Cliff Masss post be like...
Cliff Mass' post be like... Charles Mudede

If You Want to Get a Good Sense of How Bad the Traffic in Seattle Has Become: Read Cliff Mass' post "Fixing Seattle's Traffic Mess." It's not that it offers a real way forward (indeed, many of its recommendations are quite backwards), but it shows so well how this big and constant urban problem has so completely broken what was once seen by many to be a very sound mind. Mass' post, however, does not have the glimmering and shimmering bits and pieces you would expect to find in the mental wreckage of a brilliant scientist. There are instead lumps of grump (Seattle's bridges need to open less), gripe (we need more parking, more parking, more parking), and anti-urbanist grumbling (road diets are bad because they do what they are supposed to do—namely, make streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists by slowing traffic). He also says something about transferring some of our traffic to our numerous and large bodies of water; and he hates Link's University of Washington Station because it gives way too much to bikes and pedestrians. In fact, one would think that the station brought bad traffic to this notorious section of Montlake Boulevard rather than liberated many from it. Altogether, the auto industry will certainly approve of this pro-car post in much the same way the fossil fuel industry has certainly approved of Mass' climate skepticism.

There Is Still Time For Cliff Mass to Call His "Fixing Seattle's Traffic Mess" Post an April Fool Joke:


One of the Few Sensible Things in Cliff Mass's Terrible Traffic Post: Concerns drivers distracted by devices. But he will be happy to know that starting today "police across the state will kick off a major crackdown focused on getting drivers to put down their phones when they're behind the wheel." KOMO reports that of the 150 statewide law enforcement agencies participating in this crackdown, 30 are in Seattle, a city whose bad traffic finally dashed to pieces the mind of one of its most popular scientists. But the $136 fine for violators is still too low.

The Link Station Mass Hates So Much: Is getting love from the architectural website Architizer, which made it one of the finalists for the 5th Annual Architizer A+Awards—it's in the category of Architecture+Glass. The University of Washington station was designed by LMN, with landscaping by Swift Company and Gustafson Guthrie Nichol. If you want to see a concrete solution to our traffic woes, visit this station and its new surroundings. University of Washington Station saves rather than breaks good minds.

Seattle Being Pressured Into Making Sidewalks Accessible: Without this pressure, which comes from a 2015 federal lawsuit that claims the city violates the Americans with Disabilities Act "because many [of its] sidewalks lack curb ramps," Seattle might have continued sleeping on the problem. Seattle Times has the story, which is sad because one wants our town to improve its sidewalks not because it fears punishment, but because it loves to be more of itself, more urban.

Explosion in St. Petersburg Metro: It has, according CNN, killed 10 people and injured around 50. Some experts believe the explosion was caused by a bomb, and that this bomb was detonated by an enemy of the Russian state, a terrorist.

They Voted for Trump, and Now They Are Getting Their Rumps Kicked by Trump: In this case, which is one of so many, white Ohioans were going to receive assistance from the government to repair their house. But they voted for Trump, and now Trump plans to cut the program that provides assistance to poor homeowners. This story is getting old fast. And as Nicholas Kristof explains in his excellent post on the matter, Trump's voters still support him, still believe he is going to return greatness to them and their America, even as he is threatening to deprive these supporters of life-improving and even life-saving federal services. The Dems will never in a million years reach these voters. They are permanently damaged.

Somali Pirates Have Returned to the World Stage: