max k

well israel *is* an american puppet state…

for my second morning in a row, i’m disappointed that amtrak does not offer a full espresso bar in the lounge car. i’m tired of this shitty starbucks drip

this is so great to hear! the curriculum for this course was so car-brained when i was an engineering freshman that it made me quit engineering entirely cause i didn’t want to take it

Woman in turtleneck sweater holding gray mug looking out window at gray weather with look of happy satisfaction on face

Fall Bitches Already Fondly Gazing at Summer’s Sweet Demise: tinyurl.com/yc574b4r

southbound platform at u district station showing trains to angle lake

sound transit alerts page showing that trains aren’t running between UW and Westlake

none of these people know they’re about to get kicked off the train at the next stop. why is sound transit so bad at communicating service disruptions? they happen often enough they should be good at it 😭

personally i love mentioning that all four of my grandparents were born here and that i think more people should get the chance to live in this amazing place. the nativist nimbys don’t like when i say that

traffic as far as the eye can see from the front seat on the top of a double decker bus

i see no reason why the bus i’m on shouldn’t be using the shoulder to bypass all this traffic

certified foamer moment

tonight i just so happened to be pedaling on the elliot way bridge over the railroad downtown as a sounder train rolled out of the great northern tunnel

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.”

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...

some interesting anecdata from my quest to bike every street in seattle… i don’t think i’ve seen a single yard with the full seattle times slate (harrell/nelson/davison) or the full stranger slate (wilson/foster/evans)

sara nelson and bruce harrell yard signs

katie wilson yard sign

seen across the street from each other in view ridge

my grandpas pickup truck full of college dorm supplies

the view from my freshman dorm room of the commodore apartments, college inn, and campus construction

anyways seven years ago i was one of those kids in that very building… and even then i remember thinking it was silly that they couldn’t figure out a way to keep the bike path open during move-in

UW Housing and Food Services staff blocking a street and bike path

your yearly reminder that college kids moving in to their dorms are more important than cyclist safety into one of the largest job centers in the region

for a trend-based website it seems insane to lump the U District and Ballard into one category while freakin SODO gets to be unique

@jayapal.house.gov what the fuck are you doing in the new york city mayoral race? come home and campaign for @wilsonforseattle.bsky.social

a brick plaza street with bollards, trees, and seating lined by two story brick buildings

mount vernon pedestrianized Pine St! once again small cities in washington absolutely lapping seattle on certain aspects of urbanism

tiny plant growing in the metal floor of a train

the train left ten minutes late and i was hopeful but we officially just missed our connection in mount vernon but here’s a baby plant growing in the vestibule between cars

reading this from an every-single-seat-is-full amtrak cascades train. the people yearn for rail travel

i should know better than to schedule a 13-minute bus connection from amtrak

why is amtrak positively incapable of running on time 😭

of course i bought it! and i think a 33 year old mug is definitely vintage! but does that make you vintage too?

white mug with red/pink text saying “NORTHGATE TRANSIT CENTER” above a green image of the transit center. “JUNE 1992” and the old metro logo are below

thrift store find of the day: vintage northgate transit center mug

15 mile across blob of terrible air quality centered around kenmore

diagram of the puget sound convergence zone with wind coming around the north and south sides of the olympic mountains meeting across seattles northern suburbs

was the super heavy smoke in north seattle caused by the convergence zone?

joe where is your sense of whimsy?

i won’t claim to be a regular traveler through there, but 12th/jackson absolutely has a higher police presence than almost anywhere in the city. it’s almost like cops don’t prevent poverty and addiction 🤯

i take des moines back… stops in roughly:
sodo
delridge
alaska junction
morgan junction
high point
westwood village
white center
burien
seatac airport
southcenter
renton

would absolutely kick ass as a semi-suburban orbital line. but i fear this ship has completely sailed

perhaps if we extended it through white center and burien, maybe even to des moines (rebuild the highline!), the cost benefit works out better? but ending it at alaska junction has always seemed bizarre to me

see: widening 405 for stride brt, enormous parking garages at stations