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apardoe

@apardoe.bsky.social
891 followers 2.1K following 657 posts

Biking to work in big tech companies in Bellevue, WA. Formerly very much C++, now very much making privacy work at scale.

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Reposted by apardoe
The Urbanist @theurbanist.org · 09/10/2026
NEW STORY// Tug-of-War Over New Transportation Funding Heats Up in Bellevue By Ryan Packer via @theurbanist.org
theurbanist.org
Tug-of-War Over New Transportation Funding Heats Up in Bellevue
Spending scenarios this week presented to the Bellevue City Council would put a potential 0.1% sales tax and new $20 car tab to use funding transportation investments. While the approach is framed as "balanced", business groups are pushing to maintain a focus on cars.
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Jennifer @jenwith1n.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Vancouver, WA did the biggest upzone / deregulation possibly in the entire nation and not enough people are talking about it. And this all came from City staff - they didn’t have community advocates demanding this for years!
A chart showing the zoning districts with minimum density and maximum height that have been in effect since July 1, 2025. In the “low scale” zone, the lowest density other than manufactured home parks, the minimum density is 8 du/ac and the max height is three floors (45 feet). Vancouver, WA’s new zoning map, which has just 10 zones.The four comprehensive plan designations and ten zones in Vancouver. The four comp plan designations are residential neighborhoods, urban mixed use, employment and industry, and green space.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Headline from Seattle Times: Bellevue was built for cars.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Yeah, I am well familiar with the type! Your post just reminded me of thoughts that I've had about whether to wear a helmet on a short, utility ride: if I would be taking the exact same path as a pedestrian, I'm probably safer on my bike, helmet or not.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I often think about how much safer I am on a bike with lights than I am walking across the very same crosswalk. Not to shame anyone for using lights or not, but this does argue for pedestrian helmets...or maybe, just maybe, prosecute drivers?
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
He’s also the one who claims to be an “avid cyclist”.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
A few years back, Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland decided on building shelters. The men's is in Bellevue; family, Redmond; women's Kirkland. Bellevue's is Porchlight including everything from a low-barrier shelter to permanent supportive housing. porchlightcares.org
porchlightcares.org
PorchLight – Journey from the Outside In
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
the lowest-barrier shelter (DESC) is there but also services: n county courthouse, the L1 trauma center (Harborview.) The big city will always bear more of the burdern, but saying that Bellevue isn't trying is either uninformed or unfair. Could they do more? Sure. But give credit where it is due.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
As for tiny home villages, specifically, no, Bellevue doesn't do those. But they do provide housing for the indigent ranging from tent cities to shelters (not just Porchlight, also Mary's Place and others) and low-income housing. Seattle will bear the brunt of it for many reasons:
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
As for other housing, Bellevue adopted funded inclusionary zoning to make sure low-income housing actually gets built. The first target neighborhood, Wilburton, had more multifamily permits, including low-income, in 2025 than the entirety of Seattle. www.theurbanist.org/op-ed/
theurbanist.org
Op-Ed: Bellevue’s Wilburton Housing Policy Actually Builds Housing
One year in, the Wilburton rezone is becoming a regional model. Thanks to a funded inclusionary zoning program, Wilburton attracted applications for more than 2,300 apartments, more than Seattle logge...
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
A few years back, Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland decided on building shelters. The men's is in Bellevue; family, Redmond; women's Kirkland. Bellevue's is Porchlight including everything from a low-barrier shelter to permanent supportive housing. porchlightcares.org
porchlightcares.org
PorchLight – Journey from the Outside In
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
What are the changes you want to see for Bellevue to pull its weight as a regional partner? (Though I kinda doubt you'll stop making jokes about it regardless: too many Seattle folks grew up in the suburbs and harbor a lifelong contempt.)
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
As for the mall complex being sold, the dude is old. Very old. His children obviously don't want to inherit the family legacy. And honestly, who can blame them?
