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Zack

@kcazllerraf.bsky.social
271 followers 437 following 93 posts

Saint Paul - Urbanism and climate

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Reposted by Zack
Naomi Kritzer @naomikritzer.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
It genuinely blows my mind the degree to which people in power do not grasp (or just refuse to acknowledge) that encampments are preferable to shelters for a whole lot of people, for a long list of reasons.
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Seth @sethbose9.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I'm digging into some historical Freeway planning reports, and it is wild to see what people thought freeways would do before they built them. A study in Minneapolis 1957 said that freeways in Minneapolis would both immediately increase Minneapolis property values and might stop suburbanization.
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DeJota Mac @dejotamac.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
1980s (joking, obnoxiously): your team is so bad they finished 11th in the Big Ten 2000s (pointing out a harsh truth): your team is so bad they finished 11th in the Big Ten 2020s (optimistically): your team finished 11th in the Big Ten - that's up seven spots from last year!
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Brad Tabke @bradtabke.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Help me win by more than the 2026 MN State Fair no attendance record margin. -> bradtabke.com/volunteer
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Zack @kcazllerraf.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Come join me Tomorrow at 6pm for my fourth annual Highland Bridge Walking Tour! Back by popular demand, take a stroll through a lovely new neighborhood while I ramble on about zoning, geology, Saint Paulitics, urban history, and more! actionnetwork.org/events/walki...
actionnetwork.org
Walking Tour of the Highland Bridge and Social Hour
Join us on Monday August 24 for our annual urban walking tour! 🚶‍♀️🌳🏘️ We will enjoy a guided tour of the Highland Bridge development (formerly the Ford Site) and then finish with drinks and socializ...
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Ben Raderstorf @raders.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
This is one of those arguments that sounds like slopulism but is actually, if anything, understated. 56% of Colorado river water goes to GROWING FEED FOR LIVESTOCK IN THE DESERT.
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star @foundbysara.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
if Naomi be Klein, you're doing fine. If Naomi be Wolf, oh, buddy, oof if Naomi be Kritzer, give her a Pulitzer
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Zak Yudhishthu @zyudhishthu.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
A fond goodbye to my Avondale apartment, which breaks every part of its RS-3 zoning and could never be built today ❌ 12 units (2 unit max) ❌ 40 ft tall (30 ft max) ❌ 260 sq ft lot area/unit (2,500 min) ❌ 0 ft rear setback (35 ft min) And way above the 0.9 floor-area ratio cap
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Zack @kcazllerraf.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
The stories in the quotes are worth reading
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Zack @kcazllerraf.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
My literal job right now is to sit on the front porch and wait for a package from my company. Having a lovely first day reading a book in the shade so far!
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Heather Silsbee @hsilsbee.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
I told him that, being raised as a woman, I was taught not to walk alone at night *anywhere*, but I don't feel any more or less safe doing it in Uptown than anywhere else. So if you're curious how much KSTP selects their quotes to fit the slant of their story, here's one data point! 🙃 5/5
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Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
I cross-referenced my database of candidates against credible voter fraud cases. GOP politicians are implicated at 50x–38,000x the general public's rate. Yet even if every American voted with the integrity of a GOP candidate, it still wouldn't come close to justifying making voting one iota harder.
Bar chart titled "Voter fraud among Republican politicians vastly exceeds the public's. That rate is still just 1 in 850." The chart shows that 0.118% of Republican politicians (17 out of 14,442 DIME candidates from 2016–2026) have been credibly implicated in voter fraud. This rate is represented by a tall red bar that dwarfs the microscopic rates for the general electorate, making the politicians' rate 50x to 38,000x higher than the documented rates for everyone else.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
This is VERY interesting — one of many streets that Montreal has been successfully pedestrianizing for years now, had CARS RETURN this summer. People-levels and sales are way down. Interestingly the story uses “closed to pedestrians” to describe the returning cars. People-streets mean business.
youtube.com
Businesses feeling the impact after Montreal street opens up to cars this summer
YouTube video by CBC News Quebec
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Greg Annandale @gregannandale.com · 13/07/2026
I made an animation which shows the effects of air pollution on pedestrians waiting to cross the road, along with what can be done to reduce its harmful effects: stepback.gregdev.com Thank you to @ianwalker.bsky.social for the inspiration for doing so during a conversation a couple of weeks' back!
stepback.gregdev.com
'Step back' - air pollution at pedestrian crossings
Every busy road produces a cloud of pollution you can't see. Where you stand in it matters more than most people might realise.
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MaryMM @marymm.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Yes! Look at cities around the world. Safe infrastructure for cyclists means more cyclists by far. I will never begrudge any vehicular cyclist for choosing to ride among cars and trucks, but do not ask me to send my 6-year-old or 12-year-old or bike commuter or elderly parent out there.
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Sustain Saint Paul @sustainstpaul.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Saint Paul built 3.43 new homes per 100 residents over the last decade. Nearly every peer city — Minneapolis, Edina, Richfield, even Cottage Grove– outpaced us.🏘️ Three reasons why, and how to fix it. Article Below!🧵
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Sustain Saint Paul @sustainstpaul.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
We at Sustain Saint Paul extend our deep condolences to the family and friends of Ricki Allan Larson for their tragic loss. So far this year Saint Paul has seen four pedestrian deaths and now one cyclist death. For context, Saint Paul has seen three homicides in 2026.
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andy™ @andylevy.net · 05/07/2026
i can’t stop laughing at this
SALUTE TO AMERICA

