@rachael@social.ridetrans.it
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

rachael

@rachael@social.ridetrans.it

I live in Seattle with my family and work in tech. I'm also disabled (mostly deaf & blind on one side). I ride the bus, walk or bike most of the time and I care a lot about our transportation system working for everyone. I spend a lot of my not-work time on local advocacy, family stuff, pottery and our unitarian universalist church. Pronouns: They/them

Note: I have multiple accounts and not posting all topics from one account. This one is for Seattle, urbanism & regional political stuff!

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

rachael, to random
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Our Mastodon server here — https://social.ridetrans.it — will be updating to the next major version soon when the admins have some time at odd hours because it’s a BIG update! Here’s a post (links to a blog) on what’s changing with the new version. There’s a lot of improvements. The big “flagship” servers like mastodon.social as well as many others have been running on this latest software for a while so it should be pretty robust! https://aus.social/@shlee/111101657147217693

rachael,
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Interesting features to me:

  • exclusive lists. for consent reasons, mastodon requires you to follow an account to put it in a list. exclusive lists allows you to show that account only in a list but not in your “home” timeline.

  • better search and opt-in to full text search. “unlisted” post visibility keeps that post out of full text search even if you enable being included in full text search. Note: inclusion in full text search is opt-in. You have to change a setting to be included.

owen, to random
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WTF. No.

We absolutely do not need more Seattle Process that inherently favors the status quo. Requiring an unelected board, captured by commercial interests, to review the work of a city agency before changes can happen is ridiculous. This is regulatory capture. Institutionalized corruption.

rachael,
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@owen @Andres4NY Funny how this implies Murray was a good mayor but I suppose in retrospect and if we leave the abuse part out, relatively better. :/

rachael, to random
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No lies detected. https://youtu.be/3HCDFczGh84?si=8TPKhjKmQV22ERN3

rachael,
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Instead of RRFBs and Hawk signal crossing treatments, we should have moose crossings. You hit a button and a large stuffed moose (aka moving bollard) is mechanically moved back and forth hanging from a beam in front of the crosswalk between people walking and approaching speeding vehicles.

rachael, to Seattle
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Attention folks! There’s a rally and march today at 5PM to protest police officer Kevin Dave killing Jaahnavi Kandula on Jan 23 with so far no consequences. Worse we’ve since learned of the body cam footage of just awful attitudes from police union leaders. Event starts at Dexter & Thomas.

https://www.facebook.com/events/dexter-ave-thomas-st/emergency-rally-to-convict-kevin-dave/834812251644345/

Andres4NY, to random
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My wife wants a sauna, but we have a subway station right there

rachael,
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@Andres4NY You clearly need a shitposting alt account so you can maintain plausible deniability. ;)

rachael, to Seattle
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Womp womp. The powerful never face consequences. The city paid millions for Mayor Durkan’s and other executives’ illegal actions in deleting text messages. But Durkan, Best and others won’t face prosecution for breaking the law.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/no-charges-over-former-seattle-mayor-durkans-deleted-texts-prosecutors-say/

rachael, to Seattle
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The Ethiopian Community in Seattle has opened their new space! https://southseattleemerald.com/2023/09/11/ethiopian-village-on-rainier-avenue-opens/

rachael, to Seattle
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Why family apartments are so uncommon and expensive in the United States. Local advocate for better land use & zoning Mike Eliason cited!

https://www.centerforbuilding.org/blog/we-we-cant-build-family-sized-apartments-in-north-america

Andres4NY, to random
@Andres4NY@social.ridetrans.it avatar

Okay, well that's shitty. So this toot (https://mastodonapp.uk/) is cached locally on my mastodon instance with no alt text, but going to the original site, it has alt text (that was added later: https://mastodonapp.uk/). Despite the edit a day ago, my local instance still doesn't see it..

rachael,
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@Andres4NY maybe a bug being fixed soon? or remote isn’t trying to send the updated?

rachael, to random
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A very good time to support Publicola financially: https://publicola.com/2023/09/01/exciting-news-were-expanding-our-criminal-justice-coverage-but-we-need-your-help-to-make-it-happen/

seabikeblog, to Seattle
@seabikeblog@social.ridetrans.it avatar

I did the thing!

