Olraca
@olraca.bsky.social
📍Seattle
🟠 Urbanist and 🏎️ motorsports enthusiast.
🛣️ Aurora Reimagined Coalition
🔗 got99problems.org
🟠 Urbanist and 🏎️ motorsports enthusiast.
🛣️ Aurora Reimagined Coalition
🔗 got99problems.org
Pinned
Olraca
@olraca.bsky.social
· Jul 29
Op-Ed: Seattle Is Failing to Reimagine Aurora Avenue » The Urbanist
# SDOT's latest report indicates the agency is envisioning the future of Aurora Avenue N to look nearly exactly the same as it has for the last 100 years: a dangerous, high speed, six- to seven-lane h...
www.theurbanist.org
@theurbanist.org published my review of SDOT's recently released phase 1 report on the Aurora Ave project.
www.theurbanist.org/2025/07/29/o...
www.theurbanist.org/2025/07/29/o...
First bus ride with a 1 week old today.
December 2, 2025 at 8:47 PM
First bus ride with a 1 week old today.
I underestimated how much worse of an experience it would be to push a stroller around my neighborhood without sidewalks.
December 2, 2025 at 6:36 AM
I underestimated how much worse of an experience it would be to push a stroller around my neighborhood without sidewalks.
We could have built this along SR 99 are you kidding me
Somehow I'd never seen this visual representation of all of the different alignments for Federal Way Link along SR 99 that were under consideration, with the transitions between trenches and elevated segments shown so strikingly.
(We didn't pick any of these, and built it next to I-5 instead)
(We didn't pick any of these, and built it next to I-5 instead)
November 30, 2025 at 3:23 AM
We could have built this along SR 99 are you kidding me
The School Traffic Safety Committee continues to attract the best people and IMO set the standard that all other modal boards should strive to meet.
YES! If anyone is bored on Tues @9:30am my appointment to the School Traffic Safety Committee will hopefully (finally) be approved. We have reps on the STSC from SDOT, SPS, KC Metro and SPD as well as the public. I hope that the @wilsonforseattle.bsky.social team will heed this advice!
I think one of the most impactful things @wilsonforseattle.bsky.social’s SDOT could do is rapidly expand the scale and scope of the Safe Routes to Schools program. Give this program 4x the resources and expand to include parks and libraries. @sngreenways.bsky.social @gordonofseattle.bsky.social
November 29, 2025 at 6:30 AM
The School Traffic Safety Committee continues to attract the best people and IMO set the standard that all other modal boards should strive to meet.
Reposted by Olraca
Few things could be truer to the spirit of Thanksgiving than a resurgence of measles. thesqueakywheel.org/american...
November 27, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Few things could be truer to the spirit of Thanksgiving than a resurgence of measles. thesqueakywheel.org/american...
Reposted by Olraca
Tomorrow is #BlackFridayParking!
Join us in highlighting why costly mandatory parking requirements are unnecessary by showcasing all the excess parking on the busiest shopping day of the year.
Take some pics and post them with the #BlackFridayParking tag!
parkingreform.org/2025/11/19/b...
Join us in highlighting why costly mandatory parking requirements are unnecessary by showcasing all the excess parking on the busiest shopping day of the year.
Take some pics and post them with the #BlackFridayParking tag!
parkingreform.org/2025/11/19/b...
Black Friday Parking - Parking Reform Network
The idea is simple: showcase that even on the busiest shopping day of the year, plenty of parking spaces remain unused, supposedly when demand is at its peak.
parkingreform.org
November 27, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Tomorrow is #BlackFridayParking!
Join us in highlighting why costly mandatory parking requirements are unnecessary by showcasing all the excess parking on the busiest shopping day of the year.
Take some pics and post them with the #BlackFridayParking tag!
parkingreform.org/2025/11/19/b...
Join us in highlighting why costly mandatory parking requirements are unnecessary by showcasing all the excess parking on the busiest shopping day of the year.
Take some pics and post them with the #BlackFridayParking tag!
parkingreform.org/2025/11/19/b...
Man, every year the assessed land value for my home continues to climb and it's at like $800k now; almost double what I paid for my house 8 years ago and it's barely 9000sqft or ~0.2 acre total. If my land was assessed like Broadmoor's private park it would be at just over $15k.
