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Nick Sementelli

@nsementelli.bsky.social
823 followers 424 following 314 posts

National progressive political strategist by day, local safe streets and housing advocate by night. @ggwash board member.

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Nick Sementelli @nsementelli.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
In which @alexbaca.bsky.social and I once again ask for any one of the professionals in charge of this stadium plan to do some basic arithmetic
ggwash.org
No Metro, Yes Problems: Can RFK’s transportation plan be saved?
The new Commanders stadium needs to be served by hardcore bus prioritization and world-class walkability and bikeability if DC wants a chance at avoiding a traffic nightmare every Sunday.
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
One thing that’s interesting about this is that it shows that despite insisting the wokes overinterpet everything, conservatives are actually aware of and agree with their critics about how coded racist appeals work, they just like them bsky.app/profile/newr...
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Nick Sementelli @nsementelli.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Montreal's @biximontreal.com bikeshare system is offering free rides on Election Day.
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Rufo literally offered a bounty to anyone who could produce a video of Haitians eating dogs. He got nothing. So he found a video of Congolese men grilling chicken and tried to claim they were cooking cats.
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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Royals owner John Sherman and Mayor Quinton Lucas have rebranded the mega-TIF district as a "stadium impact area," in hopes people will focus less on handing over $560m in taxes than on how a Royals stadium will (somehow) create economic impact miles away.
fieldofschemes.com
Royals mega-TIF district to divert taxes from much of downtown KC to pay for stadium
Kansas City has revealed the dimensions of the mega-TIF district where all increases in sales and income tax receipts, and half of all increases in hotel tax receipts, would be siphoned off and given ...
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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A common talking point among American urbanists is how tourists go to Europe and love walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented cities yet fight those same policies at home. So it's cool to see Rick Steves focusing on urban planning in European cities. (Unfortunately there is no transcript)
ricksteves.com
Program 745a: Orkney Living; Walkable Cities; Nomads of Europe
Hear what it's like to live on one of the windswept Orkney Islands, off the northernmost tip of Scotland, where people have made a home since prehistoric times. Then learn how redesigned urban centers...
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Vought is breaking the law but he is not “going rogue.” At his confirmation hearings, Vought told Republicans he would do this and they voted for him anyway. If they want to stop him, they still can via impeachment. They won’t.
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Payton Chung @westnorth.com · 02/09/2026
In which I calculate that NIMBY delays of a single DC building have so far resulted in 286,000 tons of additional CO2, equal to burning enough coal to fill a 16 mile long train
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Patrick Wyman @patrickwyman.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Can't say how many times I've had these arguments over the last decade. The crux of the matter is always difference and the fact that modern racists can't comprehend the idea that their racial categories aren't eternal or real, so they assume the Roman sense of difference must also be their own.
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Geoffrey Propheter @gpropheter.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
While I’m enjoying Torre’s vindication laps and the well deserved apologies, I can’t be the only one asking of investigative sports journalism: great…can you please finally get around to doing facility subsidies and ignorant/sycophantic lawmakers?
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OB Chargn @obchargn.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
A public health professor is walking through a PARKING LOT and has an epiphany that society doesn’t allow for physical exercise anymore. She decides it must be due to the rise of e-bikes: www.forbes.com/sites/bernad...
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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Yikes! SUVs went from 18% to 44% of vehicles in Edmonton in 16 years.
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alex baca @alexbaca.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I’m constitutionally incapable of doing math, actually, but I know that we aren’t getting anywhere without building Big Number of homes, and I asked Nick and Payton to figure it out, which they did.
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Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
if youre a democrat folding on hasan piker bull shit, why should i think you are going to push through on the hard stuff? do you have any idea the propaganda campaign you will be facing when you try to investigate trump corruption? the ice killers and rapists? court expansion?
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Nick Sementelli @nsementelli.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
@westnorth.com @alexbaca.bsky.social and I do the math on DC's next 25 years. Do we want to actually solve our housing crisis? Or will we let continued inaction drive hundreds of thousands more people out of our city - creating a fiscal and ecological crisis. #250Kx2050
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Jack @kuuga.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
the fantasy that crashes are caused by Bad Drivers who lose control over their vehicles, rather than by average drivers behind the wheel of too-fast vehicles who physically cannot react in time to a sudden change of circumstance, new obstacle, or erratic behavior from others.
