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Quick scan of Seattle's code. This is a 2 or 3 story building so they wouldn't have to follow the taller single-stair rules, but wondering if any of the highlighted would influence this to be enclosed stair?

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I don't know enough to determine whether it is a design decision or code related, but there hasn't been any major seattle code amendments that I'm aware of. They've mostly been waiting until the state process is wrapped from what I can tell. This is the first floor in case that helps

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*Emphasizing this is just me at this stage for my living arrangement/not trying to denigrate such units* 1) Me looking at rents for 2 bed 2 bath, 920 sf units 2) Me looking at rents for 2 bed 1 bath, 630 sf units 3) Most Americans looking at me expressing this out loud

Luffy and Zoro expressing disgust in the egg head arc about temporarily working together with Lucci

Luffy, chopper, Ussop, cheering with sparkling eyes over their love of robots & crewmember Franky being a cyborg

Robin not participating in the general Franky morphing scheme that is based on the power rangers coming together to form a giant robot. Robin: "that would hurt my human pride."

Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The one that if it existed would personally be the type of unit I'd aim for at this stage of my life ended up being an honorable mention (Seven Eleven). But check out the new batch of pre-approved ADUs & multiplexes Seattle is finalizing. aduniverse-seattlecitygis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/gallery

Visual design for Seattle pre-approved program contestant from Neiman Taber Architects. Has 2 story 7 unit on left and 3 story 11 unit on right. Stylized as a painting with brown-orange brick looking building facade facing the street.

Upper floor floor plan with four 2 bedroom 1 bath homes. Each a little over 600 square feet

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Serious case of bus bunching this morning (there's a third 45 just outside of the picture frame, so 4 buses total on this stretch of road).

A 62 bus and two 45 buses within a couple cars of each other (a third 45 bus is behind just outside of the frame).

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Catching up on some WA building code council work sessions after the public comment period for draft code amendments. I don't think this ended up being a heavy decider for adding sound transmission language to IRC multiplex, but sorta wild cost citation right there. youtu.be/pDcayMIZzzo?...

Part of a public comment making case for adding sound transmission standards from an optional appendix in the WA residential code & cited "AI" for their cost considerations.

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Oh the things we could look to build in Seattle/US cities if we didn't treat buildings taller than one story & young children as incompatible. Awesome daycare in Munich! www.kerearchitecture.com/work/buildin...

Modern 5 story daycare in Munich, not worried about "fitting in" the context or being taller than neighboring buildings. Evening lights showcase the multistory play area and slide, and bike parking on the front of the building.

Modern 5 story daycare in Munich, not worried about "fitting in" the context or being taller than neighboring buildings - from the side. Building of earthy tones with brown & orange exterior

Kids playing on the 5th floor terrace with views of neighboring buildings in the background

Diagram of the 3 level playground. Slides in the middle, small trampolines, climbing items

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Noticed this balcony based heat pump in a neighboring building. Looked like an individual decision as didn't see it on other balconies. Something I hope can be more prevalent in new multifamily, assuming we can make larger balconies more viable.

Second floor balcony heat pump in unit closer to the left side of the photo.

Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

2. Does this legislation impact directed/targeted/custom coupons based on previous shopping patterns? Because if so, I think a lot of people appreciate those coupons & seemingly save money on those. At least I know I find them useful Thanks for your consideration.

Snippet of my Safeway clipped coupons list for the week

Bluesky post describing similar process about how it "can be awesome" to get custom coupons towards the things you regularly eat/buy at the grocery store.

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Jealous that Austin was able to approve a non-sprinklered pathway along with a pathway that that doesn't require 13R sprinklers like is likely going to be the case in Washington

1. Houseplexes with three or four units: (a) two-hour fire-resistance-rated assemblies between dwelling units and supporting construction; or (b) one-hour fire-resistance-rated assemblies where an automatic sprinkler system based on NFPA 13D is installed throughout the building.
2. For Houseplexes with two units, existing IRC regulations for twofamily dwellings will apply without modification.
3. All projects under the IRC Houseplexes: (a) shared external means of egress, where applicable; (b) no electrical receptacles in shared external means of egress; and (c) all penetration protection and draft-stopping measures currently required by the IRC.

Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

I would say there are 3 often uses of the word. 1. The colloquial, aesthetic use of the word 2. The outdated, but still common conflation of gentrification & displacement as the same process 3. Common urban research definition which is more higher income + more educated move in

If the new supply adds a significant number of new units to the neighborhood that are occupied by higher-income households or people with more years of education, that in itself (all other things being equal) may lead the neighborhood to meet common definitions of gentrification.

