Robo-Taxis. (Don't let it happen to yours.)
Reposted by City Observatory
Engineers think it’s a liquid but traffic is a gas. Give it space and it’ll fill it up. Take it away and it disperses
Every time
November 24, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Engineers think it’s a liquid but traffic is a gas. Give it space and it’ll fill it up. Take it away and it disperses
Reposted by City Observatory
DC is enforcing a “crackdown” on streeteries—outdoor seating for cafes—charging the cafes huge amounts of money to keep the facilities in place, and forcing them to use seating that doesn’t work in the winter. It’s a huge self-own, likely to end up hurting businesses, reducing street vibrancy.
Exclusive: Le Dip streetery to come down as D.C. crackdown reshapes outdoor dining
It's over for many D.C. streeteries, as the city starts to charge what you might call "road rent" and other fees.
www.axios.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:47 PM
DC is enforcing a “crackdown” on streeteries—outdoor seating for cafes—charging the cafes huge amounts of money to keep the facilities in place, and forcing them to use seating that doesn’t work in the winter. It’s a huge self-own, likely to end up hurting businesses, reducing street vibrancy.
Train Wreck: Will transit sink the Interstate Bridge Project?
https://cityobservatory.org/train-wreck-will-transit-sink-the-interstate-bridge-project/
https://cityobservatory.org/train-wreck-will-transit-sink-the-interstate-bridge-project/
November 21, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Train Wreck: Will transit sink the Interstate Bridge Project?
https://cityobservatory.org/train-wreck-will-transit-sink-the-interstate-bridge-project/
https://cityobservatory.org/train-wreck-will-transit-sink-the-interstate-bridge-project/
Reposted by City Observatory
You gotta pay more for houses with walkability because we don't build nearly enough of them...
Walkability shouldn't be a "perk"
It should be the default
Walkability shouldn't be a "perk"
It should be the default
November 19, 2025 at 10:55 PM
You gotta pay more for houses with walkability because we don't build nearly enough of them...
Walkability shouldn't be a "perk"
It should be the default
Walkability shouldn't be a "perk"
It should be the default
Reposted by City Observatory
"In fact, building codes in the United States draw a number of hard and expensive lines between low- and high-density forms of development that are not found abroad."
See: www.pew.org/en/research-...
See: www.pew.org/en/research-...
Small Single-Stairway Apartment Buildings Have Strong Safety Record
Policymakers could increase the supply of multifamily housing in their states and localities by revising outdated building codes that require more than one stairway in small apartment buildings. If en...
www.pew.org
November 19, 2025 at 10:48 PM
"In fact, building codes in the United States draw a number of hard and expensive lines between low- and high-density forms of development that are not found abroad."
See: www.pew.org/en/research-...
See: www.pew.org/en/research-...
Reposted by City Observatory
Ridership on Paris region transit systems is now generally at or higher than pre-pandemic levels. Bike use is much higher than pre-pandemic.
At the same time, car traffic in Paris and on its ring highway is substantially lower than it was pre-pandemic. www.institutparisregion.fr/mobilite-et-...
At the same time, car traffic in Paris and on its ring highway is substantially lower than it was pre-pandemic. www.institutparisregion.fr/mobilite-et-...
November 18, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Ridership on Paris region transit systems is now generally at or higher than pre-pandemic levels. Bike use is much higher than pre-pandemic.
At the same time, car traffic in Paris and on its ring highway is substantially lower than it was pre-pandemic. www.institutparisregion.fr/mobilite-et-...
At the same time, car traffic in Paris and on its ring highway is substantially lower than it was pre-pandemic. www.institutparisregion.fr/mobilite-et-...
$5 billion for Baltimore's Key bridge? Hold my beer, says @oregondot.bsky.social, the Interstate Bridge Project is gonna get to $10 billion. Key Bridge rebuild could top out at $5.2B, memo shows - POLITICO share.google/FL1Swk17AF3r...
Key Bridge rebuild could top out at $5.2B, memo shows
The cost of rebuilding the collapsed Baltimore bridge has more than doubled, according to a document viewed by POLITICO.
share.google
November 18, 2025 at 12:22 AM
$5 billion for Baltimore's Key bridge? Hold my beer, says @oregondot.bsky.social, the Interstate Bridge Project is gonna get to $10 billion. Key Bridge rebuild could top out at $5.2B, memo shows - POLITICO share.google/FL1Swk17AF3r...
Reposted by City Observatory
The Post’s criticism of the mayor-elect’s plans for government-run grocery stores amused me, because the Pike Place Market is government-run, the best place in town for groceries for over 100 years, and a major tourist attraction
November 17, 2025 at 3:16 PM
The Post’s criticism of the mayor-elect’s plans for government-run grocery stores amused me, because the Pike Place Market is government-run, the best place in town for groceries for over 100 years, and a major tourist attraction
Reposted by City Observatory
LAX traffic planners still haven't figured out "induced demand," critics say: www.latimes.com/california/s...
LAX approved $1.5 billion to relieve traffic. Opponents say it won’t work
Los Angeles World Airports Board of Airport Commissioners this week approved the final $1-billion phase of spending for its new roadway improvement plan around LAX. It's set to be complete just two mo...
www.latimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 5:46 PM
LAX traffic planners still haven't figured out "induced demand," critics say: www.latimes.com/california/s...
