Rob Pitingolo
@robpitingolo.bsky.social
Weekday researcher. Nights and weekend tour guide. Sometimes "that guy from the internet" on the National Mall.
My lukewarm take on the terrible anonymously written WaPo Seattle Mayor article is that now that I'm 15ish years into no car ownership the financial benefits are really compounding. Those folks will never say that it's a financially savvy way to build wealth though.
November 17, 2025 at 6:26 PM
My lukewarm take on the terrible anonymously written WaPo Seattle Mayor article is that now that I'm 15ish years into no car ownership the financial benefits are really compounding. Those folks will never say that it's a financially savvy way to build wealth though.
I am jealous of everyone who gets to have a cool mayor. What does it feel like to vote for someone who isn't just the least bad option?
New Post: Katie Wilson is Seattle’s Next Mayor seattletransitblog.com/2025/11/13/k...
November 14, 2025 at 1:01 AM
I am jealous of everyone who gets to have a cool mayor. What does it feel like to vote for someone who isn't just the least bad option?
Someone who knows me from tourism emailed to ask how happy I am that the shutdown is over. It feels like asking someone whose house just got washed away into the ocean how happy they are that the hurricane is over.
November 10, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Someone who knows me from tourism emailed to ask how happy I am that the shutdown is over. It feels like asking someone whose house just got washed away into the ocean how happy they are that the hurricane is over.
Reposted by Rob Pitingolo
I'm still amazed that it took until the year 2025 for a mayoral candidate in *New York City* to finally figure out that a relentless focus on making life better for transit riders is a winning message.
November 6, 2025 at 3:26 PM
I'm still amazed that it took until the year 2025 for a mayoral candidate in *New York City* to finally figure out that a relentless focus on making life better for transit riders is a winning message.
Reposted by Rob Pitingolo
For awhile stocks were doing "The working-class consumer is struggling but everyone else is fine" and it increasingly feels more like "Unless you're a Comfort Plus/Amex Platinum-American you're struggling."
November 3, 2025 at 7:13 PM
For awhile stocks were doing "The working-class consumer is struggling but everyone else is fine" and it increasingly feels more like "Unless you're a Comfort Plus/Amex Platinum-American you're struggling."
Me ten times in the commercial break before the ninth: "ya know the last three outs really are the hardest" 🙃
November 2, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Me ten times in the commercial break before the ninth: "ya know the last three outs really are the hardest" 🙃
Incredibly predictable outcome. No less sad for all the stakeholders who have been harmed. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Kennedy Center ticket sales have plummeted since Trump takeover
Nearly nine months into Trump’s oversight, sales for the three largest performance venues are the worst they’ve been since the pandemic, according to a Washington Post analysis.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Incredibly predictable outcome. No less sad for all the stakeholders who have been harmed. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
The current state of the economy is a nutshell.
Ultra rich: doing great!
Regular rich: doing pretty good
Everyone else: struggling
Huge corporations: doing great!
Big businesses: doing pretty good
Small businesses: struggling
Ultra rich: doing great!
Regular rich: doing pretty good
Everyone else: struggling
Huge corporations: doing great!
Big businesses: doing pretty good
Small businesses: struggling
Pick your favorite qualitative comment from this month’s Dallas Fed survey:
A) “This year has been the most challenging in 15 years ..”
B) “Our goal is to survive the next six months.”
C) “Our business has died.” 🤡
www.dallasfed.org/research/sur...
A) “This year has been the most challenging in 15 years ..”
B) “Our goal is to survive the next six months.”
C) “Our business has died.” 🤡
www.dallasfed.org/research/sur...
Texas service sector activity weakens further
Texas service sector activity contracted further in October, according to business executives responding to the Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey.
www.dallasfed.org
October 28, 2025 at 5:42 PM
The current state of the economy is a nutshell.
Ultra rich: doing great!
Regular rich: doing pretty good
Everyone else: struggling
Huge corporations: doing great!
Big businesses: doing pretty good
Small businesses: struggling
Ultra rich: doing great!