Worries about displacement often treat gentrification and displacement as the same thing, but gentrification may happen without displacement if the population of high-income residents increases without any increase in the departure of low-income residents. More generally, neighborhoods can see a fair amount of turnover and demographic change in any given year regardless of gentrification, as people leave to pursue school or jobs, to be closer to family or friends, or as their housing needs change. In addition, lower-income residents tend to move more than other residents. Ultimately, neighborhoods change because of shifts in the composition of in-movers (Ellen, 2000). And displacement may happen without gentrification if people who want to remain in a neighborhood are pushed out because they can’t afford their rent, or their homes are converted to some other use, but they are replaced by new residents from the same demographic or even lower incomes.

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

I went down a little bit of rabbit hole from some of the ifp links, since it also points to Washington doing local amendments. I found a free 2014 version of NFPA 130. Below is shot of chapter 6. www.scribd.com/document/947...

Chapter 6 of NFPA 130, which regulates cross passage distance & impacts transit costs. See link in posts for full text download or reader.

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Yes, though with conditions surrounding Type III-A, fire-rated wood framing. 510.10 I believe is the relevant section

Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Pike Place Night Market was pretty wild (laudatory). Also, experienced them closing the overlook on me for the first time.

Outdoor food tents, lots of people, & skyline in background

Surprising placement of food right at doors to overlook

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Also, watched the Egypt v Belgium game on the barge next to Pier 62. It was a pretty nice experience.

Large screen on floating barge with soccer game on. Shipping container aesthetic with some shaded tables

Elevated area on the barge. Soccer game viewing on the water

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

The pictures I took didn't do Game Day, pedestrianized Pioneer Square justice. But here's a glimpse of the fun people were having.

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Wait!! Is this the northern intersection of that bridge? If so I didn't realize the bridge was pedestrianized

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

7-story, passive house, mass timber, scissor stair project also going up in Brooklyn www.woodworksinnovationnetwork.org/en-ca/projec...

Rendered view from street of 7-story 23 apartment building

Middle floors floorplan, showing two 2 bedroom apartments, two 1 bedroom apartments, and one 3 bedroom apartment

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

The fun thing about this piece is I was able to track down some archival history of the Uniform Building Code (which likely would've applied to most western states) to provide a sense when the codes changed. See page # linked in this section. Based on these the change happened in the early 1970s

Archival linked references that suggest the change in allowing scissor stairs happened somewhere in the early 1970s. Check article for links.

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

He's right relative to other US cities Seattle's done a decent job, and also this is studio & 1 b erasure, as at least for the last couple of years market rate studios & 1 b has similar/sometimes lower rental prices than subsidized units. Still not enough & cratering permits is set to reverse things

Table from Seattle Times August 2025 story, showing 36% of market rate apartments in seattle charge rents within 10% of the average subsidized unit. Cities like Austin, DC, Detroit & Portland rank higher.

Excerpt from Seattle Times August 2025 story: resident in subsidized unit was able to find market rate unit in South Lake Union that was 150 sf larger for a competitive enough amount that they made the move. Estimating unit was somewhere between $1,450 & $1,700, unclear by the way it is described in the story.

Sightline study, with table showing Seattle has done the best at building housing within city limits in areas where people already live, rather than relying on green field sprawl development like other metropolitan regions

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Kinda fun to see similar dimensions and operating style in this proposed fix to a separate hypothetical route I had done thinking on medium.com/@markusjohns...

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Ah fantastic. Only read the Op-ed. Missed the findings around potential spot for Interbay OMF, but that looks promising. The funnel light rail vehicles to new OMF, while refurbishing central OMF for light metro vehicle, at same time as West Seattle service starts is ambitious! But see viability

A section of Interbay south of golf course and east of BNSF train tracks.

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Possible answer...Partly the codes & partly because it seems ST needs state legislation to develop on their own

Highlighting a line item in a Sound Transit policy opportunity document that says, "Expand Development Authority -> Provide Authority to ST to engage in development -> red circle that indicates policy would require voter or state legislature approval. "

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

I wanted to go deeper than the typical crayon exercise and wanted to think through & frame some of the planning decisions that I think Seattle should take a stronger roll on prior to any commitment to avoid ST3 timelines. We're talking about a hypothetical east-west elevated driverless metro

Map of a hypothetical east-west driverless elevated metro line from Magnuson Park to Golden Gardens. Includes stops in-between at children's hospital, U-district, Wallingford, North Fremont, Ballard at 15th, historic core of Ballard, ans 28th/65th.

Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Similar to CA, WA doesn't provide builders the right-to-repair & doesn't allow releases to builders & their contractors for 10+ yrs. CA bill looks to give builders the right to repair, that when they repair something they're released from responsibility of that claim, & dismiss prelitigation antics

establish an alternative process for certified buildings, as established by the bill. The bill would authorize a builder to obtain a certified building status for a building by undergoing private inspection, repairs, and reinspection during construction and would require the inspector to be a private licensed architect, engineer, or general contractor, as specified. The bill would prohibit future challenges to the status of the building as a certified building once certified. The bill would authorize the builder of a certified building to establish its own process for handling postconstruction claims. The bill would specify that a builder has a complete and unrestricted right to inspect and repair a certified building at times mutually agreed upon by the builder and claimant and within timeframes established by the builder. If a claimant refuses the offer of repair or prevents, restricts, delays, or frustrates access for more than 7 days from the mutually agreed upon day, the bill would deem the builder to have received a release.

Existing law prohibits a builder from obtaining a release or waiver in exchange for repair work mandated by law, as specified, and authorizes a claimant, at the conclusion of the repair, to file an action for violation of the applicable standard or for a claim of inadequate repair.
This bill would repeal that provision.

Existing law authorizes the builder to make a cash offer and no repair, and authorizes the builder to obtain a reasonable release in exchange for the cash payment.
This bill would instead authorize the builder to obtain a release related to the claims asserted in the above-described notice in exchange for either a cash payment or repair, including a full and general release, as specified.

Existing law specifies that the prelitigation procedures are to be strictly construed, and that, if the claimant does not conform with the requirements, the builder may bring a motion to stay any subsequent court action or other proceeding until the requirements are met. This bill would instead authorize the builder to bring a motion to dismiss any court action or other proceeding and would require the court to grant the motion.

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Just to try and break it down further, existing law doesn't require claimants to have solid evidence about the issue in their condo, that the issue be significantly damaging to the building, or be caused by og construction. Regular wear & tear of a home can be used for a claim. Similar setup in WA

Existing law specifies that to make a claim for violation of construction standards applicable to construction defect claims, a homeowner need only demonstrate that the home does not meet the applicable standard, and that no further showing of causation or damages is required to meet the burden of proof, provided that the violation arises out of, pertains to, or is related to, the original construction.
This bill would instead require a claimant to affirmatively demonstrate that there is a violation of the applicable standard, that the violation caused appreciable, nonspeculative, present physical damage to another component part of the building, and that the violation is caused by the original construction. The bill would specify that only specified construction defect provisions in the Civil Code are the exclusive remedy for any claim or action seeking recovery of damages arising out of residential construction, design specifications, surveying, planning, supervision, testing, or observation of construction. The bill would prohibit an insurer from asserting repairs as a voluntary payment or as a payment made without the insurer’s consent, or deny counting the costs associated with those repairs.

Existing law requires a person claiming that the construction of their residence violates standards of construction, as specified, to provide a written notice of the claim to the builder that, among other things, describes the claimed violation in reasonable detail sufficient to determine the nature and location of the claimed violation. Existing law authorizes that written notice to be provided by the claimant’s legal representative.
This bill would require additional information to be included in the notice, including, at a minimum, a description of the observable evidence of the damage believed to result from a violation, copies of any reasonably available photographs, estimates or reports relating to the damage, and the room within the home or unit in which that evidence may be found. The bill, in case of a group of homeowners or a homeowner’s association, would require the notice to be signed by each affected homeowner and for claims involving common areas, to be verified by the president of the association.

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

McDonald's is great, especially as a low cost gathering spot for teens (when done well). Makes me think of how the tourist trap McDonald's in Paris was absolutely aimed at people like me (I know we won't get something like this).

McDonald's on the Champs Elysees in Paris, France. Outside covered eatery in the foreground & McDonald's with second story eating area with large windows

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

My fleeting shot of the retro Metro bus

Retro Metro Bus amongst the crowd at Seahawks Super Bowl parade

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

I took the survey already & used it as an opportunity to share my experience through the lens of this underrated framing that @shanedphillips.bsky.social shared a couple years ago.

This table is national data from 2021 for people who moved within the last two years. They could choose multiple reasons for moving. The "forced to move" responses are negative; probably *some* "reduce costs" people too. Aside from Other and NR, the rest are all positive. 80%+
Positive leaning reasons include things like new job, forming own household, being closer to family, change in family size, reduce commuting time, larger or better quality home, wanting to live in a more desirable neighborhood

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

One week after doing this nonsense

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

I'm sure I've been missing these ultra highlight throws the entire season, but look at Caleb's feet here! He threw the ball 40+ yards essentially flat footed???

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

A reminder of staff's original proposal. In and around the area I live, you can see the areas attached to the transit corridors designation would have seen apartment zoning sometimes 3-5 blocks off where the bus route is. Also, adding Alt 5 EIS map for comparison.

How staff's original proposal changed from the previous mayor's first proposal. Stripped away much of the corridor upzones.

Much of Greenlake, TangleTown, north of Gas Works, and Queen Anne, would have had apartment zoning under staff proposal.

