I am concerned local governments will see this new ALPR bill as a statement that they are fine and safe if these new rules are followed. I think that’s dangerous, and that they’re architecturally flawed in a way that can’t be legislated out. I think that’s what Rep Thomas was getting at with her no
First off, appreciate the thoughtful analysis. I think we agree on a lot. I'm open to reduced parking mins or eliminating in some areas. However, we want a walkable city, and cities like ours won't get them without marginal increases in the cost of housing for ground-floor retail. I'm ok with that.
Showing up in person remains the best way to get the attention of electeds. Unfortunately those that can afford to aren’t necessarily representative of their broader population. It’s sad to see lower barrier comment methods like this become effectively useless. Hopeful for a better method.
I think some future social scientist will figure out that the equilibrium state for any social media entity is to occupy a cultural or philosophical niche, and that broad discourse is unstable and will fragment. Or this has already been studied and I'm just an ignorant social media poster...
I want more housing, but ignoring livability won't get us anywhere. This argument reminds me of the story of the AI that optimizes a society to make paperclips, ignoring all else. We can balance multiple things: affordability, transit, quality of life, etc. If we hyper-focus only on one, all suffer.
I think this is painting with too broad a brush. There are probably situations where more ground floor retail isn’t needed. Maybe SF is there. But, there are many places where we have data that we won’t get any unless we require it, particularly in small cities. Some balance seems reasonable.
WA's legislative session ends in a week and it's hard to tell which housing bills are still alive. We've been tracking them at liveableissaquah.org/wa-housing-bill-tracker.html. Just updated: HB 1345 passed both chambers, HB 2266 passed the Senate. Three bills need House votes by Mar 6. #WALeg
Jiang / Thompson for President
That’s the goal!
Thanks!
Traffic cameras were built to count cars. I trained computer vision on Issaquah's public feeds to count the people instead: pedestrians and cyclists the city isn't tracking. Even on our busiest roads, there are a lot of people out there. Analysis soon, images now → liveableissaquah.org/humans.html
7th grade Issaquah resident Michael Miller giving the best public commentary I think I've ever heard
Lots of great Issaquah folks at yesterday's Sound Transit board meeting, but 7th grader Michael Miller gave the best public testimony I've ever heard. He'll be 28 when the Issaquah line opens. He's not asking for something now, he's asking us to build the right future
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYAy...
Issaquah is packing the room for today’s Sound Transit board meeting, advocating for a better future for all of Sound Transit. You love to see it!
I 💙 Public Comment
My view is that our proposal in Issaquah isn’t against anything. It’s just *for* a simpler alignment, station, and permitting process in Issaquah. That reduces costs in Issaquah, and may serve as a good model system wide. If it works and we’re copied, I’d hope it will help build *all* of ST3
I’ve never seen this many people at city hall for any reason. Over 100 people showed up to support light rail to Issaquah, including electeds from Sammamish, Maple Valley, and Snoqualmie. I’m proud to be on a team that’s working hard to find creative solutions to build light rail faster and cheaper!
Just keep swimming Issaquah. Let’s build the thing.
That’s more of a Shelbyville idea.
Build the damn trains! Our op-ed on how Issaquah can lay the tracks for a more financially sustainable future for ST while delivering on all its promises is up on The Urbanist. Check it out and please let us know your thoughts!
Re: why so many folks signed in con, a lot of them are clearly bots. Look at all the people from various unions that signed in con within seconds of each other, many of whom have said it wasn’t actually them. Not sure what you do about that, but I suspect it’s a big part of the con tally.
This is sad. I’d love to see model legislation that cities could propose now though. Not totally sure what’s legal with HOAs etc. Would be interested in talking with someone who might be trying that if you know. I’d be interested in pushing tiny home legalization in Issaquah.
Love it. I’ll see if I can get some
other Issaquah city council peeps interested. I will warn it’s a few billion dollars outside our city budget this year, but we can dream. May need to rename them the Salmon though.
Are there any bills still alive that do this?
This is what an abundance mindset looks like in transit planning. We won't fight for a perfect station alignment. We won't bog things down in process. We'll be flexible (even if it's bright blue, IYKYK). We want to be the example other cities follow and approach planning with a fierce urgency of now
Speaking as one Issaquah City Councilmember, I can say I would fully support an Issaquah light rail stop with any geometry, including squircles, rhombicosidodecahedrons, heptagrams, or even a Gömböc, if it will bring the cost down and make it happen. I will die on this oddly-shaped hill.
Lots to learn from Bothell’s dad:
What's going on in Bothell 👇
We appointed Paul Adair to the Issaquah council last night. On housing affordability: "More supply and more density is the only way you can start tackling this problem." You can watch his interview question responses here: youtu.be/luu5nzJ7c7I?...
I'm really excited to see Paul join the council!
Class 1+2 e-bikes should be treated exactly like other bikes. The night I was sworn in to our council, I successfully amended a proposed law that would have placed them under potentially greater scrutiny. All levels of government should go out of their way to encourage e-bike use, never the reverse.
When I was running for Issaquah council, a story I often brought up was the corner candy store where I grew up that is illegal to build in Issaquah today. Bad on its own, but representative of our broader land use problems. Hope this gets passed into law, and hope cities even comply in advance!
