Shirley Leung, PhD
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shirleyswirley.bsky.social
Shirley Leung, PhD
@shirleyswirley.bsky.social
1K followers 710 following 720 posts
Climate/water scientist💧🌊

People = Good. Billionaires = Bad.

Land back, save the salmon, house and feed everybody.
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shirleyswirley.bsky.social
My favorite (NOT) density centers or whatever u want to call them are where MULTIPLE highways/stroads intersect like Northgate, Lake City, Crown Hill. Really the whole comp plan map is like someone (Harrell) was trying to maximize the # of renters exposed to bad car air/noise & dangerous streets.
Harrell’s proposed Seattle comprehensive plan map that concentrates denser, multi-family housing and apartments for renters on loud, polluted, and dangerous roads and highways. These apartments shield wealthy single family homeowners from the effects of these so-called stroads, but this pattern of development actually hurts everyone. Taken from https://harrell.seattle.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/10/Comp-Plan-Map.png
October 23, 2025 at 7:59 AM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
I made a cheatsheet to help you distinguish btwn Seattle ppl who love housing, ppl who love trees, ppl who love both, & ppl who love NEITHER.

If you find yourself accidentally falling for propaganda or getting confused about who is who, just refer here!

docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Seattleites who ONLY love trees: - Has a second home at an off-grid cabin in the woods - Lives off of foraged mushrooms/berries and their garden - “I can’t hang out this summer/fall - I’m hiking the PCT again” Seattleites who love ONLY people + housing: - These people do not exist. Anyone who loves people + housing also wants people to have trees to enjoy. Seattleites who love trees AND people + housing: - Your friends and lovers at Futurewise, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, House Our Neighbors, Share The Cities, Be:Seattle, Tech 4 Housing, Jackson Park For All, Habitat For Humanity, Interim CDA, The Urbanist - “We should build way more housing next to the biggest parks so more ppl can enjoy them! We should also add more trees to our parks and golf courses so that they aren’t just giant lawns.” - “We should depave all the excess parking and unnecessarily wide roads so we can plant more trees and more ppl can enjoy them and get around safely!” - “We should incentivize developers to save trees by letting them build taller buildings on lots where trees are saved - then we all win! More trees and more ppl that get to enjoy them!” - “We shouldn’t concentrate all development pressure in already dense places with high displacement risk. Let’s instead spread out new infill development AND add more trees/parks to already dense places!” Seattleites who NEITHER love trees NOR people + housing: - Your enemies and frenemies at Tree Action Seattle, TreePAC, Northwest Progressive Institute, Seattle Parks Foundation, Don’t Clearcut Seattle, Thornton Creek Alliance, Friends of the Urban Forest, Birds Connect Seattle) - “We can have both trees AND housing. But days are getting hotter due to climate change in Seattle, so we really just HAVE to keep EVERY tree in MY neighborhood, so that I can stay cool. If keeping EVERY tree near me means no housing gets built near me either, then so be it - that’s a ‘sacrifice’ I’m willing to make!” - “Who cares about planting new trees when you can stop housing to preserve old ones? My kids and grandkids won’t care that we let all the old trees die without ever helping advocate for or plant new ones! They won’t even be able to afford to live here! You URBANISTS think that new trees and other keystone native plants also matter a lot - well, you’re wrong! Only HUGE old trees in my neighborhood matter because ONLY they can absorb all the stormwater runoff from my gigantic 6-car driveway! It’s not like you could ever quickly plant a new bioswale to absorb that runoff!” - “We MUST mandate that no one build within AT LEAST A 24-ft radius of any tree ever. Don’t worry if that means you can’t feasibly add any meaningful and affordable housing anywhere near my luxury detached single-family home! Or anywhere within Northeast Seattle for that matter! We have PLENTY of GRAY ZONES in South and Central Seattle where we can add more housing already! That’s already plenty of space! Plus if we preserve all the trees in MY North Seattle / waterfront neighborhood, the benefits will trickle down to those in South Seattle and South Park! I LOVE EQUITY! ALSO, DON’T YOU DARE TAKE AWAY ANY SINGLE PARKING SPACE IN THE CITY! If I want to be able to keep living in my >$1 million dollar luxury detached home with 1 big tree in front, I NEED to be able to drive EVERYWHERE and PARK EVERYWHERE I want.”
September 18, 2025 at 12:55 AM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
Dang it’s kinda smokey the last two days. I only looked bc my eyes were unexpectedly itchy, which usually means the aqi is moderate
Map of aqi from purple air showing 50s-70s throughout western and central Washington and up into Vancouver
June 24, 2025 at 8:58 PM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
And by 2014, the "canopy of forested floodplain vegetation completely closed after just 15 years."