Regular rich: doing pretty good
Everyone else: struggling
Huge corporations: doing great!
Big businesses: doing pretty good
Small businesses: struggling
This dog dressed as Maryland Driver for Halloween has to be the most local-DC costume ever.
October 25, 2025 at 4:49 PM
This dog dressed as Maryland Driver for Halloween has to be the most local-DC costume ever.
Someone in the 90th percentile of household income is actually closer to someone at the 1st percentile ($251k difference) than they are to someone in the 99th percentile ($408k difference).
October 24, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Someone in the 90th percentile of household income is actually closer to someone at the 1st percentile ($251k difference) than they are to someone in the 99th percentile ($408k difference).
I think a lot of people (including me) voted to legalize vices under the assumption they would become legal and ~heavily~ regulated. Instead what we got is a complete free-for-all. www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...
Analysis | ESPN is fueled by the NBA and sportsbooks. Then came a scandal.
The network’s coverage, at times clumsy and other times savvy, reflected the dilemma faced by media companies that partner with leagues and betting operators.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 24, 2025 at 6:12 PM
I think a lot of people (including me) voted to legalize vices under the assumption they would become legal and ~heavily~ regulated. Instead what we got is a complete free-for-all. www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...
Re-upping this one.
The two things DC tourists care about are WH tours and the National Mall Circulator bus. I'm not kidding when I say eliminating both in the same year might actually move some public opinion.
Public tours of the White House have been suspended indefinitely because of planned construction on a massive ballroom expected to start next month.
While cancellations happen frequently, a hiatus that could stretch months or years is rare.
While cancellations happen frequently, a hiatus that could stretch months or years is rare.
October 22, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Re-upping this one.
I continue screaming into the void that they promised "lower prices on day one" which is ~deflation~. People aren't happy about "lower levels of inflation" because that's not what was promised. www.npr.org/2025/10/09/n...
Data says inflation has fallen, so why do Americans feel like they're being pinched
Inflation is down since its peak during the pandemic, but the feeling of sticker shock still lingers. Planet Money looks into why feelings about prices diverge so much from official inflation data.
www.npr.org
October 9, 2025 at 3:41 PM
I continue screaming into the void that they promised "lower prices on day one" which is ~deflation~. People aren't happy about "lower levels of inflation" because that's not what was promised. www.npr.org/2025/10/09/n...
This is literally the opposite of a stimulus. Removing dollars and spending power from the economy just cuz.
A new White House memo says that furloughed federal workers aren't entitled to back pay.
This is clearly against the law, which guarantees furloughed federal employees back pay for the duration of a government shutdown.
This is clearly against the law, which guarantees furloughed federal employees back pay for the duration of a government shutdown.
October 7, 2025 at 3:19 PM
This is literally the opposite of a stimulus. Removing dollars and spending power from the economy just cuz.
There is some lesson to learn here. Baseball people have mostly figured out Metro is the way to go and getting in/out of games is a breeze. Concert people, not so much.
The worst traffic I've ever seen around the park was the day of the Bad Bunny concert.
The worst traffic I've ever seen around the park was the day of the Bad Bunny concert.
Traffic on the Douglass Bridge is insane. Sitting at a bar, watching cars inching forward while joggers and walkers go by. (Assuming this is all for Chris Brown’s Breezy Bowl at Nats Park.)
October 5, 2025 at 10:33 PM
There is some lesson to learn here. Baseball people have mostly figured out Metro is the way to go and getting in/out of games is a breeze. Concert people, not so much.
The worst traffic I've ever seen around the park was the day of the Bad Bunny concert.
The worst traffic I've ever seen around the park was the day of the Bad Bunny concert.
As the stock market, thanks to a tiny handful of AI stocks, keeps hitting record highs, it really really feels like 1999 dot com vibes right now.
Really, truly amazing that OpenAI wants us to believe that they are worth a trillion dollars but also they are so desperate for revenue that they created an infinite SlopTok app that opens them up to a billion lawsuits just so that they can maybe someday make it even worse by filling it with ads.
