iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

For all of the mockery California's high-speed rail has gotten, the PNW's attempt is even worse. It started in 2016, and literally nothing has been done in 10 years, even though tens of millions have been spent. It has entirely been "stakeholder engagement." www.columbian.com/news/2026/oc...

columbian.com

Plan for high-speed rail from Portland to Vancouver, B.C. advances

Washington transportation leaders are making progress on a plan that will determine the viability of building a high-speed rail line between Portland and Vancouver, B.C.

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Portland's housing mess has made me skeptical of public funding for deed restricted affordable units. 30% AMI w/o wraparound services: Hell on Earth. Many residents can't take care of themselves or commit crime. 60-80% AMI: Market rents outcompete them if there's enough market rate housing!

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I've added new features including ballot measures, state fiscal machinery, and a legislature simulator including floor votes and midterms.

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

The year is 2038. The nation is in recession but Oregon has been booming for a decade. It's my 4th term as God-Governor, the kicker is gone and single-stair is legal. Thanks to @andrewdamitio.bsky.social for making a game I've enjoyed more than any in years. andrewdamitio.github.io/oregon_polit...

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I haven't felt very creative lately, so I've been burning my excess Claude tokens building a Oregon governor political simulator in my free time. It has a Democracy series-style policy issue-web, campaign features, & random events. Try my "Open Alpha!" andrewdamitio.github.io/oregon_polit...

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Jarrett Walker @humantransit.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

When you ask voters to approve taxes for public transit, what you mostly get is a map of residential density. Here's the latest from Spokane, WA where the measure narrowly leads at the moment.

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dereksagehorn.bsky.social @dereksagehorn.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

FTA requires transit agencies to obtain bilateral cooperative agreements - for review and approval processes for construction - with “critical” 3rd parties prior to start of construction. If one 3rd party (out of 50) declines to enter into contract, no dirt is turned.

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Have you ever wanted to play circular chess? No? Circular chess is derived from an early version of chess in the Byzantine empire. Nobody except a sketchy mobile app developer and an early 2000s webpage offered it free to play, so I vibecoded a game. andrewdamitio.github.io/circular-che...

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

I've created an interactive precinct-level map of Oregon's contested state legislative races in the 2024 election cycle. It compares legislative margins to the presidential race, as well as vote drop off from presidential to downballot. Enjoy! andrewdamitio.github.io/portland-spl...

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Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Consistent with a theme I've noticed in progressive policymaking, where advocates/policymakers assume that the only acceptable policy intervention is one that carries no possible tradeoffs, and that there are surely no tradeoffs associated with leaving a horrendous status quo in place.

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Fischer 🛠️🚇 @fischer.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

this is a dramatic expansion of apartment zoning in vancouver, in line with pre-wwii zoning codes that allowed apartments on a large portion of residential lots

zoning map of vancouver, showing orange medium scale zoning covering maybe a third of the city

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

New blog post from me: The state of Oregon owns a consolidated tract of 230k acres of sagebrush in eastern Oregon, receiving pennies per acre per year in grazing fees. Why doesn't the state develop massive solar farms on the land? I explore why. open.substack.com/pub/andrewda...

open.substack.com

The Solar Potential of the Stockade Block

State land in remote Eastern Oregon generates pennies per-acre for schools. Solar development could change that...but only if the state of Oregon acts decisively.

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

15 years later, the failure of Solyndra continues to be brought up by both solar opponents and industrial policy opponents. But its failure was industrial policy working as intended. My latest blog post: open.substack.com/pub/andrewda...

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iain @maccoinnich.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

It's amazing what the Residential Infill Project did for affordability of new construction in Portland. Here are the single-unit properties for sale in the city completed this year; these price points were rare prior to RIP.

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Brooke Jarvis @brookejarvis.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

"German utilities expressed many of the same concerns nearly a decade ago when plug-in solar started to become popular in Germany. But with more than a million systems installed, no safety incidents have been reported for customers who used the panels as instructed"

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

The limits on data center growth are the same limits that new manufacturing faces. The only difference being that manufacturing has far worse externalities. If the US can't bring ourselves to build data centers, we sure as heck won't be able to compete with China in industrial production.

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

New blog post. Growing up in rural Oregon, I was surrounded by Civilian Conservation Corps roads, trails, and campgrounds. Given the program's overwhelming success and popularity, why was it never revived? open.substack.com/pub/andrewda...

open.substack.com

Why We Can't Revive the Civilian Conservation Corps

Only Depression-era desperation and destitution made the CCC possible to implement.

