Jess Zimbabwe
@jzimbabwe.bsky.social
Architect, planner, and Executive Director of Environmental Works Community Design Center in Seattle. Adjunct faculty at UW. Also: cheese, parrots, travel, music, housing, transit, maps, books, dogs, politics.
My kid is playing (and my husband is coaching) in the state finals for rec soccer this morning, and they did a FIFA-style walkout thingy!
December 14, 2025 at 5:28 PM
My kid is playing (and my husband is coaching) in the state finals for rec soccer this morning, and they did a FIFA-style walkout thingy!
A lot of children’s cartoons feature deadly quicksand, and yet in life, it hasn’t turned into as much of a danger as child-me would have predicted.
This story is like I feared it would be!
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/u...
This story is like I feared it would be!
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/u...
Stuck in Quicksand, a Hiker in Utah Has His SOS Answered
www.nytimes.com
December 14, 2025 at 4:04 PM
A lot of children’s cartoons feature deadly quicksand, and yet in life, it hasn’t turned into as much of a danger as child-me would have predicted.
This story is like I feared it would be!
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/u...
This story is like I feared it would be!
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/u...
It’s Nicaragua night, niños, niñas, y niñx!
#eatTheWorldAtoZ
#eatTheWorldAtoZ
December 8, 2025 at 1:26 AM
It’s Nicaragua night, niños, niñas, y niñx!
#eatTheWorldAtoZ
#eatTheWorldAtoZ
Reposted by Jess Zimbabwe
At a dance class I complimented a woman on her grippy-bottomed socks. “I love the psych ward socks,” I said. And she goes “I call them Pilates socks.” And those, my friends, are the two types of people.
December 7, 2025 at 12:51 AM
At a dance class I complimented a woman on her grippy-bottomed socks. “I love the psych ward socks,” I said. And she goes “I call them Pilates socks.” And those, my friends, are the two types of people.
Touring Nucor with a bunch of the @environmentalworks.bsky.social crew!
December 6, 2025 at 5:15 AM
Touring Nucor with a bunch of the @environmentalworks.bsky.social crew!
Valuable lessons to be learned from stories of older co-operatively held community developments like this as Seattle gets started with social housing.
Getting the governance right at the outset is critical.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Getting the governance right at the outset is critical.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The Eldonian dream: Inside the fight for Liverpool’s community housing utopia
Eldonian village was a forerunner in neighbourhood regeneration. Thirty years on it is fighting for survival
www.theguardian.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Valuable lessons to be learned from stories of older co-operatively held community developments like this as Seattle gets started with social housing.
Getting the governance right at the outset is critical.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Getting the governance right at the outset is critical.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
ICE detained a woman 15 days after her c-section, while she was on the way to the NICU for her daily visit to her newborn daughter, holding her for 34 hours without pain medication or access to a breast pump.
Remind me again what they mean by “pro-life”?
19thnews.org/2025/12/post...
Remind me again what they mean by “pro-life”?
19thnews.org/2025/12/post...
Her baby was in the NICU. She was in ICE detention.
Before Trump took office, postpartum immigrants were rarely detained by ICE. Nayra Guzmán was detained while her 15-day-old baby was in the NICU.
19thnews.org
December 5, 2025 at 1:07 PM
ICE detained a woman 15 days after her c-section, while she was on the way to the NICU for her daily visit to her newborn daughter, holding her for 34 hours without pain medication or access to a breast pump.
Remind me again what they mean by “pro-life”?
19thnews.org/2025/12/post...
Remind me again what they mean by “pro-life”?
19thnews.org/2025/12/post...
We are making a Baja Blast Pie.
(Yes, teenagers are involved.)
(Yes, teenagers are involved.)
November 30, 2025 at 12:54 AM
We are making a Baja Blast Pie.
(Yes, teenagers are involved.)
(Yes, teenagers are involved.)
The racism is just spilling out all garbled now.
TRUMP: If you look at Somalia, they are taking over Minnesota.
REPORTER: What do the Somalians have to do with this Afghan guy who shot the National Guard members?
TRUMP: Ah, nothing. But Somalians have caused a lot of trouble. They're ripping us off.
REPORTER: What do the Somalians have to do with this Afghan guy who shot the National Guard members?
TRUMP: Ah, nothing. But Somalians have caused a lot of trouble. They're ripping us off.
November 28, 2025 at 11:06 AM
The racism is just spilling out all garbled now.
Reposted by Jess Zimbabwe
When someone asks if I want to see some concrete
November 28, 2025 at 2:36 AM
When someone asks if I want to see some concrete
Reposted by Jess Zimbabwe
Excited by the prospect of Mamdani bringing his communication skills to talking about basic public functions and the people that provide them.
Combatting poverty and hunger in this city will take every single one of us. Myself included.
November 27, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Excited by the prospect of Mamdani bringing his communication skills to talking about basic public functions and the people that provide them.
Commentator highlights from the #nationalDogShow:
On the Irish Setter:
“This dog always looks like the redhead who just walked into the cocktail party.”
On the Irish Setter:
“This dog always looks like the redhead who just walked into the cocktail party.”
November 27, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Commentator highlights from the #nationalDogShow:
On the Irish Setter:
“This dog always looks like the redhead who just walked into the cocktail party.”
On the Irish Setter:
“This dog always looks like the redhead who just walked into the cocktail party.”
At the West Seattle Light Rail Community Forum. Hearing from @cmtmosqueda.bsky.social and Dow Constantine of @sound-transit.bsky.social.