Paul has been talking about the tax loophole that Seattle country clubs have been enjoying for a while now but WOW I did not know how big
This is Broadmoor Golf Club. It's a gated right-wing enclave for the rich in Seattle. The golf course is 7 parcels, 122.2 acres. It's assessed at just $76k/ACRE!
This is Broadmoor Golf Club. It's a gated right-wing enclave for the rich in Seattle. The golf course is 7 parcels, 122.2 acres. It's assessed at just $76k/ACRE!
November 27, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Man, every year the assessed land value for my home continues to climb and it's at like $800k now; almost double what I paid for my house 8 years ago and it's barely 9000sqft or ~0.2 acre total. If my land was assessed like Broadmoor's private park it would be at just over $15k.
You love to see it.
Congrats to @gordonofseattle.bsky.social for being on Wilson's transition team!
November 27, 2025 at 12:57 AM
You love to see it.
Reposted by Olraca
A fitting moment to bring back this old transit meme. However they’re powered—gas, hydrogen, electricity, or driverless—leaning on cars instead of investing in quality public transit is still a poor long-term strategy.
November 25, 2025 at 10:59 PM
A fitting moment to bring back this old transit meme. However they’re powered—gas, hydrogen, electricity, or driverless—leaning on cars instead of investing in quality public transit is still a poor long-term strategy.
Reposted by Olraca
This is why commercial activity should be legal everywhere. A taco truck turns sleepy North Berkeley station into a thriving nightlife area. And no major costs for brick and mortar!
November 21, 2025 at 2:37 AM
This is why commercial activity should be legal everywhere. A taco truck turns sleepy North Berkeley station into a thriving nightlife area. And no major costs for brick and mortar!
Reposted by Olraca
@fixthel8.bsky.social! @wilsonforseattle.bsky.social unequivocally committed to bus lanes on Denny!
Our podcast, Seattle Nice, has an exclusive in-depth interview with Mayor-elect Katie Wilson, featuring many of your questions for the city's next mayor! Listen (and subscribe) right here: seattle-nice.beam.ly/episode/mayo...
Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson says Seattle Nice is “Special” | Seattle Nice
Mayor-elect Katie Wilson turned down numerous invitations for national television appearances over the past week, telling Seattle Nice, “That is not my job.”...
seattle-nice.beam.ly
November 20, 2025 at 5:50 PM
@fixthel8.bsky.social! @wilsonforseattle.bsky.social unequivocally committed to bus lanes on Denny!
The real lesson these kids are learning is how to bypass restrictions and technical controls. I say this as an infosec professional and from experience as a former child.
Briggs points out that she knows that students have access to CoPilot on their student-issued laptops and that it's used to write essays for them. (She has SPS students herself.) Someone else also testified that what SPS says can/cannot be done on student-issued laptops does not match reality.
November 20, 2025 at 6:32 AM
The real lesson these kids are learning is how to bypass restrictions and technical controls. I say this as an infosec professional and from experience as a former child.
Reposted by Olraca
Props to Director Briggs for being skeptical about this AI business. This is just a classic neoliberal subcontracting/marketing ploy to create dependency on AI in children - it is not education
Here are the tools that teachers and students will have access to.
November 20, 2025 at 5:47 AM
Props to Director Briggs for being skeptical about this AI business. This is just a classic neoliberal subcontracting/marketing ploy to create dependency on AI in children - it is not education
A 1+ hour wait time to pick your kids up from school is not the world I want to live in.
Which hybrid car would financially make sense in long term if I consider 1+ hour wait for school pickup line?
We have few considerations when buying a car: We have concluded that fully electric like tesla would not work for us, as we travel about 2-3...
old.reddit.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:37 PM
A 1+ hour wait time to pick your kids up from school is not the world I want to live in.
Reposted by Olraca
After much deliberation and a grueling interview process, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve accepted a new job and will not need any financial support from my parents to cover the high costs of childcare going forward. #AmericanDream #ThisIsYourCity
November 18, 2025 at 4:38 PM
After much deliberation and a grueling interview process, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve accepted a new job and will not need any financial support from my parents to cover the high costs of childcare going forward. #AmericanDream #ThisIsYourCity
It is currently illegal to ride escooters on the sidewalk yet we encourage it by making them park there. Even in the downtown core where we have the most amount of sidewalk space, there just isn't enough room on the sidewalks to park scooters and bikes. Parking them in the street makes sense.