IMMEDIATE EVACUATION
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Zack @kcazllerraf.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Oh hey that would have demolished my house and half my block, if it had happened.
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Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Here’s Why Weather Forecasts Have Seemed So Inaccurate Lately. Meteorologists simply aren't able to gather as much data as they used to, and you're suffering for it. gizmodo.com/heres-why-we...
gizmodo.com
Here's Why Weather Forecasts Have Seemed So Inaccurate Lately
Meteorologists simply aren't able to gather as much data as they used to, and you're suffering for it.
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Vince Mpls @vincempls.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
#OnThisDay June 17 1890: In the opening salvo of the "Census War," US Marshals from St. Paul arrest 7 census takers in Minneapolis, accusing them of cooking the books so Minneapolis could claim a higher population. A court finds it true, but also that St Paul was doing exactly the same thing.
3 newspaper clippings of the era shout 
"OUTRAGEOUS! A dastardly piece of legal vandalism. Minneapolis enumerators arrested in the night."
"ARRESTED!  Minneapolis census enumerators charged with padding the returns come to grief"
"MASON A LIAR. Shown up in his true light by Ed Stevens."
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William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
people make fun of Sun Tzu for being not terribly profound stuff like "do not needlessly anger your allies before you need them" but you do kinda gotta hand it to the guy, White House would have been well served with someone who knew those things
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Zack @kcazllerraf.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Big storm last night
Front on picture of a small apartment building with two trees in front of it. One of the trees is leaning back against the front of the building with its roots pulling upSide view of the same tree as the previous picture. The tree is leaning at a 60 degree angle, over the sidewalk. A tree just past its sappling phase completely folded over from the storm, with nothing obviously on it.
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Zack @kcazllerraf.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
It's always looked this way, right?
Map of north America with Minnesota as part of Canada
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clumsy_machinist @clumsy-machinist.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Bob Odenkirk for Better Call Saul in front of the new Minnesota flag. A header reads: I love my country
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Ginny Brideau @gincase.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Society has normalized irrational thinking around housing. A 200-unit apartment building gets treated like a natural disaster while hour-long commutes, overcrowded apartments, and rising homelessness are accepted as normal background conditions.
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Nicholas Rae @nickrae.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
I think we need to stop asking residents in detached homes if they want apartments on their streets, and start asking people in apartment buildings on arterials if they would prefer if they could live on quiet residential streets
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Infrastory @infrastory.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
To finish off our first week, we have a post on one of the biggest problems facing modern infrastructure projects. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
open.substack.com
Engineering Problems and Phone Call Problems
Perhaps sometimes we really should just phone it in
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Kevin Wilson @kwilsonhfx.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Folks! Who do you think can apply for a low paying, high prestige job? It's neither average people (representative) nor salaried technical experts (massive pay cut). It's people who don't need the income!
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Wendy @hyssop.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
I’ve been photographing anti-ICE & related pro-Democracy yard/window/tree/street signs around Minneapolis. In the words of my friend the skeleton, below, “Civil Disobedience is not Domestic Terrorism” Batch #31
A collection of 9 anti-ICE and related signs. One sign says “ICE Thugs Out” and another, held by a skeleton, says “Civil Disobedience is not Domestic Terrorism”A collection of 9 anti-ICE and related pro-democracy signs. One sign, depicting the Statue of Liberty in red, says “A Nation of Immigrants since 1776”.  Another handmade sign says “Hug Loved Ones, Protect the Vulnerable, Resist”
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Zack @kcazllerraf.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Friday was a good night to be at a cabin up north
Green northern lights in the sky, with silhouetted trees and a cabin lining the horizon. Orange light is shining through the cabin windows.
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Zack @kcazllerraf.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Looking down Selby this morning
High contrast photo of a dark street under an orange sky, with the hazy silhouette of the cathedral looming in the distance
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Witch-King @astijl.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
On Wednesdays we AWOoooOo
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Zack @kcazllerraf.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