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
No one actually thought that three-tower project was gonna be built. Freeman hasn't had a capital project land since 2017. According to the experts on the local skyscraper forum, this was a bunch of talk and bluster the whole time. If Kemper had another two decades in him, maybe it would be built.
Quote from forum: They actually never got beyond the pre development services stage. Kemper would lie through his teeth about being "a year away" from starting when they never even applied for design review.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
In the grand scheme of things, this is excellent news. Kemper Freeman has had way too much influence on Bellevue. Maybe Seattle can ease up on its constant criticism of Bellevue after he moves on. A strong region is good for Seattle too.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I was joking about the godawful wealth in Broadmoor. Like the Medina country club, it could afford real-value taxation.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Bellevue Transpo likes to be in control.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
We don't need to eminent domain them. We just need to tax them at a fair value for their land. They'd be bankrupt in a day. (Well, maybe not Broadmoor.)
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Dr. Heather Cox Richardson, breaking my heart. @heathercoxrichardson.substack.com.web.brid.gy @heathercoxrichardson.skystack.xyz
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"The fact that the United States Constitution and foreign affairs appear to be at the mercy of one man and the loyalists he has around him undermines the principles at the heart of our democracy. The fact that that one man’s mental acuity has collapsed is an immediate calamity." -- HCR
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Ah, a very thick line. Yes.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
So why are there two lines then?
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Seattle Transit Blog @seattletransitblog.com · 27/09/2026
New Post: Sunday Movie: East Link Station Areas & More seattletransitblog.com/2026/09/27/s...
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Doug Gordon @brooklynspoke.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Also, Neil Postman should be required reading in schools.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
My "appeal to authority" only includes bikes. I've leased electric share bikes but never ridden a motorcycle. My Class 1 e-cargo weighs in at over 56 lbs. It has pedals. I use the pedals. The bike is not some cheap, heavy Amazon knockoff: it's a reputable brand with Bosch mid-drive, yada yada.
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Lior Steinberg @steinberg.nu · 24/09/2026
Is it Amsterdam? Copenhagen? No, it's Paris! After years of investment, the French capital has one of the best problems a city can have: bicycle congestion. So if Paris has done it, why wouldn't other cities follow? 📸 Such an amazing photo by @jbpssx.bsky.social
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The rule, roughly, is "the lesser traffic stops". We've just decided that bikes are always lesser, ignoring relative volumes. The f*ing driveways on the Burke Gilman north of Magnuson Park are the worst: two cars a day vs. 100s of bikes.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
A stop sign between a busy street and a less busy street is supposed to stop traffic, forcing those on the less busy street to yield to traffic on the busier street. At intersections like the 520 bike trail & Evergreen Way, the stop sign belongs on the road, not the trail. Same for lots of BG north.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
To keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon...an agreement we signed in 2015.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Man rollerblades around the world, then is killed by a driver, predictably, in the US. This country is not a safe place for people. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/u...
nytimes.com
Rollerblading Norwegian Dies After Being Hit by a Car in Kansas (Gift Article)
The 24-year-old man had been traveling cross-country from New York to Los Angeles after starting out in August.
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Northwest Urbanist @thenorthwesturbanist.com · 22/09/2026
Not paying car tabs is just as much theft as riding transit without paying, if not more. 3 years is out of date is the worst I've seen in a while.
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Push The Needle @pushtheneedle.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The meme I started is being replicated and now is using Seattle area coffee shops. So proud
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 20/09/2026
Tonight, Jewish New Yorkers mark the start of Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. It is the peak of the Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe, and an opportunity for profound reflection.
 
