Shirley Leung, PhD
@shirleyswirley
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Climate/water scientist💧House all our neighbors, mask up, build walkable cities, give land back, defund police, abolish billionaires, eat dumplings🥟Views own
Duwamish Land
Joined November 2008
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OMG - just talked to Mark Schultz (sp?) at a farmers market who said they are Tanya Woo’s campaign manager and asked them about Woo’s below answer on trans kids. He literally answered “why should I care about trans kids?” I’m soooo shook right now like I’m actually shaking
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Libraries are free. Driving on most roads is free. Public school is free. Calling the cops is free. Parks are free. How does free public transit differ from any of these other things besides that we don’t already have it?
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Relatedly why do ppl not see fares as a regressive tax? We want less driving and more transit riding. And ppl of lower incomes ride more transit. So why do we let drivers use roads for free, but charge ppl to ride transit? Again genuine question - I actually want u to say why lol
Libraries are free. Driving on most roads is free. Public school is free. Calling the cops is free. Parks are free. How does free public transit differ from any of these other things besides that we don’t already have it?
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I want to put to rest ONCE AND FOR ALL the idea that adding new neighbors/housing will strain urban sewer systems or that we cannot add density to our cities because of limited sewer capacity.
I'm obsessed with water, especially in relation to infrastructure and ecosystems...🧵
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@GNCordova
It’s bc they really believe that they’re choosing to be homeless. That they like “being outside and free” and at any moment they could choose to “make something of themselves.” All supported and pushed by right wing and mainstream media. It’s horrifying
I’ve talked to so, so many unhinged wealthy older folks across the country who think that being homeless is a choice. Mark my words, the next thing they’re gonna say is that all these ppl who get arrested for sleeping outside wanna be in prison and chose that. HOUSE EVERYONE NOW
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If you’re worried about funding it, why aren’t you worried about funding all the other things? Why don’t you also want to charge ppl every time they borrow a book from the library, drive on any road, go to class, call the cops, take a walk in a park?
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Public transit is my favorite 3rd place in Seattle. I’ve made 1000 friends on it. When I’m sad about the world, I go on transit to make small talk, eavesdrop on funny conversations, see hot ppl, smile at babies, and feel happy. I feel so sorry for people who don’t know this joy
If you’re this hesitant to ride public transportation in Seattle, then we have some serious work to do. No one should feel uncomfortable or scared on our multi-million dollar light rail system.
#RestorePublicSafety
#ChangeWashingtonNow
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Genuinely want ppl to answer this lol. And then I want them to realize that we can actually fund everything we want by taxing the rich and that spending 10x more on fare enforcement than the skipped fares are worth is wasteful, cruel, and unnecessary
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Hangzhou, China urbanism (under appreciated) thread:
First, towers in parks and along well-used dedicated biking/walking trails running next to the many rivers. SO MUCH greenery, shade, and water absorbing soil. So quiet and peaceful.
1/n
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Side(ish) note: Even if we really did need a lot more sewer capacity to accommodate new neighbors, it'd still be a lot cheaper/more environmentally friendly to add this inside the city, rather than forcing creation of new homes and sewers in the far-flung suburbs.
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The truth is that CLIMATE CHANGE is actually the biggest imminent threat to the future health of urban water systems, NOT new neighbors or increasing density. This is true in Seattle and elsewhere.
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I also have 3 master's and a PhD in water-related sciences. (I don't actually like to mention this because it really doesn't matter - the facts are there for anyone to learn - BUT people love to doubt the expertise of non-white women on The Internet and elsewhere, so...)
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2nd, we can add green stormwater infrastructure that absorbs water before it can run off - including bioswales, green roofs, rain gardens. Adding new neighbors and homes (esp. in underpopulated single-family areas) only gives us MORE, not fewer, opportunities to implement these.
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I’m sooo tired of city of Seattle planners calling golf courses green spaces no qualifications
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Reducing car usage/building walkable communities 1) fights climate change, 2) reduces tire chemical pollution effects on salmon, and 3) decreases the number of parking lots/driveways needed, shrinking the amount of runoff-generating, impervious surfaces in the city. A TRIPLE WIN.
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NIMBYs in general love to argue that their detached single-family home neighborhoods can't possibly accommodate any more people because of limited sewer capacity and water quality concerns. But do these folks really understand sewers or drivers of urban water quality?
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Why is this? Well, much of Seattle (and any other city) is serviced by combined sewers, where sewage from your toilet/home combines with runoff from the streets/other impervious surfaces in the same pipe, which then all goes to the wastewater treatment plant. In dry weather, ...