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
"We hired you to research modern liberalism and you spend all day associating us with debunked race science" I dunno, feels pretty firable
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Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Sorry but the idea that being really good at Talmudic criticism is some sort of Darwinian reproductive strategy is objectively hilarious
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bikebike @bikebikeyyc.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
what is holding back wider adoption of e-bikes is the fact that road networks in most n. american cities are just too scary for normies no wayfinding. disconnected wheeling networks. distracted drivers. too high speed limits all of it adds up to locking people into car dependency
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Simon Boyne @simonb84.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Oh people are always so concerned about improving cyclists safety when it involves no money and no impact on motorists
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 21/08/2026
really striking how much centrist commentators basically refuse to engage with political history prior to 2008 in order to prop up tendentious and self-flattering narratives.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
“Researchers found that children in London whose lung growth had been stunted by pollution showed impressive improvements after the introduction of an Ultra Low Emission Zone in 2019 reduced emission… …local clean air zones could help reduce some of the harm caused by pollution during childhood.”
bbc.com
Children's stunted lungs show recovery in ultra low emission zone
Children's lung capacity caught up with their peers in less polluted areas once a clean air zone came in, a study shows.
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mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
i think one of the hidden keys to politics right now is "how can our side make sure that the 'trump is gonna kill a bunch of beautiful wild horses' story gets in front of the millions of otherwise apolitical consumers of social media horse-related content"
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A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I know there are lot of people who think voting does nothing to stop fascism, but I do notice that one group who seems to think voting does something to stop fascism are the fascists, who are trying to prevent it as much as possible.
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patrick.kennedy @thedotcity.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I think I need to work this Mumford quote into my class: "In short, we have had the alternative of humanizing the industrial city or dehumanizing the population. So far we have dehumanized the population.”
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Nick Sementelli @nsementelli.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Sorry, is this photo Claymation Talarico?
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Jens von Bergmann @jensvb.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
One way to understand the restrictiveness of zoning is to look at land price gradients across zone boundaries, @lausterna.bsky.social and check into what that looks like in Vancouver.
doodles.mountainmath.ca
Zoning Constraints and Land Price Gradients – Mountain Doodles
Steep land price gradients across zoning boundaries are an indication of zoning restrictions being binding. We take a look at what this looks like for the City of Vancouver.
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The Overhead Wire @theoverheadwire.com · 20/08/2026
"Montreal was building the first legs of its subway in the 1960s. We could have built the equivalent of 36 Paris Metros for that $375 billion at the cost that Montreal was building its subway. And so part of this is just creating like an Earth 2 in my mind. What if we had gotten it right?"
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Warren Wells, AICP @warrenjwells.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Well whatta you know? Speed cameras in Oakland reduced speeding by about 80% on the treated corridors, essentially the same result as the speed cameras in San Francisco. Seems like a pretty successful policy, if you ask me.
Where speeding fell most along Oakland camera corridors
Share of drivers traveling 11 mph or more over the speed limit in summer 2024 and summer 2026, showing percentage-point (pp.) change
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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I don’t think it’s accurate to say that the entire San Francisco region was "popping with [housing] construction" when it averaged like 1/3 of the permitting rate of Toronto or Vancouver (also cities that needed to build more).
Housing units permitted per 1,000 people in Toronto and Vancouver (higher) and San Francisco (lower)
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Ben Harris @benharris1.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
This kind of credulous reporting about the Guard’s deployment in DC is a big part of the problem: 1. It’s not reducing crime; and even if it were that’s not a justification for their deployment. 2. It matters because unleashing military patrols in a U.S. city is fascist, authoritarian behavior.
Text of a Reuters article:

It's unclear whether it's reducing crime.
Murders have fallen, but so have homicides in many other cities. One recent study found the deployment reduced car thefts but had no measurable impact on violent crime.
Why it matters: Trump has promoted the deployment as a model for fighting crime in
U.S. cities. D.C. is becoming a test case for whether a military-style presence actually improves public safety.
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Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
New Public Comment on the self-interested case for quitting X publiccomment.blog/p/it-is-past...
publiccomment.blog
It Is Past Time for You to Quit Elon Musk's X
Yes, I'm talking to you. 🫵
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Schooley @schooley.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
David Cross leaning into a mic. "America, should, must, and will blow up the moon."
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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
"...each above-ground spot in a parking deck in and around Washington, D.C. can cost $29,000 to build. While that’s below the national average of $52,000, it would also mean that Trump’s proposed 32,000 parking spots could cost more than $900 million."
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patrick.kennedy @thedotcity.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
i dont think we can underestimate the rising costs of housing and [car-dependent] transportation, both seen as needs, that places downward pressure on the price side for everything else.