An EIS map that showed what alternative 5 would have allowed interms of heights throughout the city of Seattle.
Urban Center up to 145'
Neighborhood Center to 75'
Corridors up to 55'

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

To be a little more specific the number of units is tied to a unit/sf. But yes, no catch.

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

I've reread this thread for something I'm writing & I'm trying to understand the impact of this one. This seems to specifically impact construction efficiency. Is the hold up here instead of having bores race to the middle & go 2500 ft at a time. They are forced to twin bore & stop every 800 ft?

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

The city's news drop reads like the technical scissor stair change is reducing stair entry separation distance to 4.5m (15ft) for smaller footprint buildings. Is there something else or is this what you mean by opening it up to other construction types? council.vancouver.ca/20251210/doc...

“ A-3.4.2.3.(5) Distance Between Exits for Small Residential Buildings. The provision to decrease the minimum distance between exits for small residential buildings to 4.5 m is intended to facilitate construction of buildings with space efficient egress using scissor stairs. The 4.5 m distance takes into consideration the geometry of scissor stairs and floor to floor elevation differences in a typical residential building. See also Note A-3.2.10 for fire protection and firefighting assumptions in the development of this code provision. The intent is all existing code provisions for a building with scissor stairs remain unchanged except for the relaxation of distance between exit doors from a floor area, and their discharge points, for small buildings of residential occupancy only.

5. Screenshot was a potential downside I hadn't thought about before & seems worth bringing up. It doesn't change my thinking that social housing in the US provides space to fill needs in/influence sub-markets or allow a focus on how many people live there vs units. But all within reason...

Another downside is the potential for crowd out: building social housing results in the private sector building fewer housing units. The benefits of new social units are offset, therefore, by the opportunity cost of social housing subsidies. Research in France suggests that each unit of social housing results in the private sector building nearly two fewer units, driven by social landlords building lower density projects than what private developers would have built in the same location (Chapelle, 2018).

4. Ability to move in the France social housing system is difficult. Given their system is a hybrid between US affordable housing system & public developer, it seems similar to how movement between affordable units is difficult in the US context.

Globally, mobility rates among public or social housing tenants are generally much lower than renters in the private sector. In France, moving within the social housing system is especially difficult.14 Moving outside of the housing options owned by your current social landlord is rare. Tenants must make a new request for social housing and landlords must arrange for an exchange of tenants (Agence Nationale de Contrôle du Logement Social, 2024). As a result, mobility rates are much lower for social tenants than for renters in the private sector (21% of households moved in a recent four-year period compared to 49%), but are nonetheless more than twice those of homeowners (8%) (Delance and Vignolles, 2017). Anecdotal accounts suggest that many social tenants consume more housing15 than they would in the private sector because moving is complicated. Other countries have more advanced systems of moves within their social housing stock. For example, the Netherlands have regional waiting lists that allow current residents to see options for moving throughout their tenancy and move between landlords without an exchange of tenants (Buurma-Olsen et al., 2023).

3. Landlords with older stock don't build as much new stuff as landlords with new stock, as maintenance of old buildings eats into available equity to put towards developing new buildings.

Governments considering creating new systems may be particularly interested in the importance of revenue generated by landlords’ older housing stock for funding new housing production. The strategy of using rents from existing stock to fund new production is sometimes called “milking the cow.” For places without a large existing social housing sector, France’s apparent reliance on this approach might seem daunting. However, Goffette-Nagot et al. (2025) provide some good news for these places — they find that landlords with older stock do not build at a higher rate than other landlords. In fact, landlords with a higher share of new stock build at a higher rate. This implies that maintenance costs and rental regulations limit the equity potential of older stock.

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Markus Johnson @markusja.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

1. France has a mandatory employer contribution of 0.45% of total payroll, earmarked for the finance, build, or rehab of social housing & plugs employees to such housing. @spokanerising.com I'm still green when it comes to tax policy, but might be something to consider in your WA state rethinking

An additional source of funding comes from a mandatory employer contribution known as the Participation des Employeurs à l’Effort de Construction. Employers with more than 50 employees must contribute 0.45% of total payroll from the previous year. These funds are used by Action Logement, a government-owned nonprofit, to finance, build, and rehabilitate social housing, as well as assist employees of contributing companies with access to social housing through over 100 local offices. In 2023, they lent over €2 billion to social housing landlords (Action Logement, 2023).

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Points to how important dealing with condo defect litigation is. The study was based on a 512 unit condo building in Honolulu, where Hawaii's right to repair & mandatory mediation policies allow condos to be 40% of apartment units. share.google/88fc4Lx5pITu...

Highlighting text that says "in 2022, 40% of multifamily units in Hawaii were owner-occupied..." and "under Hawaii statute, mediation is mandated if requested by a condominium owner..."