Hector Arbuckle
@hectorarbuckle.bsky.social
Iowan in DC. Born this side of the millennium. Italianate architecture stan. I love a good corn maize!
@ersatzverite.bsky.social Ironically, I think the best thing about UGBs is if they are temporary: preserving empty land to make dense greenfield urban expansions. It seems they did that in Europe for a long time, although they seem to have stopped doing in at scale.
December 9, 2025 at 4:33 AM
@ersatzverite.bsky.social Ironically, I think the best thing about UGBs is if they are temporary: preserving empty land to make dense greenfield urban expansions. It seems they did that in Europe for a long time, although they seem to have stopped doing in at scale.
An important thing is that infrastructure that allows cars but doesn't center them is still usable by cars, but infrastructure that fully centers cars is generally unusable by non-cars.
carbrain people want all our infrastructure focused on cars so they can pass through an area faster, meanwhile the people that live in that area walk and ride bicycles. it makes no sense to cater to passersby
December 8, 2025 at 7:51 PM
An important thing is that infrastructure that allows cars but doesn't center them is still usable by cars, but infrastructure that fully centers cars is generally unusable by non-cars.
Reposted by Hector Arbuckle
carbrain people want all our infrastructure focused on cars so they can pass through an area faster, meanwhile the people that live in that area walk and ride bicycles. it makes no sense to cater to passersby
December 8, 2025 at 3:12 PM
carbrain people want all our infrastructure focused on cars so they can pass through an area faster, meanwhile the people that live in that area walk and ride bicycles. it makes no sense to cater to passersby
Reposted by Hector Arbuckle
This was a choice, not by the person walking but by the decision makers who refuse to prioritize them.
Photo Credit: D_S_J_
Photo Credit: D_S_J_
December 8, 2025 at 3:53 PM
This was a choice, not by the person walking but by the decision makers who refuse to prioritize them.
Photo Credit: D_S_J_
Photo Credit: D_S_J_
Reposted by Hector Arbuckle
The United States has many problems and among the most important ones is that the American people suffer from President Brain which makes them peasants. You have to be Legislature Pilled to be a citizen of a democracy.
December 8, 2025 at 4:29 PM
The United States has many problems and among the most important ones is that the American people suffer from President Brain which makes them peasants. You have to be Legislature Pilled to be a citizen of a democracy.
Reposted by Hector Arbuckle
it's interesting to me that there's a common phenomenon of econ types who love to be smug about normies not understanding second-order consequences to econ policy but then are confidently ignorant about second-order consequences wrt other things
December 8, 2025 at 4:36 PM
it's interesting to me that there's a common phenomenon of econ types who love to be smug about normies not understanding second-order consequences to econ policy but then are confidently ignorant about second-order consequences wrt other things
Reposted by Hector Arbuckle
I found this one very striking. Same idea, but without any actual cars visible. It shows space cars render too dangerous to use. The child in the foreground really hits how I feel walking on the streets with a child. That death is only inches; and one mistake; away.
December 8, 2025 at 9:38 AM
I found this one very striking. Same idea, but without any actual cars visible. It shows space cars render too dangerous to use. The child in the foreground really hits how I feel walking on the streets with a child. That death is only inches; and one mistake; away.
Reposted by Hector Arbuckle
There should be a law that whenever a vehicle hits a pedestrian or bicyclist, the street should be reduced to two lanes, narrowed to 20 feet, and have speed bumps installed so that the maximum realistic speed one can drive on it is 15 mph.
Husband, father of 3 killed by motorist while biking to work in L.A.
Husband, father of 3 killed by motorist while biking to work in L.A.
A family is reeling and demanding justice after a 59-year-old husband and father of three was struck and killed while riding his bike to work last month. The deadly crash played out on Nov. …
ktla.com
December 8, 2025 at 5:16 AM
There should be a law that whenever a vehicle hits a pedestrian or bicyclist, the street should be reduced to two lanes, narrowed to 20 feet, and have speed bumps installed so that the maximum realistic speed one can drive on it is 15 mph.
Reposted by Hector Arbuckle
We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.
The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools - Nature Communications
The relative importance of close-proximity interactions, shared space and air quality to the transmission of respiratory viruses is not well understood. Here, the authors investigate this question by ...
www.nature.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.
Reposted by Hector Arbuckle
Mill Hill neighborhood, Trenton NJ
December 6, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Mill Hill neighborhood, Trenton NJ
Reposted by Hector Arbuckle
It turns out - go figure - that earning a B.S. in computer science and making bank in Silicone Valley is no guarantee of expertise in ANYthing else -- including criminology (wherein one would have learned that capital punishment, particularly as sadistic spectacle, does not drive down crime).
December 7, 2025 at 12:46 AM
It turns out - go figure - that earning a B.S. in computer science and making bank in Silicone Valley is no guarantee of expertise in ANYthing else -- including criminology (wherein one would have learned that capital punishment, particularly as sadistic spectacle, does not drive down crime).
Reposted by Hector Arbuckle
still poleaxed by the idea that you could oppose birthright citizenship and still think of yourself as a liberal in any sense of the term.
December 6, 2025 at 5:35 PM
still poleaxed by the idea that you could oppose birthright citizenship and still think of yourself as a liberal in any sense of the term.
Reposted by Hector Arbuckle
The reason he can't quite get to the bottom of it is because he thinks NYC & San Francisco are expensive because of all the "elites" moving in.
They are unusual for the number of families moving AWAY.
Millions have, at this point, and it never factors in to these discussions.
1/
They are unusual for the number of families moving AWAY.
Millions have, at this point, and it never factors in to these discussions.