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Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈 @maxdubler.com · 02/08/2026
Online shopping eliminated these gatekeepers and disintermediated the market, allowing consumers to express their desires more directly. And it turns out that what people really want is cheap disposable goods, not more expensive but higher quality stuff that lasts a long time.
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Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
it’s pretty obvious that a lot of people remember that COVID lockdowns were unpleasant and from there just extrapolate that they were therefore bad policy
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Kenny Uong @kennyuong.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
RIP Louisa Gag, a transit planner who dedicated her career to making Boston’s streets safer for cyclists & pedestrians. She was killed while biking to work on July 9, 2026. Street safety improvements shouldn’t be delayed, watered down, or treated as a political inconvenience. Safe streets now!!
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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
A great example of why the "make eye contact with drivers and wear reflective clothing" advice for pedestrians and cyclists is bad. Nothing short of physically limiting where and how drivers can operate their vehicles will work.
blockclubchicago.org
Drivers Have Run Over, Flipped Off And Cursed Out Chicago’s Traffic Aides For Doing Their Jobs
Traffic control aides are needed during big summer events, like Lollapalooza this weekend. But drivers often take out their frustration on them — and two aides were recently hospitalized after being h...
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Erin Palmer @erinpalmerdc.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Are you passionate about pedestrian safety and accessibility? Do you find value in working with students on local civic engagement? Join us for a special edition of Sidewalk Palooza as part of this year's GW Day of Service on August 22. Reach out if you want to be involved!
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Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 28/07/2026
Like in the first Trump term, people are standing around looking for some neutral arbiter to decide something is wrong and take action. The press stands around wondering about the voters. The voters stare back at the press. Some Democratic leaders hide behind a potted plant hoping they go unnoticed.
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Bryan Hart @bryanhart.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Seems like it should be a minimum for any story about a driver hurting someone that the writer look up and share if there are unpaid tickets associated with the vehicle. A boy is seriously injured because this vehicle and its driver shouldn’t be on the road. www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/5...
nbcwashington.com
5-year-old on scooter in critical condition after Southeast DC hit-and-run
A search is unfolding in D.C. after a 5-year-old on an electric scooter was hit by a driver and critically injured. The driver left the scene after the collision. This is the second case in the DMV re...
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Alex Taliadoros @alexctaliadoros.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
On the other hand, at least drivers have extra parking to come get a “quick shot.”
But critics of streateries say reduced parking carries other costs. Bill Duggan, the owner of Madam’s Organ, said that parking spots being taken up by temporary streateries made it difficult for new customers to visit his Adams Morgan neighborhood. “People aren’t going to just come in for a quick shot if it’s going to cost $25 in parking,” he said.
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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Something I find particularly infuriating is that when you *do* act outraged over pedestrian deaths you are treated as hysterical and as if you're overreacting.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Riding bikes is 10X more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities. And that’s just the climate emissions. Doesn’t include the massive public & personal cost difference, the air & noise pollution difference, the massive space difference, etc, etc…Via @theconversation.bsky.social
theconversation.com
Cycling is ten times more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities
Active travel can help tackle the climate crisis earlier than electric vehicles – even if you swap the car for a bike for just one trip a day.
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Conor Shaw @fixcircle.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
One of the myths of car ownership is that users fully pay for infrastructure costs. It’s only partially true, and in DC, it is not particularly true. Especially with the gas tax on the decline, it’s time to consider other options to sustainably fund the costs of building and maintaining our roads.
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Streetsblog NYC @nyc.streetsblog.org · 26/07/2026
Astoria's King Souvlaki food truck is embracing the 31st Street protected bike after previously backing a lawsuit to stop it.
buff.ly
'It's a Great Bike Lane': King Souvlaki Abandons Astoria Lawsuit Fight - Streetsblog New York City
Astoria's King Souvlaki food truck is embracing the 31st Street protected bike after previously backing a lawsuit to stop it.
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Streetsblog USA @usa.streetsblog.org · 26/07/2026
Report: Waymo Cars Mean Way Mo’ Traffic
buff.ly
Report: Waymo Cars Mean Way Mo' Traffic - Streetsblog New York City
Are Waymo cars safer? Maybe. But will they make our streets and neighborhoods more livable? Way no.
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Boo!-per Lund @cooperlund.online · 26/07/2026
Sometimes I think it’s too reductive to say that a car is a uniquely deranging object to own, but then I see people who claim left politics compare the people trying to turn a carpark into a children’s home to Netanyahu and I think “no, the car has made you crazy”
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