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Seattle
Second Amtrak Cascades Train to Canada coming soon »
Humble as it is, a train ride all the way to Portland, Oregon is my dream trip.
Alphabetizing DJ Riz's records »
Seattle's the Stranger starts with the electronica shelf and gives up.
Warnings work
September 3rd, 2007Seattle commuters met the challenge of a partial I-5 closing. Lots of similarly dire warnings about an overloaded transit system are prompting me to bike into work on Tuesday, the day after Labour Day. I have no doubt that more people finding other ways to commute to work or school is an intended effect of such warnings.
David Brewster discusses walkability and the Walk Score »
The first framing device to make more people embrace the joys of tighter living quarters is carbon footprint, scaring people out of their subdivisions with an ominous rumble of the extinction of the earth if we don't start abandoning our cars and do more walking. The second framing notion is "walkability." A compact, walkable neighborhood sounds sociable, old-fashioned, village-like. Not density, but desirability.
David Wortman writes about transit revenue options for West Coast American cities »
Includes free transit and privatizing systems.
Experts are wary of free public transit »
Finally getting around to reading the postscript to Dave Olsen's series. Some argue that it leads to people valuing the system less, and treating it accordingly.
Free bus service: Is it viable? »
Skagit Transit in Mount Vernon and Link Transit in Wenatchee initially ran no-fare bus systems, but added fares after I-695 eliminated big chunks of their revenue.
What "bike friendly" looks like »
On bike route miles per 100,000 people:
these figures conceal as much as they reveal: a low value may reflect either fewer bikeways (for example, in Seattle) or higher population density (for example, in Vancouver).
Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver are creating strategies to encourage the development of modest, more affordable houses »
"All three are wrestling with the problem of affordable housing and have begun to encourage, or at least allow, the construction of well-designed small houses."
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