November 18, 2025 at 6:13 PM
It is currently illegal to ride escooters on the sidewalk yet we encourage it by making them park there. Even in the downtown core where we have the most amount of sidewalk space, there just isn't enough room on the sidewalks to park scooters and bikes. Parking them in the street makes sense.
Reposted by Olraca
Sharing this again just because I love it so much. #justaminute
Car drivers who block cycle lanes for “just a minute” force people on bikes into car traffic. It’s dangerous, it’s selfish, it’s illegal (NZ) and it deserves the mocking it gets in this protest action.
Car drivers who block cycle lanes for “just a minute” force people on bikes into car traffic. It’s dangerous, it’s selfish, it’s illegal (NZ) and it deserves the mocking it gets in this protest action.
Blocked Bike Lane Protest on Valencia St. – San Francisco, CA #justaminute
YouTube video by Stephen Braitsch
youtu.be
November 18, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Sharing this again just because I love it so much. #justaminute
Car drivers who block cycle lanes for “just a minute” force people on bikes into car traffic. It’s dangerous, it’s selfish, it’s illegal (NZ) and it deserves the mocking it gets in this protest action.
Car drivers who block cycle lanes for “just a minute” force people on bikes into car traffic. It’s dangerous, it’s selfish, it’s illegal (NZ) and it deserves the mocking it gets in this protest action.
Helping our small businesses thrive.
When you ask voters to choose between corporate profits and protecting our neighbors – it’s not even close. This year, Seattle voters chose the tax corporations to fund social housing (63%) and to pass the Seattle Shield Initiative to protect our neighbors (71%). Let’s keep it going!
November 16, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Helping our small businesses thrive.
My knowledge of permitting is almost zero and I would like to learn and better understand. Something we could start with is allowing food vendors to easily set up next to parks and in parking lots at parks where running water and bathrooms already exist, and where people already gather.
With unpermitted food vendors proliferating in King County, Washington restaurateurs are calling on the county and state to get more aggressive to deter them.
WA restaurateurs beg state, county to deter unpermitted vendors
www.seattletimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:38 PM
My knowledge of permitting is almost zero and I would like to learn and better understand. Something we could start with is allowing food vendors to easily set up next to parks and in parking lots at parks where running water and bathrooms already exist, and where people already gather.
Reposted by Olraca
Your move, Gov. Ferguson!
imagine that
November 15, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Your move, Gov. Ferguson!
What's gonna happen to the puppets next year and how do we get them an exhibit at Mopop?
November 14, 2025 at 12:21 AM
What's gonna happen to the puppets next year and how do we get them an exhibit at Mopop?
Reposted by Olraca
"If you have a water view, Bruce Harrell might be for you!"
November 13, 2025 at 12:55 AM
"If you have a water view, Bruce Harrell might be for you!"
Reposted by Olraca
xkcd.com/3167/
Brilliant alt text: 'They really shouldn't let those small cars drive in traffic. I worry I'm going to kill someone if I hit one! They should have to drive on the sidewalk, safely out of the way.'
Brilliant alt text: 'They really shouldn't let those small cars drive in traffic. I worry I'm going to kill someone if I hit one! They should have to drive on the sidewalk, safely out of the way.'
Car Size
xkcd.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:07 PM
xkcd.com/3167/
Brilliant alt text: 'They really shouldn't let those small cars drive in traffic. I worry I'm going to kill someone if I hit one! They should have to drive on the sidewalk, safely out of the way.'
Brilliant alt text: 'They really shouldn't let those small cars drive in traffic. I worry I'm going to kill someone if I hit one! They should have to drive on the sidewalk, safely out of the way.'
I am looking forward to mayor-elect Wilson appointing a new visionary director for SDOT and putting forward a transformational vision for Aurora Ave (conveniently, Aurora Reimagined Coalition already has one they can use www.got99problems.org/vision).
November 12, 2025 at 5:20 PM
I am looking forward to mayor-elect Wilson appointing a new visionary director for SDOT and putting forward a transformational vision for Aurora Ave (conveniently, Aurora Reimagined Coalition already has one they can use www.got99problems.org/vision).
Really looking forward to the new bus lanes on Denny in a few months for the @fixthel8.bsky.social bus.
Wow. While we wait for the few remaining ballots to be counted, we feel like we have won this race. The recent drop put us nearly 1,400 votes ahead, just under the .5 percent threshold for a mandatory recount.
November 12, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Really looking forward to the new bus lanes on Denny in a few months for the @fixthel8.bsky.social bus.