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Alon (they/them) @alonlevy.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

SOE, with a professionally appointed CEO. No elected positions or board. The state or relevant subnational entity funding it exerts control through the budget: if there is a dedicated source of funds, like the Ile-de-France payroll tax, then it is broad and can be changed by the elected government.

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mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

An underrated factor in "why don't people in wealthy societies have more kids" is changing societal norms that now expect even older kids to be chaperoned by an adult any time they are in public, and to be chauffeured by a parent as their only means of transportation

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Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

this is why I think publications that focus almost solely on culture war issues are so empty. The genuine economic, health, welfare etc impacts of policy are much more important than Ivy League coursework discourse but become sideshows to these people.

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Can any of you connect me with housing policy analysts/developers based in Canada? I have questions for them regarding Canadan condo construction financing.

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Fischer 🛠️🚇 @fischer.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

what drives me insane about “centers and corridors” in US urban planning is that seemingly no professionals in the field have stopped and realized that this “best practice” has not worked anywhere it’s been tried

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

People love blaming parking minimums as to why the US doesn't build like this. It's more complicated. The lot couldn't be utilized corner-to-corner due to setbacks. The project wouldn't pencil due to space lost for the large elevator, dual stairwells, and wide hallway to meet building codes.

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Ryan Packer @typewriteralley.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

I keep going back to this slide shown to the Sound Transit board this month, showing how "capacity building" means consulting firms, more consulting firms, and more subcontractors.

Capacity building at Sound Transit
18 primes 248 subconsultants
[large chart showing which consultants and subconsultants the agency is bringing on]

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Fischer 🛠️🚇 @fischer.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

take out the marquam and you can unwind the entire east side waterfront freeway. such a huge part of our post-freeway future

google maps screenshot of portland with the marquam bridge and the east side waterfront freeway edited out

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Oregon's community colleges are a great example of government quietly working well, without any headlines. They're modern facilities funded by stable property tax district revenue that teach ~200k students/yr, creating new tradesmen across the state and providing opportunity for the working class.

Map of Oregon's community college districts.

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

In America, residential solar costs $10K-$50K. In Europe, plug & play solar kits are sold for a few hundred dollars, DIY installed & plugged directly into wall outlets, defraying home energy use without export. No IX agreement or professional install needed. But plug & play is illegal in the US.

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Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

A recent report showed that the destruction of just one USAID program, the anti-AIDS PEPFAR initiative, would lead to the deaths of one million people *every year* www.vox.com/future-perfe...

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

The Sightline Institute documented this in 2017, comparing 1970 data to 2010 data. Many entirely single family zoned neighborhoods in Seattle lost population even as Seattle's population grew, as kids left the nest and only the aging parents remained. www.sightline.org/2017/05/04/s...

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

There's a monument in Portland to a tree planting happening without an Environmental Impact Statement, design review, or public comment taking place.

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Dan Savage @dansavage.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

What flexposts say: "We could use steel bollards but a bollard might scratch a car and that would be a tragedy. So, we're going to use these instead — things literally designed to be run over — because protecting even one car from a scratch is worth thousands of pedestrian deaths every year."

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

The reason leaded gas was phased out so rapidly was because the US mandated auto air pollution cuts, forcing the mass adoption of catalytic converters. Lead breaks catalytic converters, forcing cars with them to only buy unleaded gas. NAAQS criteria pollutant rules unintentionally phased out lead.

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Dukakis Dude @dukakisdude.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

PROBLEM: State capacity has diminished; the government just provides insurance and facilitates transfer payments instead of solving real problems; voters are angry and confused R SOLUTION: Get rid of the remaining state capacity D SOLUTION: More transfer payments

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Andrew Damitio @andrewdamitio.bsky.social · 07/11/2024

Along the same vein, American transit agencies should learn from their East Asian peers and function as land developers, buying land adjacent to upcoming transit stops and using the funds from developing said land to finance transit expansion through value capture.

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Steven Lucy @handle.invalid · 19/10/2024

This project -- a simple 5-mile extension of an elevated line along an existing right of way -- is now twice as expensive as it was a few years ago. In Copenhagen they build 25 miles *underground* for the same price. Why should we pay 5x - 10x?

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 19/01/2024

It is hard for physical scientists to understand the drive to remove CO2 from a gas that is 0.04% CO2, when there are many power-plant flue gasses available that are over 10% CO2. Shows the importance of socio-political factors. It is not all physical science and least-cost engineering.

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