Clarior Exit

If only we were that lucky.

Anglerfish

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that maybe the least of our worries right now is whether or not that new multifamily building down the street looks like shit. Can we just build some housing please?

House Transportation Committee Presentation: Overview of Metropolitan Planning Organizations and Updates on Statewide Transportation Improvement Program by Jackson Fox, Executive Director, Fairbanks Area Surface Transportation Plan...

House Transportation is hearing from the Fairbanks and Anchorage transportation planning groups on the state's transportation plan, which was bungled last year partly because the state ignored the local planning groups.

#akleg

📺: www.ktoo.org/video/gavel/...
📄: www.akleg.gov/basis/Meetin...

How Anchorage Effectively Eliminated Single-Family-Only Zoning Elected officials (including a planner) and a housing advocate share in their own words what it took to adopt zoning reform and turn a “no” vote into “yes.”

Looks like there are some good lessons to learn from Anchorage, Alaska on how to move your city toward YIMBYism 👀

Their Housing Opportunities in the Municipality for Everyone (HOME) Initiative "essentially eliminates single-family-only zoning in most of the city."

planning.org/planning/202...

This whole thread is worth a look & reporting on, @alaskabeacon.com @adn.com @alaskapublic.org @alaska.bsky.social @kylehopkinsak.bsky.social. Ivan already did a lot of the digging & found the receipts. I think Anchorage voters would appreciate knowing who their candidates really are.

Americans love walkable, mixed use neighborhoods…at their ski resorts.

Dunleavy’s not-so-secret plan:

Me: Cars keep crashing here. Can we get some traffic-calming?
DOT: Was anyone killed?
Me: Not yet.
DOT: Sorry, we have to prioritize more dangerous locations.
...
...
...
Me: So you're fixing those ones?
DOT: Nope, sorry.

This article talks about Base Line Syndrome; basically our brains are wired to want to maintain the status quo, even when we most need progress and change. It also relates how we look at car culture now, to how we looked at smoking a few decades ago. How will we look back on cars 50 yrs from now?

Set the rules and approve projects that conform with those rules at staff level. If the rules need to be changed, change the rules.

Ideally those planners can now work on strategic planning, and refining rules/processes.

Much of the time the stuff labeled “only in Alaska” is just, like, snow or moose or mountains, but this is the most iconically Alaskan burn ever posted on social media

#alaksasky
#onlyinalaska

A graph of parking density per housing unit over the last ten years.

I wonder if anyone has done this for Anchorage.

Here’s our chance (again). This 3.68 acre site along Chugach way is listed at $325K. This park could enhance walkability in the neighborhood and restore a 900ft section of Fish Creek. #spenard #anchorage #fishcreek

A highway thru the Chester greenbelt that so many Anchorage people use. 😡 This isn’t just a NIMBY - It will ruin recreational opportunities like cycling, skiing; walking, marathons and dog races… not to mention destroy a wildlife corridor. All should attend the meeting for public comments

Free reflective tape! For those dark bike rides and walks this time of year. Stay safe out there!

safealaskans.org/reflectiveta...

Beauty happens by accident or by design, but never by committee.

The Brown Jug on Spenard is the real deal. The one on Tudor next to Home Depot just gives Anytown, USA.

But for the true Spenard vibe: Captain Sparrow.

Gratitude helps maintain heart health and self-confidence, researcher says People who express gratitude for the people and things in their life at the Thanksgiving table are helping their health and self-confidence, according to a University of Iowa professor who has made th...

I am grateful to have found my AK online community again! Happy Thanksgiving, neighbors. 🦃

www.newsfromthestates.com/article/grat...

A photo of Knik Arm on a cold day.