For those fasting — tzom kal, may your fast be easy and meaningful. 
 
And to all who observe, G'mar chatimah tovah. May you be sealed in the Book of Life for a good year to come.
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HistoryLink.org @historylink.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
#OnThisDay in 1995, Seattle voters rejected the Seattle Commons levy. historylink.org/File/8252
Draft plan, Seattle Commons, 1995
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
American Christians supported a pedophile because he was also racist.
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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
BREAKING: In Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson's new proposed city budget being released Tuesday, there is no projected deficit through 2030. Given the state of the projected deficit over the past many years, this is quite an achievement.
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Politics of Cars @thismachinekillsfascists.bike · 18/09/2026
also because of traffic "engineers" we have guardrails to protect drivers when they go off the road and there's a hazard to them (eg, cliffs), but when pedestrians are at risk there's no metal in the way that would scratch the car's paint
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Senator Patty Murray @murray.senate.gov · 17/09/2026
Republican abortion bans are killing women—and the worst part is, they knew this would happen. Republicans care more about controlling women's bodies than they do about actually protecting them. Abortion rights in all 50 states.
19thnews.org
Tierra Walker died after she couldn’t get an abortion. Her family is suing Ken Paxton.
The case argues that Texas’ near-total abortion ban violates the state and U.S. constitutions. It is the first lawsuit over a death linked to an abortion ban.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I absolutely support a second tunnel. We need redundancy. (An alternative would be a line on 520 and a backup spine on the Eastside, kind of like 405 serves as an alternative to I-5, but I'm not serious about that. Unless, maybe, you know?)
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I'm referring to the tracks that are already operational. Kvetching that the subareas got theirs ignores the fact that the lines outside of Seattle's fat middle were done on the cheap. South Seattle and Bellevue have at-grade. Elevated along the highway to Lynnwood. Bellevue bought their own tunnel.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
> Basically every subarea got their link extensions except Seattle All we have is two spines, and the most expensive stretches are in Seattle. It's not like there are link extensions running to empty farmland all over the region.
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Nick @nicksattele.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Seattle did a study of the bus lane we were fighting to get added. They assumed traffic demand was inelastic and killed the project. New mayor built the bus lanes and the study is proving to be completely wrong www.theurbanist.org/op-ed-sdots-...
theurbanist.org
Op-Ed: SDOT’s Flawed Analysis of Denny Bus Lanes Is Political Theater » The Urbanist
# Assuming bottomless motorist demand and no mode shift to transit made the Seattle Department of Transportation's study of Denny Way bus lanes effectively worthless. Route 8 upgrades deserves real co...
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I am glad to see greater Europe stand up its alliance as more than just a continental trading coalition (and legal framework to sue American tech companies.) Europe has been too dependent on the US since the "world" wars. It's been good for the US and overall bad for Europe.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The United States has enjoyed three spheres of influence over the world: military dominance, economic power, and global respect. This article makes an excellent argument that the first—military strength—is gone. It takes as a given that no one respects us anymore. And the economy? Well, about that.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
How long will it take to fix the mess the US has gotten itself and the world into? Will the midterms turn is around? Will it get better in 2028? No. The Age of America has passed. We are never going to be feared or respected again. We have thrown it all away. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
The American Age Is Over
A period of global dominance has ended in plain sight.
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Bellevue should give up the big government, socialist, minimum parking requirements. Let the market decide how much parking to build. No one is proposing that we get rid of parking. We only want to stop government overreach.
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Mike Eliason @holz-bau.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
this this this (protected) bike lanes belong on arterials www.theurbanist.org/bike-lanes-b...
theurbanist.org
Bike Lanes Belong on Arterials » The Urbanist
# The last year in Seattle has been pathetic for safe streets, equitable mobility, and climate action. Mayor Durkan has been killing safe streets projects left and right—including 35th Avenue NE, with...
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Pawpaws won't self-fertilize. Unless you've got other trees flowering nearby you'll never get fruit. There's a famous-to-locals patch in Ohio where the trees are all genetic clones and none of them bear fruit.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
In the 25 years since 9/11, the United States has spent $8 trillion+ on wars that have taken millions of lives in the name of fighting "terror." Can you imagine if we had instead invested those funds here on climate, health care, housing, and education?
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apardoe @apardoe.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Greater or Lesser Seattle?
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