October 5, 2025 at 8:00 PM
As the stock market, thanks to a tiny handful of AI stocks, keeps hitting record highs, it really really feels like 1999 dot com vibes right now.
As an elder millennial it is pretty wild to me that unemployment hit 10% in 2009 and aside from the covid blip has been super low for a long time.
Gen Z thinks the economy is dire now but it could get far worse 😬
Gen Z thinks the economy is dire now but it could get far worse 😬
October 5, 2025 at 4:11 PM
As an elder millennial it is pretty wild to me that unemployment hit 10% in 2009 and aside from the covid blip has been super low for a long time.
Gen Z thinks the economy is dire now but it could get far worse 😬
Gen Z thinks the economy is dire now but it could get far worse 😬
WorldPride numbers were down more than 50% what they expected. In my experience this is consistent with tourism in general. The numbers are brutal. I don't think people realize how devastating it's been for tourism this year. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
WorldPride festival’s predicted economic boon fell short, D.C. says
A new report by D.C. confirms the WorldPride festival in May and June fell well short of visitor and revenue targets.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 2, 2025 at 2:57 PM
WorldPride numbers were down more than 50% what they expected. In my experience this is consistent with tourism in general. The numbers are brutal. I don't think people realize how devastating it's been for tourism this year. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
Strong reason to think this will follow the same public opinion trajectory as congestion pricing. People don't like it until it becomes the status quo and then they do.
October 1, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Strong reason to think this will follow the same public opinion trajectory as congestion pricing. People don't like it until it becomes the status quo and then they do.
Closing the 2025 season by getting blown out and shut out at home by a 100-loss team seems like the perfect encapsulation of the current Washington Nationals.
September 28, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Closing the 2025 season by getting blown out and shut out at home by a 100-loss team seems like the perfect encapsulation of the current Washington Nationals.
Apparently everyone has forgotten that this happened only 2 years ago. Just remembering today for no particular reasons. www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/...
U.S. Open women’s semifinal disrupted by climate activists
The stoppage, during a match between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova, dragged on because at least one protester had glued his feet to the ground.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 7, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Apparently everyone has forgotten that this happened only 2 years ago. Just remembering today for no particular reasons. www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/...
Sports take havers never seem to understand that sports are a means of entertainment and most sports are already too long. Which is why MLB's game tightening strategies have been a huge success. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | The tennis Grand Slams sell women short in three sets
I know something about endurance: If the men can play five sets, so can the women.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 6, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Sports take havers never seem to understand that sports are a means of entertainment and most sports are already too long. Which is why MLB's game tightening strategies have been a huge success. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Does anyone ever think about the fact that the plot to 2 entire National Treasure movies could have been foiled if the archivist had just used any non-obvious password for access the Declaration of Independence? A special character. Couple of numbers. Strategic capitalization. Anything!
September 1, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Does anyone ever think about the fact that the plot to 2 entire National Treasure movies could have been foiled if the archivist had just used any non-obvious password for access the Declaration of Independence? A special character. Couple of numbers. Strategic capitalization. Anything!
Everyone who works in tourism anywhere in the USA needs to brace for impact because they've made clear their intent to copy this strategy everywhere. www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2025/...
D.C. tourism was already struggling. Then the National Guard arrived.
The District’s marketing arm is trying to counteract the image of a city patrolled by the National Guard and ICE officers.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 29, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Everyone who works in tourism anywhere in the USA needs to brace for impact because they've made clear their intent to copy this strategy everywhere. www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2025/...
Not sure how many locals like Fallows realize this but DC tourism has been in bad shape all summer. Lots of peak season dates have looked and felt dead.
Slideshow of today in Washington DC, and how it looks when a terrorizing government scares people away.
By me, no paywall: fallows.substack.com/p/a-summer-a...
By me, no paywall: fallows.substack.com/p/a-summer-a...
August 24, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Not sure how many locals like Fallows realize this but DC tourism has been in bad shape all summer. Lots of peak season dates have looked and felt dead.