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I’ve talked to so, so many unhinged wealthy older folks across the country who think that being homeless is a choice. Mark my words, the next thing they’re gonna say is that all these ppl who get arrested for sleeping outside wanna be in prison and chose that. HOUSE EVERYONE NOW
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It blows my mind how underutilized large parks in Seattle single family neighborhoods are. This is cowen park w/ no rain forecast. There’s not 1 single other soul here. It’s freaky. We need dense apartments around all of these parks so ppl can get here and actually use them
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I live in Seattle and have been to town halls where electeds claim that "poop is running through the streets already" because of "development" and that adding any new housing or densifying any existing neighborhoods will further damage the environment and pollute the water.
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Y’all might think this is an sdot hate account but credit where credit is due. New bollards dropped at little brook park!!! Seattle’s smallest stay healthy street! This is an amazing success story bc community advocacy got parks and sdot to work together to…
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Can you guys stop replying if you aren’t gonna answer my question or bring up other good ideas? Lol I’m here to actually learn, not listen to incorrect or incomplete info. Go post on your own timeline if you’re just gonna say random stuff
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Now that you know impervious surface runoff is the REAL driver of urban water quality issues and combined sewer overflows, you can see why climate change (NOT density or new neighbors) is the biggest threat to future urban water quality and sewer infrastructure...
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We as cities and urban dwellers already have many wonderful existing solutions at our disposal to begin solving our urban water quality issues. 1st and foremost, we can reduce our reliance on cars and miles driven by building denser, more walkable communities.
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...sewage from your home takes up a tiny fraction of the combined sewer pipes. In wet weather, however, added runoff can cause these pipes and water treatment plant to reach capacity. Pipes then overflow into rivers, lakes, Puget Sound with poop, dishwater, road runoff, and all.
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But again, these CSOs generally only occur during wet weather when HUGE volumes of water enter the combined pipes after running off of impervious surfaces such as roads, parking lots, and driveways. They are NOT the result of overproduction of sewage by homes, existing or new.
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This road and parking lot runoff is also responsible for harming and killing our struggling urban salmon, as a common but lethal car tire pollutant washes off of roads and into our streams.
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At Seattle comp plan info session tonight, OPCD says they want more diff housing types in more places, but didn’t study high rises in more areas. When asked why not, they said “adding highrises to urban neighborhoods is a pretty drastic way of approaching the situation” 😵
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4 reasons in pictures why we should upzone Seattle and support
@MLorenaGonzalez
who wants to get it done, a thread:
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Here is (1) a map of where these combined sewer overflows (CSOs) occur and (2) a map of the areas in Seattle served by combined or only partially separated sewers (~66% of the city).
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These CSOs are (presumably) what the elected official was referring to when he talked about "poop running through the streets." (Importantly, the poop isn't really in the streets. It's in our waterways. If those waterways flood, THEN that poop CAN be in the streets though.)
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Kenji Lopez-alt’s new video series on eating all the teriyaki in Seattle is just cycling propaganda, right? Or maybe a tern ad? I am here for it and highly recommend lol
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Normalize the tearing down of freeways in cities, including I-5 through Seattle's CID. The amount of land that I-5 takes up RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF CID is absurd. Imagine how amazing it would be if there was a park and more housing there instead. Dang racism ruining everything
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For me, the weird thing is that city depts pretend to do and care about public engagement but when a community explicitly tells them what they need (for example where there’s a crucial missing crosswalk), we’re told actually no, the city knows better and that’s not what you need
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Some numbers: During the dry(ish) season, the West Point wastewater treatment plant at Discovery Park treats 90 million gallons of water/day. During the wet season, this rises to 440 million gallons/day because of added impervious surface runoff.
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A conservative calculation then tells us that sewage from homes is less than 20% of the total plant capacity (90/440 million = ~0.2). (This is conservative because some of that 90 million is already runoff.) The rest of that wastewater volume is from impervious surface runoff.
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I often randomly think of the old white lady I met at a comp plan meeting who admitted when asked that she'd love to live in a 55+ apt community but can't find an openings bc there aren't enough of them - then went on to lament how any new housing will ruin Seattle's character.
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Reason 1: Because apartment bans in wealthy areas are modern-day redlining.
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Overheard on light rail pulling into shoreline south, 1 girl who is me:
“There’s nothing but a freeway and a golf course taking up most of the (would be) walk shed of this station? Is this some kind of joke?”
Overheard on light rail pulling in to Lynwood, two guys with British accents:
“There’s nothing here but parking. Is this some kind of a joke?”
