Reposted by Mike
By learning from other countries and adopting international best practices, California High Speed Rail was able to cut its costs by $14 billion and cut 70% of tunnels.
This is a big lesson for transit projects both in NY & around the US: start by learning from other countries.
tinyurl.com/mvsmfxa2
This is a big lesson for transit projects both in NY & around the US: start by learning from other countries.
tinyurl.com/mvsmfxa2
November 11, 2025 at 10:29 PM
By learning from other countries and adopting international best practices, California High Speed Rail was able to cut its costs by $14 billion and cut 70% of tunnels.
This is a big lesson for transit projects both in NY & around the US: start by learning from other countries.
tinyurl.com/mvsmfxa2
This is a big lesson for transit projects both in NY & around the US: start by learning from other countries.
tinyurl.com/mvsmfxa2
Reposted by Mike
Most local parties are run by people who've done the job for years because no one stepped up. So step up.
Be authentically you. Speak to your community.
There is a MASSIVE leadership vacuum at the local level almost everywhere outside major cities. Fill it.
Be authentically you. Speak to your community.
There is a MASSIVE leadership vacuum at the local level almost everywhere outside major cities. Fill it.
November 10, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Most local parties are run by people who've done the job for years because no one stepped up. So step up.
Be authentically you. Speak to your community.
There is a MASSIVE leadership vacuum at the local level almost everywhere outside major cities. Fill it.
Be authentically you. Speak to your community.
There is a MASSIVE leadership vacuum at the local level almost everywhere outside major cities. Fill it.
Reposted by Mike
In my old town the GOP had run basically without serious challenge for decades. A bunch of us "millennials" joined the local Dem party and basically asked to help.
We were running it in a year. Within 4 years we had a majority of town seats flipped Dem. A FAR more progressive Dem than old party
We were running it in a year. Within 4 years we had a majority of town seats flipped Dem. A FAR more progressive Dem than old party
“Rather than taking over the Democratic Party the same way the right took over the Republican Party, we should take the easier route and just start up a new party ourselves!”
I’m about to fill my pockets with stones and walk into the sea.
I’m about to fill my pockets with stones and walk into the sea.
November 10, 2025 at 8:44 PM
In my old town the GOP had run basically without serious challenge for decades. A bunch of us "millennials" joined the local Dem party and basically asked to help.
We were running it in a year. Within 4 years we had a majority of town seats flipped Dem. A FAR more progressive Dem than old party
We were running it in a year. Within 4 years we had a majority of town seats flipped Dem. A FAR more progressive Dem than old party
What on earth is happening here? Sorting by species?
November 11, 2025 at 2:26 AM
What on earth is happening here? Sorting by species?
Amazing what governments can do when they decide to stop the endless planning and just do it.
Meanwhile, '3rd world' India has almost electrified all of its vast network in record time. infra.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/railway...
Over 99% electrification of Indian Railways network complete
Indian Railways Electrification: The Indian Railways has completed over 99% electrification of its broad-gauge network, with a significant push towards renewable energy, including rooftop solar panels...
infra.economictimes.indiatimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Amazing what governments can do when they decide to stop the endless planning and just do it.
incredible that half of Jamaica was destroyed last week and it‘s just not in the news cycle anymore. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
‘We need help’: devastated Jamaican communities still await aid after Hurricane Melissa
Ravaged communities near Montego Bay recount what last week’s category 5 storm took from them
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:53 AM
incredible that half of Jamaica was destroyed last week and it‘s just not in the news cycle anymore. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Mike
This is what proper stadium parking looks like
November 9, 2025 at 11:34 PM
This is what proper stadium parking looks like
I have aphantasia, meaning I can’t visualize in my mind. It was only recognized officially a decade ago. But it makes me endlessly wonder how this capability changes who we are as a person. Does it affect empathy? Our ability to forgive? A tolerance to traumatic events? archive.ph/bWbzu
archive.ph
November 8, 2025 at 11:34 PM
I have aphantasia, meaning I can’t visualize in my mind. It was only recognized officially a decade ago. But it makes me endlessly wonder how this capability changes who we are as a person. Does it affect empathy? Our ability to forgive? A tolerance to traumatic events? archive.ph/bWbzu
Reposted by Mike
what we need in PDX is a visionary mayor and council who can compel a systemic pivot across agencies to speed this climate adaptation work up rather than slow it down, to operate from a place of courage rather than risk aversion, and to invest in a unionized city green jobs workforce
November 8, 2025 at 5:44 PM
what we need in PDX is a visionary mayor and council who can compel a systemic pivot across agencies to speed this climate adaptation work up rather than slow it down, to operate from a place of courage rather than risk aversion, and to invest in a unionized city green jobs workforce
Reposted by Mike
Across Eastern Europe, they have what are known as "lustration" laws that do exactly this for people who were in the Stasi and its various equivalents. It's a model we should be examining.