Now do cars. Headline: DC is slowing down scooters and e-bikes to make roads safer.
search.app/8jeNG
search.app/8jeNG
As part of safety push, motor assist on DC e-bikes is slowing down - WTOP News
D.C. is reducing speed limits on Lime and Veo e-bikes to improve safety and curb misuse. Lime’s motor assist is now capped at 18 mph, while Veo’s is limited to 15 mph, down from the previous 20 mph. T...
search.app
November 14, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Now do cars. Headline: DC is slowing down scooters and e-bikes to make roads safer.
search.app/8jeNG
search.app/8jeNG
Reposted by City Observatory
The 217 widening project is finished. Let's see how congestion looks tonight. 👀
@nomorefreewayspdx.com
www.kgw.com/article/traf...
@nomorefreewayspdx.com
www.kgw.com/article/traf...
November 14, 2025 at 1:20 AM
The 217 widening project is finished. Let's see how congestion looks tonight. 👀
@nomorefreewayspdx.com
www.kgw.com/article/traf...
@nomorefreewayspdx.com
www.kgw.com/article/traf...
Happy exploding whale day to all those who celebrate! 55 years ago today, OregonDOT dynamited a whale carcass to achieve lasting infamy. Today @oregondot.bsky.social celebrates by blowing up budgets with billions in cost overruns on its highway projects. cityobservatory.org/reign_of_err...
November 12, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Happy exploding whale day to all those who celebrate! 55 years ago today, OregonDOT dynamited a whale carcass to achieve lasting infamy. Today @oregondot.bsky.social celebrates by blowing up budgets with billions in cost overruns on its highway projects. cityobservatory.org/reign_of_err...
Reposted by City Observatory
In 2018, then-Mayor Ada Colau called Barcelona’s new 30% inclusionary housing requirement for projects over 600m^2 a “paradigm shift,” making housing “a right and not a commodity.” It was supposed to produce 330 affordable units a year. The reality: just 31 affordable apartments in all these years.
Cuando se ha aprobó esta medida dije repetidamente que iba a ser un fracaso y que no construirían nada de vivienda asequible. Se ha probado en mil sitios y no funciona.
Acerté. www.lavanguardia.com/local/barcel...
Acerté. www.lavanguardia.com/local/barcel...
La reserva del 30% solo ha generado 31 nuevas viviendas protegidas en siete años en Barcelona
Otros 123 pisos disponen de licencia ya aprobada, mientras los gremios afectados reclaman un marco legal estable para poder despertar al sector de su letargo
www.lavanguardia.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:28 PM
In 2018, then-Mayor Ada Colau called Barcelona’s new 30% inclusionary housing requirement for projects over 600m^2 a “paradigm shift,” making housing “a right and not a commodity.” It was supposed to produce 330 affordable units a year. The reality: just 31 affordable apartments in all these years.
Reposted by City Observatory
Horrified to learn of another serious traffic crash on 82nd Avenue.
Policymakers are about to make major decisions about how to reshape this critical main street. I'm committed to working with my colleagues to ensure 82nd is safer for everyone biking, walking and driving.
https://loom.ly/jOdxsQQ
Policymakers are about to make major decisions about how to reshape this critical main street. I'm committed to working with my colleagues to ensure 82nd is safer for everyone biking, walking and driving.
https://loom.ly/jOdxsQQ
Cyclist critically injured in hit-and-run crash in Northeast Portland
A woman on a bicycle was critically injured in a crash on Northeast 82nd Avenue early Sunday. The driver left the scene, police said.
www.kgw.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Horrified to learn of another serious traffic crash on 82nd Avenue.
Policymakers are about to make major decisions about how to reshape this critical main street. I'm committed to working with my colleagues to ensure 82nd is safer for everyone biking, walking and driving.
https://loom.ly/jOdxsQQ
Policymakers are about to make major decisions about how to reshape this critical main street. I'm committed to working with my colleagues to ensure 82nd is safer for everyone biking, walking and driving.
https://loom.ly/jOdxsQQ
Reposted by City Observatory
Sarah Risser, @familiesforsafestreets.org leader & recent BikeLoud Board member, will focus attention on the 20 people killed on SE 82nd in the past decade.
World Day of Remembrance 11/16/25 #WDoR2025
www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...
World Day of Remembrance 11/16/25 #WDoR2025
www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...
November 1, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Sarah Risser, @familiesforsafestreets.org leader & recent BikeLoud Board member, will focus attention on the 20 people killed on SE 82nd in the past decade.
World Day of Remembrance 11/16/25 #WDoR2025
www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...
World Day of Remembrance 11/16/25 #WDoR2025
www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...
Reposted by City Observatory
Not to go all Robert Gordon but the potential benefits as a % of GDP are also much smaller. Going from no internet to internet is a much bigger bang for your buck than going from internet to AI
October 31, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Not to go all Robert Gordon but the potential benefits as a % of GDP are also much smaller. Going from no internet to internet is a much bigger bang for your buck than going from internet to AI