While poking around at the Saint Paul city survey map (as one does) I noticed an oddity around Lake Phalen, the golf course has a grid of city owned right-of-way covering it. Was this a relic of a plan that never came to be? A former neighborhood demolished by urban renewal? I sure couldn't say.
City surveyor's office map of east st. paul around lake phalen, with the public owned right-of-way highlighted. An urban grid of right-of-way covers phalen golf course.
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Warren Wells, AICP @warrenjwells.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
When you look at literally any planned freeway that *did not* get built, it becomes clear what a disaster it would have been, and we can see what we would now be missing. Looking at the freeways that did get built, it's much harder to know what we lost.
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Hooper @hoopermn.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
I’m here to rally for homes and chew bubble gum. And I’m all out of bubble gum.
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Zack @kcazllerraf.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Nobody is allowed to try to drive down Ramsey Hill right now. Don't do it. I'll be disappointed in you.
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Zack @kcazllerraf.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Snowy snowy Dome
Picture of the cathedral in Saint Paul somewhat whited out by snow
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Zack @kcazllerraf.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Snowy Minnesota flag
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🚲 🥜scoops 🥜🚲 @scoopsstp.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
That church on Summit with the ICE pastor has a lot of ties to John Piper's Bethlehem seminary, and specifically with toxic figures that were kicked out of that (already quite conservative) church because they were abusive and palling around with fascist pastor Doug Wilson (Pete Hegseth's mentor)
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Solar Minneapolis @minneapolis.solar.v.cx · 21/12/2025
The sun will rise in #Minneapolis #SaintPaul #Minnesota tomorrow at 7:48, 28 seconds later than the day before. It will set at 16:34, 29 seconds later than the day before.
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🚲 🥜scoops 🥜🚲 @scoopsstp.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
I don't know if anybody noticed, but Ramsey County's results came through a lot earlier than they have in the past, and the RCV results got counted fast. That's thanks to implementation of new software at Ramsey County. Thanks to the staff and election volunteers that made that possible
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🎃ℌ𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴 ℑ𝔞𝔫👻 @mplsnightmayor.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
It's election season in St Paul. Every few years the whole town gets together to debate the pressing political questions of our time -- Is a small business an autonomous nation? Do garbage cans have rights? If I'm rich enough, do I own the street in front of my house?
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Zack @kcazllerraf.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
It's worse than that. ChatGPT automatically assumes men are older than women (due to age disparities in online representation), associates older people as more qualified (due to more senior titles in online representation), and entangles all three factors. Unsurprising but awful.
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Sierra Club MN North Star Chapter @sierraclubmn.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
Barf. Here's the "Team Mpls" plan to “address climate change.” No mention of getting off fossil fuels. Nothing on electrification. Nothing on renewable energy, transit or building housing near transit. Just trees and carbon capture(?). This fluff could have been written by the Koch Bros (1/2)
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Doug Mack @douglasmack.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
the most delightful version of logging on to see what news you've missed
Dr Ramsdell, whose phone had been on airplane mode when the Nobel committee tried to call him, told the BBC's Newshour Programme that his first response when his wife said, "You've won the Nobel prize" was: "I did not."

To which Ms O'Neill replied that she had 200 text messages that suggested he had.
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Rudy Meyer @rudyfunkmeyer.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
I wrote an article about the Ward 7 race in Minneapolis—specifically about the forum last night. Check it out here: rudyfunkmeyer.medium.com/minneapolis-...
rudyfunkmeyer.medium.com
Minneapolis Ward 7: Katie Cashman or Elizabeth Shaffer?
On Monday, September 15, the League of Women Voters hosted a candidate forum for the Ward 7 City Council Race in Minneapolis. The forum…
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Sustain Saint Paul @sustainstpaul.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Grateful for all who attended our annual walking tour of the Highland Bridge Development (formerly the Ford Site)!🏙️🚶‍♀️🌳🐢 Special thank-you to Sustain Board Member @kcazllerraf.bsky.social for his tour-de-force presentation on the past, present, and future of both this site and Sustain's advocacy.
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Zack @kcazllerraf.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
I'm going to be hosting a walking tour of the new Highland Bridge neighborhood - the Ford redevelopment site - tomorrow (Monday) at 6pm, come join to learn about the planning, geology, and history of the area!
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Steve Peterson @nordsteve.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Long route to Sioux Falls.
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