Absolutely sadistic.
A Dem Congress should pass a law banning anyone who is currently serving with ICE or CBP from future Fed employment.
The Feds should condition all future Fed grants to police depts on blanket refusals to hire ppl who were in ICE/CBP right now.
A Dem Congress should pass a law banning anyone who is currently serving with ICE or CBP from future Fed employment.
The Feds should condition all future Fed grants to police depts on blanket refusals to hire ppl who were in ICE/CBP right now.
Or Rodney Taylor, a disabled double amputee who’s been in America since he was two years old.
He was days away from receiving new prosthetic legs when ICE grabbed him
His health is declining, they won’t let him get his legs and they’ve placed him in solitary
www.disabledginger.com/p/help-rodne...
He was days away from receiving new prosthetic legs when ICE grabbed him
His health is declining, they won’t let him get his legs and they’ve placed him in solitary
www.disabledginger.com/p/help-rodne...
November 8, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Across Eastern Europe, they have what are known as "lustration" laws that do exactly this for people who were in the Stasi and its various equivalents. It's a model we should be examining.
Reposted by Mike
There's no single tweak like "remove parking minimums" or "legalize single stair egress" that will allow for the dense traditional mid-rise developments Americans love to see.
We need a comprehensive rewrite of building codes to simplify them, match international peers, and allow traditional devt.
We need a comprehensive rewrite of building codes to simplify them, match international peers, and allow traditional devt.
November 8, 2025 at 12:15 AM
There's no single tweak like "remove parking minimums" or "legalize single stair egress" that will allow for the dense traditional mid-rise developments Americans love to see.
We need a comprehensive rewrite of building codes to simplify them, match international peers, and allow traditional devt.
We need a comprehensive rewrite of building codes to simplify them, match international peers, and allow traditional devt.
Reposted by Mike
DE-PAVE OUR STREETS. Car infrastructure is expensive to maintain. As we de-motorize, places like Paris show that we can peel back the layers of asphalt and concrete to create a renewed, re-humanized, and re-naturalized city.
BEFORE and AFTER. You are not going to believe me this time…but I swear…I absolutely swear this is the same fucking street.
November 7, 2025 at 7:50 PM
DE-PAVE OUR STREETS. Car infrastructure is expensive to maintain. As we de-motorize, places like Paris show that we can peel back the layers of asphalt and concrete to create a renewed, re-humanized, and re-naturalized city.
Reposted by Mike
Learn more about the #BikeBus movement at BikeBusWorld.org
November 7, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Learn more about the #BikeBus movement at BikeBusWorld.org
😭🤬
BREAKING: Cornell caved.
Here is the settlement agreement, signed today by the university's president, Michael Kotlikoff: statements.cornell.edu/2025/documen...
Here is the settlement agreement, signed today by the university's president, Michael Kotlikoff: statements.cornell.edu/2025/documen...
November 7, 2025 at 6:00 PM
😭🤬
We need a political system that isn’t Team A vs B. Ranked choice voting + national popular vote would make a huge difference.
People are hating on this, but it's objectively true. There's a LOT of conservatives in this country, and we DO need a non-crazy, pro-democracy conservative party they can vote for.
The problem is, in absence of sane Republicans, way too many Democrats have tried to make the Democrats that party.
The problem is, in absence of sane Republicans, way too many Democrats have tried to make the Democrats that party.
The other thing about Nancy Pelosi is that, like all of us who are Cassandras in political science, she was right about the need for a strong Republican Party (by which she, & we, mean a strong pro-democracy conservative party). This is deeply unpopular on Bluesky dot com, but no less true for it.
November 6, 2025 at 10:10 PM
We need a political system that isn’t Team A vs B. Ranked choice voting + national popular vote would make a huge difference.
Reposted by Mike
If I were running in next year's midterms, I'd be saying: Aussies are getting free electricity, and we're getting huge price spikes.
Because they built solar, and Trump is blocking it.
open.substack.com/pub/billmcki...
Because they built solar, and Trump is blocking it.
open.substack.com/pub/billmcki...
Free Electricity. Like, at no cost. For everyone. Now.
Let's talk about affordability, abundance, and Australia--and why thanks to Trump we can't have nice things
open.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:10 PM
If I were running in next year's midterms, I'd be saying: Aussies are getting free electricity, and we're getting huge price spikes.