So plz GTFO with the "trees take a long time to grow." I know ppl think the trees they see around them in Seattle are hundreds of yrs old, but they're not. Seattle was completely clearcut except some
Caption on the same poster as the previous post. 2014: Canopy of forested floodplain vegetation completely closed after just 15 years.
June 19, 2025 at 10:05 PM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
In 1998, a big project to restore diked farmland + channelized streams into native wetland, forest, & riparian habitat began at UW Bothell campus. Took a couple yrs to regrade the floodplain & re-meander the streams. In 2000, new plants were added to bare land. By 2009, the plants were maturing...
Picture of a poster titled "Evolution of the UW Bothell-Cascadia College Wetland 1997-2018". 1997: Straightened North Creek stream channel above the pastures of the Truly-Boone Farm. 1998: Removing dikes and regrading the floodplain. 1998: New meandering primary and secondary channels for North Creek carved into the floodplain with farm-era straightened stream channel above. 2000: Newly-planted floodplain. New plantings and woody debris on the floodplain. 2001: Woody debris in the stream bank and new plantings near the stream channel. 2004: New stream channels and floodplain with hummocks and pools visible. 2006: Vegetation developing along stream channels and in floodplain 7 years after planting. 2009: Floodplain vegetation maturing 10 years after planting. Open water ecosystem visible in upper right. Shaded, salmon-friendly stream channel 2014: Caption in next post 2016: North Creek wetland used as a laboratory. 2017: Restored functioning floodplain ecosystem on the UWB-CC campus.
June 19, 2025 at 10:05 PM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
U kno wut I am so tired of this. Trees grow hella fast & entire ecosystems can be restored before a newborn finishes 5th grade, ok? Here’s just one example from UW Bothell 🧵 (pics from about a month ago)
Pathway between many tall, leafy trees on both sides on UW Bothell campus Serene restored wetland with trees, grasses, and logs on UW Bothell campus Less than 20-year-old tall trees and wetland type grasses lining a nice paved bike/walk path on UW Bothell campus Satellite map view of UW Bothell, located at the intersection of SR522 and I405
June 19, 2025 at 10:05 PM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
I thought literally this is what we’re debating about. Whether it’s ok for leftists to say that libs are not on the left. These are the first things you said to me. If we both agree that leftists can say libs are centrists or not left, then I think we’re good and agree!
June 18, 2025 at 8:54 PM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
Here are some examples of apartments forced onto one of Seattle’s most dangerous and polluted stroads: Lake City Way. Some are 55+. Immediate drop off to single family behind them. Fuck these people, right? They don’t deserve to see any trees out their window looking over LCW bc they’re poor anyways
137th and Lake City Way looking north. Multiple 55+ apartment buildings are on the right. They are 5 or 6 stories and go right up to the narrow sidewalk and stroad. The view out the window of apartments on this side of these double loaded corridor buildings is solely Lake City Way. There are only about 3 medium sized street trees in view for the whole 3 or 4 block stretch of buildings. 140th/143rd and Lake City Way looking south. 1 large 5 story apartment building is on the right. It spans about 2 blocks. The apartment goes right up to the narrow sidewalk and stroad. The view out the window of apartments on this side of these double loaded corridor buildings is solely Lake City Way. There are only a few medium sized street trees in view after about a full block, where for a full block there are none at all.
May 1, 2025 at 5:44 PM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
Oh man - pilgrim coffeehouse, burbs burgers, and wild wheat cafe is on this 😬 the UI is horrible but prob worth clicking all the dots to see
Map of all MAGA businesses on public square website in North Seattle area. There are prob 10-20 businesses visible on the map. Search different areas with https://www.publicsquare.com/marketplace
April 26, 2025 at 4:12 PM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
It’s gray out but the mountains look so good today!
View over Lake Washington looking northeast from south Lake Forest Park area. It’s cloudy skies here but sunny over the Cascades, so the mountains are brightly lit up.
March 15, 2025 at 12:07 AM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
Omg eeeekkk so cute!!!!
Fuzzy sea otter slippers on my feet!
January 25, 2025 at 7:21 AM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