1/
A thorough review of the issue.
One missing part that economists don't seem to see is that since 2008 the problem isn't that NYC is expensive. It's that Ypsilanti is now also getting more expensive.
Vibecession: Much More Than You Wanted To Know
www.astralcodexten.com/p/vibecessio...
One missing part that economists don't seem to see is that since 2008 the problem isn't that NYC is expensive. It's that Ypsilanti is now also getting more expensive.
Vibecession: Much More Than You Wanted To Know
www.astralcodexten.com/p/vibecessio...
Vibecession: Much More Than You Wanted To Know
...
www.astralcodexten.com
December 6, 2025 at 6:37 AM
The reason he can't quite get to the bottom of it is because he thinks NYC & San Francisco are expensive because of all the "elites" moving in.
They are unusual for the number of families moving AWAY.
Millions have, at this point, and it never factors in to these discussions.
1/
They are unusual for the number of families moving AWAY.
Millions have, at this point, and it never factors in to these discussions.
1/
in all seriousness, the white house's national security "plan" is basically an open declaration of intent to heavily meddle in European politics with the intention of promoting ethnic-nationalist political factions.
December 5, 2025 at 7:23 PM
in all seriousness, the white house's national security "plan" is basically an open declaration of intent to heavily meddle in European politics with the intention of promoting ethnic-nationalist political factions.
The original Cancel Culture. From Wikipedia's article on "Vaudeville."
![This "polite entertainment" also extended to Keith's company members. He went to extreme measures to maintain this level of modesty. Keith even went as far as posting warnings backstage such as this: "Don't say 'slob' or 'son of a gun' or 'hully gee' on the stage unless you want to be canceled peremptorily... if you are guilty of uttering anything sacrilegious or even suggestive you will be immediately closed and will never again be allowed in a theatre where Mr. Keith is in authority." Along these same lines of discipline, Keith's theatre managers would occasionally send out blue envelopes with orders to omit certain suggestive lines of songs and possible substitutions for those words. If actors chose to ignore these orders or quit, they would get "a black mark" on their name and would never again be allowed to work on the Keith Circuit. Thus, actors learned to follow the instructions given to them by B. F. Keith for fear of losing their careers forever.[5]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:l5t7gno3xiuxjdkmj2iiwg2m/bafkreihzfur3ffxni4wy5utcc5hlbpdscigps6ib5kenslex4rccb2ndba@jpeg)
December 4, 2025 at 9:58 PM
The original Cancel Culture. From Wikipedia's article on "Vaudeville."
Should I make a separate Bluesky account for the language-posting? I fear that posting too much of it might bother the usual transit/urbanism crew.
December 4, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Should I make a separate Bluesky account for the language-posting? I fear that posting too much of it might bother the usual transit/urbanism crew.
Reposted by Hector Arbuckle
A little Dutch-style bike infrastructure in Austin.
December 4, 2025 at 7:00 PM
A little Dutch-style bike infrastructure in Austin.
If Passaic County were made into a single city (either a bigger Paterson or a new "Passaic City"), it would have 526,597 people in 185 square miles, making it more populous than Atlanta proper, and more populous than Kansas City proper with just 3/5 the land area.
December 4, 2025 at 6:17 PM
If Passaic County were made into a single city (either a bigger Paterson or a new "Passaic City"), it would have 526,597 people in 185 square miles, making it more populous than Atlanta proper, and more populous than Kansas City proper with just 3/5 the land area.
If all of Union County, NJ were brought together into one city ("Union City" or a bigger Elizabeth), that city (with 594,160 people in 2024) would be more peopled than Baltimore, Milwaukee, and Sacramento, while having the same amount of land (103 square miles) as said Milwaukee.
December 4, 2025 at 5:42 PM
If all of Union County, NJ were brought together into one city ("Union City" or a bigger Elizabeth), that city (with 594,160 people in 2024) would be more peopled than Baltimore, Milwaukee, and Sacramento, while having the same amount of land (103 square miles) as said Milwaukee.
If Essex County, NJ were made into a single city ("Essex City" or an expanded Newark), it would be the 19th-most-peopled city in the US, beating out SF, Seattle, and Denver, while being physically smaller than Denver at 126 square miles.
December 4, 2025 at 5:35 PM
If Essex County, NJ were made into a single city ("Essex City" or an expanded Newark), it would be the 19th-most-peopled city in the US, beating out SF, Seattle, and Denver, while being physically smaller than Denver at 126 square miles.
If Bergen County, NJ, were made into a single city ("Bergen City" or an expanded Hackensack), it would be the nation's 15th most populous city with 978,641 people. It would beat out Charlotte, Indianapolis, San Francisco, and Seattle while being physically smaller than the first two at 234 sq mi.
December 4, 2025 at 5:30 PM
If Bergen County, NJ, were made into a single city ("Bergen City" or an expanded Hackensack), it would be the nation's 15th most populous city with 978,641 people. It would beat out Charlotte, Indianapolis, San Francisco, and Seattle while being physically smaller than the first two at 234 sq mi.
If Hudson County, New Jersey were consolidated into a single city (either a new "Hudson City" or an expanded "Jersey City"), it would be the US's 22nd most populous city proper - beating out Denver, DC, and Boston - and would be the 3rd densest city in the top 50, also beating Boston.
December 4, 2025 at 5:23 PM
If Hudson County, New Jersey were consolidated into a single city (either a new "Hudson City" or an expanded "Jersey City"), it would be the US's 22nd most populous city proper - beating out Denver, DC, and Boston - and would be the 3rd densest city in the top 50, also beating Boston.