Because they built solar, and Trump is blocking it.
open.substack.com/pub/billmcki...
Because they built solar, and Trump is blocking it.
open.substack.com/pub/billmcki...
Reposted by Mike
Portland is now allowing single stair apartment buildings up to 4 stories, per the 2025 building code... with a giant caveat www.portland.gov/ppd/commerci...
City building, fire officials establish guidelines for new single-stair apartment buildings
This allowance supports the development of new multifamily housing units on smaller lots while not compromising the safety of residents when evacuating a building during a fire.
www.portland.gov
November 5, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Portland is now allowing single stair apartment buildings up to 4 stories, per the 2025 building code... with a giant caveat www.portland.gov/ppd/commerci...
@andersem.bsky.social I emailed Lake O's building code official and he said "I have always required Lake Oswego to adopt the entire code including all of the appendixes. ... you can use the appendixes that are needed for your design". They are open for 4 floors of single stair! ䷖
November 5, 2025 at 7:12 PM
@andersem.bsky.social I emailed Lake O's building code official and he said "I have always required Lake Oswego to adopt the entire code including all of the appendixes. ... you can use the appendixes that are needed for your design". They are open for 4 floors of single stair! ䷖
Reposted by Mike
“Experts have found coal power is significantly more expensive than alternative energy sources.”
Eastern Oregon utility ditches coal and rates go down.
Eastern Oregon utility ditches coal and rates go down.
An Oregon utility’s break with coal brings customer savings • Oregon Capital Chronicle
While the Trump administration pursues a coal revival, a utility in Oregon is saving money by giving up on the fossil fuel.
oregoncapitalchronicle.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:07 PM
“Experts have found coal power is significantly more expensive than alternative energy sources.”
Eastern Oregon utility ditches coal and rates go down.
Eastern Oregon utility ditches coal and rates go down.
Every major city in America needs to do this to reduce the cost of living. We’ve removed a few parking mandates but car mandates are still in effect since there’s no other safe, broadly usable option. Cc @portlandcouncil.bsky.social
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has the chance to revolutionize the city’s streetscape, as other ambitious mayors did across the globe. Here’s how nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/11/05/a...
AGENDA 2026: The New Mayor Must Revolutionize NYC's Streets - Streetsblog New York City
We've already offered the low-hanging fruit that the new mayor could accomplish on Day 1. Now, it's time to roll up the sleeves for our big list.
nyc.streetsblog.org
November 5, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Every major city in America needs to do this to reduce the cost of living. We’ve removed a few parking mandates but car mandates are still in effect since there’s no other safe, broadly usable option. Cc @portlandcouncil.bsky.social
Reposted by Mike
"Progressive yimbys are firmly in charge" in Baltimore as mayor signs bills:
No off-street parking required.
Single-stair buildings up to 6 stories.
Reduced setbacks.
Still in process: Allowing 2- & 4-unit buildings in multifamily zones.
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
No off-street parking required.
Single-stair buildings up to 6 stories.
Reduced setbacks.
Still in process: Allowing 2- & 4-unit buildings in multifamily zones.
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
Mayor Scott signs controversial housing laws in effort to spur growth
A suite of housing and zoning reforms, once pie-in-the-sky dreams for some advocates, are now law in Baltimore, with Mayor Brandon Scott signing four bills Monday in a City Hall ceremony.
www.thebanner.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:19 PM
"Progressive yimbys are firmly in charge" in Baltimore as mayor signs bills:
No off-street parking required.
Single-stair buildings up to 6 stories.
Reduced setbacks.
Still in process: Allowing 2- & 4-unit buildings in multifamily zones.
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
No off-street parking required.
Single-stair buildings up to 6 stories.
Reduced setbacks.
Still in process: Allowing 2- & 4-unit buildings in multifamily zones.
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
Flannel sheet season has begun. 🥰🛌❄️
November 4, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Flannel sheet season has begun. 🥰🛌❄️
Reposted by Mike
It's a good thing to believe in ideals and fight for them.
November 3, 2025 at 4:13 PM
It's a good thing to believe in ideals and fight for them.
I continue to narrow in on a Mexican mocha recipe from first principles (i.e. too lazy to search). Yesterday had far too much cayenne pepper, might add a little nutmeg tomorrow.
November 3, 2025 at 3:58 PM
I continue to narrow in on a Mexican mocha recipe from first principles (i.e. too lazy to search). Yesterday had far too much cayenne pepper, might add a little nutmeg tomorrow.