https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2023/08/29/i-did-the-thing/

rachael,
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@Andres4NY @seabikeblog also: there will be a ebook version right? we might get a physical copy for nostalgia reasons but my visual reading issues means ebooks almost always lots lots better.

rachael, to Seattle
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A good ruling from King County Superior Court judge David Keenan that the city can’t without notice destroy or take a person’s tent and belongings based on a very broad definition of obstruction. https://publicola.com/2023/07/19/citys-primary-tool-for-sweeping-encampments-without-notice-ruled-unconstitutional/

owen, to random
@owen@social.ridetrans.it avatar

With news of the MLK Safety project delays, it's worth reiterating the root problem. It takes SDOT way too long to do safety improvements. The ridiculous timelines compound all our problems.

If SDOT were serious about safety it would be delivering projects in weeks, not years. And as long as SDOT prioritizes process over safety, we'll never deliver projects in a timely manner or a reasonable budget.

The process is the problem.

rachael,
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@owen @silvernailsea Community feedback where we talk to maybe 1-5% of the actual population and most folks just want to get places safely, have less loud and polluted cities and use their cars less (which shows up even on SDOT’s surveys when they ask open ended questions about how people would prefer to get around).

rachael,
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@silvernailsea @owen Yeah. Same thing with 15th. I’m actually glad they changed that one to a general safety project because we also walk in that area and it’s not good. But that language is I think code for “if enough folks who primarily drive get upset we’ll do less”.

rachael,
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@owen @silvernailsea The thing is though people DO support bike lanes and sidewalks and bus lanes. They ask open ended questions in surveys before corridor repaving projects and majorities — even of people who say they mostly drive — would prefer to get around their neighborhood not driving or driving less. We can’t fight project by project but also (most) people LIKE IT when there’s less cars and noise nearby. But the process is setup to prioritize minority opinion over general policy.

rachael,
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@owen @silvernailsea Yes it’s like housing. Everyone says they want more housing. Just not THAT project nearby. I think support for transportation improvements could be more robust because less noise and pollution are a directly noticed local benefit. The problem is we do projects by asking the subset of people who care the most and ignore the wider support for the underlying goals. See also: Barcelona method of saying this project IS happening but here are the parts you can influence.

rachael,
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@owen @silvernailsea That is, if outreach was “we ARE doing this corridor project with these elements and it will be delivered next year.“ but then let people express support for elements that can be changed without undermining the goal of the project I think it would go better. No one is asked what kind of pavement or striping they’d prefer because those aren’t negotiable. Make the bike or bus lane clearly non-negotiable up front.

rachael, to random
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A long piece at KNKX about the availability and quality of drug treatment programs in Washington after made possession a gross misdemeanor and proponents claim the intent is to get folks into treatment. Of course the criminalization part finds a court and jail system and the treatment system is running on decades of neglect and underfunding so even new funding will take a long time. https://www.knkx.org/law/2023-06-29/washingtons-new-drug-law-was-designed-to-fill-our-treatment-centers-experts-say-it-wont

rachael, to Seattle
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The current mayor of Seattle is so condescending and out of touch. https://publicola.com/2023/06/28/downtown-is-you-harrell-unveils-new-downtown-plan-against-backdrop-of-anti-sweeps-protest/

rachael,
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@Andres4NY we are sadly. though sounds like it’s been a “boys club” anyway where he was probably effectively one. (see publicola posts about monisha harrell leaving)

rachael, to Seattle
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

Sound Transit is planning to present absurdly expensive and excessively displacing plans for Everett Link tomorrow to the board. All to, presumably, avoid taking even the tiniest slivers of space from cars. Please write the board or sign up to give comment at the meeting. Board email: emailtheboard@soundtransit.org

Thanks to @urbanistorg — https://www.theurbanist.org/2023/06/20/leaked-everett-link-plans-heavy-on-displacement-light-on-connectivity/

rachael, to climate
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

A plan to “reduce building greenhouse gas emissions 27% by 2050 from existing commercial and multifamily buildings.” is not a serious climate policy for a major wealthy U.S. city disproportionately responsible for climate change when avoiding catastrophic climate impact requires the US to get to ZERO by 2050.

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