November 25, 2025 at 1:53 AM
At the West Seattle Light Rail Community Forum. Hearing from @cmtmosqueda.bsky.social and Dow Constantine of @sound-transit.bsky.social.
Reposted by Jess Zimbabwe
SHE IS ROASTING COFFEE WHILE MARCHING IN THE PARADE this is why Silver Spring is the best Spring
November 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
SHE IS ROASTING COFFEE WHILE MARCHING IN THE PARADE this is why Silver Spring is the best Spring
In my second year of Chaperoning the PACMUN Model UN tournament, I have been upgraded to an “advisor.”
November 22, 2025 at 5:51 PM
In my second year of Chaperoning the PACMUN Model UN tournament, I have been upgraded to an “advisor.”
Reposted by Jess Zimbabwe
Zohran flip your hair again we need healthcare get him to give us healthcare.
November 21, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Zohran flip your hair again we need healthcare get him to give us healthcare.
Teenagers: old enough that they no longer demand a FaceTime “tour” of every work trip’s hotel room, but still insistent on “putting the dog on” when I call home.
November 21, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Teenagers: old enough that they no longer demand a FaceTime “tour” of every work trip’s hotel room, but still insistent on “putting the dog on” when I call home.
The affordable housing community should tread carefully in arguments about “reforming” Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rules. Every time someone argues that paying prevailing wages “drives up the cost of building affordable housing,” an angel loses its wings.
bipartisanpolicy.org/testimony-le...
bipartisanpolicy.org/testimony-le...
A Letter to the Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council on Improving Housing Affordability • Bipartisan Policy Center
Several members of the Terwilliger Center’s Advisory Committee sent a letter to the White House Director of the Domestic Policy Council with suggestions to increase housing supply and improve affordab...
bipartisanpolicy.org
November 21, 2025 at 8:43 PM
The affordable housing community should tread carefully in arguments about “reforming” Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rules. Every time someone argues that paying prevailing wages “drives up the cost of building affordable housing,” an angel loses its wings.
bipartisanpolicy.org/testimony-le...
bipartisanpolicy.org/testimony-le...
Got this beautiful Jonathan Kozol quote in an email footer from one of my kids' teachers, and I'm sitting with it and my gratutitude that smart, committed, inspired people choose other professions--like middle school teacher-- that intersect my life.
We are so blessed.
We are so blessed.
November 20, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Got this beautiful Jonathan Kozol quote in an email footer from one of my kids' teachers, and I'm sitting with it and my gratutitude that smart, committed, inspired people choose other professions--like middle school teacher-- that intersect my life.
We are so blessed.
We are so blessed.
Reposted by Jess Zimbabwe
when I was young, i used to wonder how people like this would fare in life, as they didn't seem suited for gainful employment. it turns out, the internet allowed them to accumulate a massive audience of similar idiots, enriching them and turning them into a presidential advisor
November 20, 2025 at 12:58 AM
when I was young, i used to wonder how people like this would fare in life, as they didn't seem suited for gainful employment. it turns out, the internet allowed them to accumulate a massive audience of similar idiots, enriching them and turning them into a presidential advisor
If you don't have undergraduate students in your inbox explaining why they are missing class, where are you getting your graphic descriptions of life for the day?
November 20, 2025 at 1:42 AM
If you don't have undergraduate students in your inbox explaining why they are missing class, where are you getting your graphic descriptions of life for the day?
State Senator Emily Alvarado just spoke to the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance annual meeting and observed that if Washington just adopted the average tax scheme of some other average state, we'd have around $300 million in extra revenue beyond what we have today.
November 18, 2025 at 1:29 AM
State Senator Emily Alvarado just spoke to the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance annual meeting and observed that if Washington just adopted the average tax scheme of some other average state, we'd have around $300 million in extra revenue beyond what we have today.
I’m at the Washington Low Income Housing Association’s annual meeting, and they just shared the good news that all legislators statewide who voted for last year’s rent stabilization bill won their re-elections this month!
November 18, 2025 at 1:17 AM
I’m at the Washington Low Income Housing Association’s annual meeting, and they just shared the good news that all legislators statewide who voted for last year’s rent stabilization bill won their re-elections this month!
In a student presentation this morning about the history of farm worker housing in Washington state, they conducted a Kahoot quiz. I came in 3rd, which actually seems ideal to establish myself as holding sufficient expertise to teach but still being a sponge for learning!
November 17, 2025 at 6:05 PM
In a student presentation this morning about the history of farm worker housing in Washington state, they conducted a Kahoot quiz. I came in 3rd, which actually seems ideal to establish myself as holding sufficient expertise to teach but still being a sponge for learning!
Every year since 2010, I've curated an album (slavishly defined by the number of minutes of music I can burn onto a CD) of my favorite new tracks of the year. While I'm finishing up my selections for 2025, here's a retrospective of the previous 15 years:
airtable.com/app9zs5ZA1Dn...
airtable.com/app9zs5ZA1Dn...
Airtable | Everyone's app platform
Airtable is a low-code platform for building collaborative apps. Customize your workflow, collaborate, and achieve ambitious outcomes. Get started for free.
airtable.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Every year since 2010, I've curated an album (slavishly defined by the number of minutes of music I can burn onto a CD) of my favorite new tracks of the year. While I'm finishing up my selections for 2025, here's a retrospective of the previous 15 years:
airtable.com/app9zs5ZA1Dn...
airtable.com/app9zs5ZA1Dn...