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This was a long thread lol sorry. Questions are welcome. I left out a lot of details.
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Reason 2: Because apartment bans force pollution on those who don't create it.
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“Do you guys support I-137”? Tanya Woo’s answer was blank….so ummm can we finish voting her out already? Tanya Woo hates housing people :(
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Mayor Bruce Harrell flying to Buenos Aires while Seattle chokes on smoke is giving real Ted Cruz flying to Cancun during Texas deep freeze vibes
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell is on a panel in Buenes Aires on "Building Low-Carbon and Resilient Neighbourhoods" as part of the C40 Cities right now.
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Climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme precipitation events in Seattle. These storms, which generate enormous amounts of runoff, have already and will continue to overwhelm our water infrastructure, pipes, and plants...
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And remember when the West Point plant flooded and broke down in 2017? 90% of the untreated effluent that poured into Puget Sound was runoff and ONLY 10% was sewage.
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...Leading to more combined sewer overflows, stream erosion, and flooding. Adding new neighbors and density are a drop in the deluge compared to the urban water problems that climate change will bring. It's not all doom and gloom though. There's lots of hope here!
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I’m sorry - I don’t want to be mean to Conor, but this article is rife with eco fascist, anti-homeless, and racist vibes. It also reflects deep misunderstandings of both environmental justice and the YIMBY movement. Thread (1/n)
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For some reason, it put me over the edge thinking about how folks won’t be able to go to cap hill farmers market if there’s a SOAP/SODA zone. Already SO depraved to deny folks services, mutual aid, community. But also fun and fresh local food at the city’s best farmers market? 😢
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Serious question for urbanists, environmentalists, housing advocates, racial justice activists: when’s the protest at city hall? lol
NEW: The draft One Seattle Plan growth strategy has been released. It would implement the state middle housing law in a modified form, reshape the city’s approach to growth, and provide room for an additional 100,000 homes over the next 20 years.
Plan:
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I used to complain about the lack of a serious food hall and SE Asian street food in Seattle but no more! I am crying right now I’m so happy that Asean StrEAT food hall opened at Westlake center. It smells like hainan chicken and chili crab in here, I just can’t 🥹🥹😭😭plzzzz
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Bros on here think they can out econ and out bro me. Bro, I have already completely encompassed and enveloped your viewpoints. I went to Penn and consume neolib news and educational content 24/7. lol there’s so much more to the world though
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Still can’t believe I can traverse the city (Columbia city to Northgate) with no effort on my part in 30 min around midnight now…The light rail is a miracle and I can’t wait for more of it
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Andrew is prob smarter than I am on this, but I fully reject this. The Times promotes business/capital owning interests, while The Stranger helps us understand who will act in the interests of normal everyday ppl. I’m grateful for the work of the latter in educating folks. Plus…
Seattle needs to talk about how we let a dozen Seattle Times and Stranger editorial board members choose every single one of our elected officials.
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@GeorgistSteve
I differ here. To me, transit generates an abundance of public benefits compared to driving. Transit reduces carbon emissions, air pollution, noise. It boosts public health/fitness, allows for better land use patterns, improves traffic safety/walkability, and reduces congestion.
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Reason 3: Because apartment bans harm nature and worsen climate change.
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Had to drive a new pickup today and was amazed at just how bad the visibility is and how badly it starts, stops, turns, parks, and does really anything a car is supposed to do lol. Also getting in and out is horrible. Truly don’t get why ppl wanna drive these regularly in a city
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Seattle could also do this, but our council is too busy spending all our money on new prison contracts, jailing ppl who dare exist in public without being white or wealthy, sweeping unhoused neighbors, and trying to hire more nonexistent cops
BIG NEWS!!
PPS Nutrition Services is happy to announce all students will be able to enjoy breakfast and lunch at no charge for the 2024-25 school year.
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I appreciate all the nice explanatory quote tweets about what Tanya Woo did, but I will make it simple for you: Tanya Woo hates social housing and doesn’t want you to have a safe, stable place to live in Seattle unless you’re one of her wealthy landlord friends.
This is BS and I'm sad to Woo stoop to such dishonest tactics. She committed to a public event, regarding a major piece of legislation during and election and with her opponent.
And then she bailed at the last second because she's gone to war against workforce housing.
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She also keeps trying to talk to me and show me random pics of ppl in Cap Hill sitting on benches, minding their own business. I think she might need exposure therapy to ppl sitting on benches bc she seems really scared of that 😢 Anyone know a therapist who can help?