3rd & final day of Seattle staycation! I first went to Chihuly 12 yrs ago as a chaperone for ~50 wild children so had no idea what was happening lol IT’S SO GOOD. And finally saw new parts of the aquarium! I got some delightful sea otter slippers!!! Everyone stared jealously at them on the street 🦦
Coral reef window at the new ocean pavilion at the Seattle Aquarium. There’s a big manta ray (maybe like 3 ft long not including tail) swimming upwards showing us its gills and mouth. There are lots of other colorful fish behind the ray. Selfie at Chihuly museum glass house. Beautiful orange, yellow, and red glass flowers on the ceiling and blue sky behind. Me in front of the pedestrianized mini plaza on Pike with the pike place market sign in the background, wearing a sweatshirt that says Seattle, holding my new sea otter slippers, and exuding peak tourist energy. Matcha latte with strawberry boba and brown sugar boba from Xing Fu Tang. You will NOT find better boba in the city than these little balls of joy.
January 25, 2025 at 5:30 AM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
@analogist.net and I bought THE LAST COPY of Mike’s (@holz-bau.bsky.social) book today from Elliott Bay. Can’t wait to dive in!! Come hang out with Mike at the event linked below next week!
Selfie with me and James inside Elliott Bay Books with the Architecture shelf in the background and Mike Eliason’s new book Building for People: Designing Livable, Affordable, Low-Carbon Communities in the foreground
January 25, 2025 at 4:43 AM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
You guys, I’ve lived here for decades and just went up the Space Needle for the first time today!!! It was the BEST THING EVER. I am obsessed with this city and all its people and buildings and water and stuff
Selfie on top of the space needle about 30 min before sunset. You can see lots of Tahoma, the Sound, and many beautiful tall buildings in the background!
January 23, 2025 at 5:39 AM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
Starting tomorrow this is gonna be my and other federal workers’ lives. Try not to fall for the propaganda 😢 Also my team just put out this brand new website, data, and info. Enjoy before it’s gone 🙃 water.usgs.gov/nwaa-data/
Screenshot of text from https://www.propublica.org/article/video-donald-trump-russ-vought-center-renewing-america-maga: Another priority, according to Vought, was to “defund” certain independent federal agencies and demonize career civil servants, which include scientists and subject matter experts. Project 2025’s plan to revive Schedule F, an attempt to make it easier to fire a large swath of government workers who currently have civil service protections, aligns with Vought’s vision. “We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” he said. “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains. We want their funding to be shut down so that the EPA can't do all of the rules against our energy industry because they have no bandwidth financially to do so. “We want to put them in trauma.”
January 19, 2025 at 11:03 PM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
Look at my cute little homemade lunch combo! Sichuan stir fried potatoes, garlic shallot spinach, roasted paprika bell pepper, roasted beets, beyond meat zucchini stir fry
Everything in the post arranged on a circular glass plate. Some rice in a bowl next to that.
January 13, 2025 at 9:25 PM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
A couple years ago I got this random ad for Ten Trails on YouTube and my god, look at this brand new development in the (would be, former) woods. You care about trees? Then welcome new neighbors. Not exaggerating - it’s a matter of time before a bad drought sets all these shiny new homes on fire :(
A new car-dependent subdivision carved out of would be forest in Black Diamond. It’s an ugly gray asphalt island surrounded by greenery, about half a mile wide and 1 mile long. Environmentally harmful sprawl like this is what we cause when we refuse to build more new housing in our existing urban neighborhoods. Ten Trails website saying “close to everything but feels a world away.” Seattle 39 miles / 42 min drive. Bellevue 28 miles / 40 min drive. Lol are these drive time estimates for the middle of the night? We will never know.
January 8, 2025 at 7:59 AM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
“Fauntleroy must be exempt from the One Seattle Plan” or in other words…
Sign reading “WE WANT WHITE TENANTS IN OUR WHITE COMMUNITY” in 1940s Detroit
December 14, 2024 at 6:31 AM
shirleyswirley.bsky.social
Can you guys please stop burning wood for fun? My throat is burning a little when I go outside lol
100ish AQIs all around Seattle
December 5, 2024 at 1:08 AM