I love tilt shift photos, they make things look like a Mr. Rogers model scene. I thought for a minute you might be using one, then thought naaah, these young kids can't be that cool, must be an instagram thingy. Glad to be wrong!

I like tilt-shifted photos but these photos look bad with it and make me feel nauseated. I know I'm being a sourpuss, but please don't do this again, Lester. Or take better photos.

Bellevue is neither like Brooklyn nor Oakland. Both Brooklyn and Oakland grew up with a thriving, independent culture while still being clearly tied to the bigger city. Both are basically part of the big city (sort of like the twin cities, except one city is smaller). That simply isn't the case with Bellevue. It is a suburb, and will likely remain a suburb forever. It has grown steadily over the years, but almost all of the growth has occurred with the automobile. In 1940 there were less than 2,000 people. In 1950 there were 10,000. It (like all of Seattle's suburbs) really started growing as a result of white flight (a situation that is ironic, given the ethnic diversity that exists now). It also grow rapidly as businesses -- especially tech businesses -- did the same sort of thing. Business parks are relative new (they gained favor during the 1980s). Thus you have Microsoft in an area that only a generation ago had horses.

Of course now things have changed. There has been a move back towards the city, both by businesses and by the people. But with businesses (e. g. Microsoft) tied to their suburban location, they aren't moving. But they are happy to open up new buildings at the nearest downtown, which is in Bellevue. Other businesses (especially those tied to Microsoft technology) follow.

Ballard is probably the closest thing to a Brooklyn neighborhood. It had an independent beginning, but was soon tied to the other city; strong ethnic identity; lots of old buildings and character. Now it has gentrified, but it has retained a (relatively) strong artistic flavor. About the only major difference (other than the obvious, size) is the lack of African Americans.

Anyway, Bellevue isn't that, nor will it ever be that. Hard to say what Bellevue is like, or will be like. East Coast suburbs aren't like it, because East Coast suburbs tend to be built around old cities and towns, whereas Bellevue (like most West Coast cities) doesn't have much history. Even suburbs like Jersey City and Hoboken have old brick buildings -- Bellevue doesn't. I was thinking maybe Richmond, BC, but Richmond doesn't have the employment center (i. e. a big downtown). I'm sure there are other cities like it, just none are coming to mind.

" tilt-shift, which allows you to recreate popular Instagram filters by physically manipulating the lens" Ok, I suppose that's a millennial way to put it. If your entire life experience has been digital, how would you know it's actually the other way round? From almost the beginning of chemistry-based photography (film, wet plates, etc) large format cameras have had tilt (rotate lens up or down), swing (rotate lens left or right), and shift (slide lens vertically or sideways) movements of both the lens and film planes. Tilt-shift lenses are available for some handheld cameras.

Movements are powerful tools to control plane of focus and convergence. Handled by a master the results can be staggering, and, when handled by a master, the techniques are normally imperceptible unless you study the photograph (and know something about how lenses work). And like all power tools, when handled by a novice disaster can result. To me, LB's photos in this post are about his tilt-shift lens, rather than the lens being used unobtrusively to make better photos.

@1

Just look at Lester's profile photo-- OF COURSE he's got a bellows system or a dedicated tilt-shift lens in his camera bag. The only question, really, is whether he paid over 2 large for it or just inherited the damned thing.

The pictures and engineering for East Link are quite impressive, but I don't think it will have the social change you suggest. It is neither the next big thing, nor the biggest thing. It really won't connect neighborhoods the way that Northgate Link will. The distances are just too great, and the stations between the International District and downtown Bellevue are too weak. Judkins Park Station is not that bad, but it is perched on the edge of the freeway, next to a major thoroughfare. It is hard to see that as a spontaneous destination for someone in Bellevue, even though it will be fifteen minutes away by train. It will be twenty minutes from downtown Bellevue to the I. D., and there will certainly be folks making that trip. But that is still twenty minutes, on top of the time it takes to get there. It will be faster than the bus, but not as fast as driving most of the day.

In contrast, Northgate Link will tie together neighborhoods as never before. Spontaneous trips that have always been considered a pain in the ass will become easy. From Northgate it will take about ten minutes to get to Capitol Hill. That changes everything. Suddenly a relatively distant neighborhood -- one that has historically been considered "out there" -- is connected to much of the city. All the combinations along there will see a huge improvement. Northgate to the U-District, U-District to Capitol Hill, or how about Roosevelt to Capitol Hill. Right now that last trip takes 30 minutes by bus/train, or 10 minutes if you drive and don't encounter traffic (good luck with that). Unless your destination is right by the station, you wouldn't be surprised if someone drove or called a cab. But soon (well before East Link is complete) that trip will take 8 minutes by train. Transit becomes the default way to get around. That is what a subway system is supposed to do -- tie together neighborhoods -- not just provide for commuter based travel.

Unfortunately, there will be very little of that. There will be some -- including some connections on the East Side that were probably difficult in the past -- but not a huge amount. That is because Link has been focused on long distance commuting, not providing an efficient, high value urban subway. It is startling when a writer from the progressive newspaper in Seattle writes that "someone could board a train in downtown Bellevue and get to Lynnwood (51 minutes) or Federal Way (68 minutes) without ever sitting in traffic". That is not an urban perspective, but a suburban one. Touting extremely long trips that will rarely be taken, and only then during rush hour isn't a feature, it is a bug. It suggests that we are blowing money on wasteful suburban projects, instead of focusing on ones that will pay off. Most of the Central Area, as well as areas north of the ship canal (Fremont, Wallingford, Phinney Ridge, etc.) will basically have nothing, despite having way more people, and being way more appropriate for mass transit than most of what we are building.

Even when we build something decent, we seem to fuck it up. A subway from Ballard to downtown via Interbay is not ideal (it makes way more sense to go via the UW) but it is reasonable. It will help connect Ballard with Lower Queen Anne and South Lake Union. But only if it goes to Ballard! Right now the tentative plan is to just skip it (https://seattletransitblog.com/2018/12/07/ballard-is-big/).

Sorry for being a Debbie Downer, but it is the responsibility of a newspaper to point this shit out, instead of just cheering for the little progress that is being made. Yes, it is nice that East Link is being built, and yes, the pictures look cool. But we have made some very big mistakes in the past (like not building a First Hill station) and seem to be in the process of making them again.

The tilt shift is god-awful for most of the uses here. We can't even see the goddamn tracks in half of them.
It's GIX, not GEX.
Those aren't housing towers, they are offices (Microsoft, mostly). Bellevue's housing is much shorter, with the exception of the luxury towers that are further southwest of the station area.
Bellevue isn't going to become Williamsburg, because it's more diverse and should stay that way. Whitey can stay home, we need to keep the balance.