NEW: The woman who went viral over a video implying a Black man made the light rail unsafe wants to block supportive housing, send the US Military to Seattle, and run for Mayor. Seattle's seen this all before and we didn't elect them either.
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It’s obvious that this entire thread is talking about point of use fees. Obviously all of the listed public goods including transit are mainly paid for by taxes lol are people ok?
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OOOh re-upping this to remind you guys why we need WAY more housing in WAY more wealthy enclaves than what the comp plan is currently calling for
Reason 1: Because apartment bans in wealthy areas are modern-day redlining.
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I don’t understand how Seattle decides to send out air quality alerts. They sent one out yesterday when it was really bad, but none right now when it’s REALLY really bad, the worst I’ve seen over the largest area
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Very tired of almost dying at least 3 times and being cursed or honked at for absolutely nothing anytime I leave the house walking, biking, or even driving. I dunno why we live like this? Like literally no one wins lol
@seattledot
@Spottnik
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Reason 4: Because apartment bans make housing unaffordable for everyone, but especially those without generational wealth.
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Why do ppl keep saying “none of these things are free” and then try to explain taxes to me? Lol
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The original tweet in this thread below has been my fav inane response :)
@loganb
Ok should’ve added congestion pricing, tolls, and road usage charges too :) thanks for the quote tweet! Y’all go check out my profile now :)
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Forever so depressed that almost all of the Burke runs through sprawling single family neighborhoods with 2-3 cars per household (what an absolute waste) while loud, polluted, dangerous speedways bisect neighborhoods with apartments whose residents are more often car-free
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We already banned poor folks and ppl of color from rich white neighborhoods with exclusionary zoning and lack of affordable housing. Now we’re trying to ban them from the neighborhoods we pushed them into—all the places with services, multi-family housing, mutual aid, community.
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I wanted to have a party at carkeek picnic shelters with awesome water views but then I realized that many friends can’t get there easily bc they don’t have cars :( SO much park hoarding in wealthy neighborhoods, esp in north Seattle. Time to add a ton of apts around carkeek lol
There are areas of the city I feel I know like a proper local, but then other obvious and beloved spots that I’ve somehow never visited. I’ve never been to carkeek park somehow! Gives me obvious things to look forward to.
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Funny but also I will be vulnerable on here and admit that it really really sucks seeing an Asian woman so publicly cozy with right wing grifters
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What scares me most about many tech ppl is that they are unwilling to admit that they have extremely disproportionate power, influence, and money in any given American city. Rather they think that their existence/job is apolitical and characterize themselves as “boring”/innocuous
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@pauliegwalnuts
@DanPriceSeattle
Or why isn’t their widely accessible and convenient public transit?
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I’m so confused why every outreach attempt by city of Seattle or other local agencies are ZOOM MEETINGS. Like at a minimum, y’all should be just sitting outside Fred Meyer for a couple hours everyday talking to ppl even if it’s for 2 min while they’re walking out
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Can’t tell you how many ppl in north Seattle are just like yeah, it’s true we don’t have enough parks/green space (no, Jackson golf course doesn’t count) BUT if we add any more it’ll be used by homeless folks and so we should prob just have no public space at all
Urbanist call this poor planning, I call it what it is - deliberate anti-homeless infrastructure. Seattle, like most major cities, has codified classism into its 21st century design. There will be no greening-ing of this city so long as a poor person might find joy in it.
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Should I make a like 15 min video of me reacting to this map neighborhood by neighborhood? lol I’m trying to stave off depression, not sure what’s gonna help
NEW: The draft One Seattle Plan growth strategy has been released. It would implement the state middle housing law in a modified form, reshape the city’s approach to growth, and provide room for an additional 100,000 homes over the next 20 years.
Plan:
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Biked by a “lot for sale” sign along the Burke at 122nd ish. This entire stretch is lined with single family homes blocking public water views. There are no public bathrooms or places to stop and get coffee/food for miles. My dream is to open a water view cafe/free bathroom here.
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I’ve been working a new job for a year now & I truly didn’t know it was possible to go this long without being microaggressed, belittled, doubted and wanting to quit everyday. I share this bc I want you all to know that it’s possible and that you shouldn’t accept the excuses.
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No. Climate change, dams, growing inequality that allows for giant mansions on lake fronts and floodplains, and suburban sprawl that locks in car dependence, expands impervious surface, and creates more tire pollution threaten salmon. Fixed that for ya. Stop the ecofascism plz
Climate change, a growing human population and increasing urban development are threatening critical salmon habitat. A collaborative “Tree to Sea” Watershed Resilience Action Plan aims to restore Snohomish Watershed.
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Sigh what I wouldn’t give for a dim sum and a hotpot place with outdoor seating in Seattle. Heck I’d also take a good pho place
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@blonde_ohio
I’m so so obviously talking about paying at point of use :( police alone take up the majority of many cities’ budgets and our taxes lol
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I thought this would get 1 like lol but since there are more: OPCD also said they don’t wanna study highrises in more areas than they already exist in bc they “don’t wanna concentrate growth where it has already been concentrated.” MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!!!!
At Seattle comp plan info session tonight, OPCD says they want more diff housing types in more places, but didn’t study high rises in more areas. When asked why not, they said “adding highrises to urban neighborhoods is a pretty drastic way of approaching the situation” 😵
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So a bunch of us decided we wanted to spend our evenings and weekends over ~3 months reading the >1000 public comments about how Seattle should/should not change its land use over the next decades... STRAP IN FOR MY TAKEAWAYS (or skim the report here: )🧵
Learn more! 14 volunteers in
@Talaris4All
, a working group of Share The Cities, read & reviewed each one of the comments posted to the One Seattle Plan Engagement Hub website, as well as all of the email feedback received by OPCD.
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If you’ve stopped masking, it’s ok to start again anytime! We are all here cheering you on
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I want to remind y'all that there are SO many wealthy white Seattle neighborhoods along the water that have actually LOST a lot of population since 1970. Where you don't see decreases, it may be because the Census tract also included a TINY sliver of arterial-focused development.
Reason 1: Because apartment bans in wealthy areas are modern-day redlining.
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I always do this so hard. Last time I got honked at real bad but just turned around and smiled at them lollll
Do your part to pedestrianize Pike Place. Always walk in the street. Assert your rights. Be the ban that bans cars.
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“If food waste was a country, it’d be the 3rd largest GHG emitter.” So have we considered how suburban sprawl has forced us to buy huge amts of food infrequently, turn our oversized homes into personal convenience stores, & watch all of it slowly rot until the next grocery trip?
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Publicly owned docked bike share that’s cheap and has many bikes with builtin seats for kids 😭. There are many competing private dock less bike shares, too. Many families, older folks, and all types of ppl using them, especially along the river trails.
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A typical neighborhood has 3 types of paths you can use: small streets shared with slow vehicle traffic, sidewalks, & parklets that double as walkways. The small streets have many businesses. The parklets have lots of shade/greenery, seating, games for kids, exercise machines.
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@ohnohedead
@InakiLonga
Yeah, I agree with this. However this is also a scarcity/austerity mindset and there are lots of untapped sources of revenue :) and there is always, always a choice to be made about what we want to make free and what we want to charge ppl for
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Saw some sound transit officials get out of a couple trucks at pioneer square. Was like yay omg did you guys come to fix the escalator?? And one of them laughs and goes “HELL NO!” Lol I don’t know what could’ve been a funnier response
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Strong bollards used liberally everywhere. Some places (esp new development) were built as surface parking lots but ppl just put planters everywhere to exclude cars and turn them into people plazas where kids ride their tricycles and run free with their grandparents instead.
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Took PTO to eat this bc it’s not open on weekends and closes at like 3 on weekdays. Best tacos in the city, changed my life hehe. Worth every minute
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If non political parents send you “Vancouver or Seattle or Portland or blah city is dying” videos and tell you that nowhere is safe, what are the best video explainers to send back? I said this but need more good sources
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Tanya woo just basically called everyone in the CID stupid lol obvi doesn’t need to be said but uh yeah a lot of us don’t agree with that haha
"She argued that people who live in the CID would take the message “Fuck Tanya Woo get her out!” as an attack on them and not an attack on Woo because that community “doesn’t understand politics.” Well obviously because they elected Tammy Morales instead. 🙄
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The times is a mouthpiece for wealthy business owners. The stranger otoh is basically a public service we’re lucky to have and could easily lose at any moment. Ppl arguing that the stranger has too much power actually seem to just be mad that they have gotten stuff wrong before
People talk about the stranger team like we don't make 50% ami. Literally fuck off
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I also asked him what he thought of the whole “hate speech” and Tanya curating and submitting an oped under someone else’s name thing, and he said “that’s just how it’s done. That’s how you do these things” u wot mate????
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Parks and trails consist of comfortable, shady gathering places. Clean public restrooms and garbage receptacles abound. Kids and elders are everywhere talking and laughing loudly. Car noise is notably absent while constant bird calls are notably present.
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