Original research and commentary what matters for city success. Also @cityobservatory@bsky.social
Portland, Oregon
Joined August 2014
- Tweets10.5K
- Following3.5K
- Followers7.3K
- Likes8.9K
City Observatory retweeted
Boston has too much parking and too little housing.
Eliminate mandatory minimum parking requirements for all new residential and commercial development. Let builders build homes and businesses instead of forcing them to build parking spaces the City does not need.
City Observatory retweeted
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 [𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑛]: the alarming growth of private cars in height, width, length and weight at the expense of public space, the environment and overall safety.
City Observatory retweeted
IBR - AI Evaluation
WSDOT & ODOT safety engineers have not evaluated IBR's design.
The IBR's Vancouver bridge approach includes a dangerous 1,510-foot S-curve that requires a 35mph truck speed limit.
A -3% grade plus frequent rain and black ice make a safe speed even lower.
City Observatory retweeted
Bob Ortblad emailed WA and OR state safety engineers about IBR's icy S-curve approach — zero response. He says an immersed tunnel would be safer, cheaper, and faster. clarkcountytoday.com/opinion… #IBR #Transportation #Opinion
Biotech: Still clustered after all these years – City Observatory cityobservatory.org/biotech-… After 25 years, and billions in largely wasted economic development efforts, biotechnology is still concentrated in just thre metros: San Francisco, Boston and San Diego.
City Observatory retweeted
IBR’s $17 billion Estimate Panic
The IBR had no “Meeting Materials” available for tomorrow’s ESG March 13, 2026 Meeting and just canceled the meeting.
No Agenda
No Meeting Presentation
No Public Comments
The IBR has rescheduled a ESG March 17, 2026 Meeting.
City Observatory retweeted
The four ingredients of a great neighborhood
1. Mixed Uses
Mixing homes offices, and retail keeps the neighborhood full of energy throughout the day. Someone always has a reason to be there
2. Short blocks
People are encouraged to explore different routes to and from their destinations. The result is lots of lively streets instead of one main boulevard
3. Different ages of buildings
Older buildings are cheaper, perfect for affordable housing and startup businesses. Newer buildings are more expensive, perfect for luxury homes and established businesses. The magic is in the mix
4. Density
In the end, it’s the people that make a neighborhood vibrant. More people, more fun
(From The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs)
City Observatory retweeted
🚶♂️ The world’s most walkable cities
Average time to reach daily essentials (schools, shops, healthcare):
1．🇮🇹 Milan — 6 min
2．🇩🇰 Copenhagen — 6 min
3．🇮🇹 Turin — 7 min
4．🇮🇪 Dublin — 7 min
5．🇫🇷 Lyon — 7 min
6．🇩🇪 Munich — 7 min
7．🇫🇷 Paris — 8 min
8．🇫🇷 Marseille — 8 min
9．🇮🇹 Genoa — 8 min
10．🇬🇧 Edinburgh — 8 min
11．🇩🇪 Berlin — 8 min
12．🇦🇹 Vienna — 8 min
13．🇷🇺 St. Petersburg — 8 min
14．🇪🇸 Bilbao — 8 min
15．🇫🇷 Bordeaux — 8 min
16．🇧🇾 Minsk — 8 min
17．🇩🇪 Stuttgart — 9 min
18．🇫🇷 Lille — 9 min
19．🇪🇸 Barcelona — 9 min
20．🇳🇴 Oslo — 9 min
📌 45 of the top 50 most walkable cities are in Europe.
The “15-minute city” isn’t a theory — it’s already reality.
Source: The Economist
The Interstate Bridge Replacement project will cost as much as $17.7 billion, more than double the previous max. cost of $7.5 billion, according to documents unearthed by City Observatory. cityobservatory.org/17-7-bil…
City Observatory retweeted
Interactive heatmaps that fade away to reveal points on zoom - a useful technique for handling dense spatial data.
Learn how to do it: walker-data.com/posts/mapgl-…
City Observatory retweeted
😵💫I-5 BRIDGE - Interstate Bridge Replacement Project’s (IBR) administrator – who’s just announced his resignation – admitted that IBR is “basically the same” project that failed a decade ago, but in the process, he’s spent $273 million on consultants, with more than 40 percent that money ($116 million) going to his former employer, WSP USA. clarkcountytoday.com/opinion…
City Observatory retweeted
Important truth bomb: Developers don't pay for inclusionary zoning. Renters do.
The Interstate Bridge Replacement Project (IBR): 2 years behind schedule, likely increasing in cost to $9-10 billion, at risk of losing $2.1 billion in federal grants & is too low to be approved by the Coast Guard. Plus: its director just resigned. cityobservatory.org/lars-lar…
City Observatory retweeted
Why should New Yorkers on bikes be harassed, ticketed, or given criminal summonses for traveling 16 mph, when the driver of a vehicle that weighs 80x as much doesn't even receive a ticket for traveling 35 mph?
This is a nonsensical, backward policy — not any real solution.
Starting TODAY, a new 15 MPH speed limit is in effect for e-bikes!
More and more New Yorkers are using them, and we’re grateful to @NYC_DOT for their efforts to keep our streets safe for everyone.
Ride safe, everyone!
City Observatory retweeted
FD culture is “two hundred years of tradition unburdened by progress.” Unfortunately, they are also unburdened by data, evidence and the ability to weigh trade offs. The US has ~5 times the fire fatality rate of peer nations with narrow streets, small fire trucks & single stair.
This quoted post is unavailable.
City Observatory retweeted
The ratio of US car crash injuries to fire injuries is 225:1. For deaths, that number is ~11:1. Yet fire departments are often foes of safer streets and require they be optimized for 15-ton trucks at speed. Other nations have small trucks, narrow streets and fewer fire deaths.
“Fire Chiefs’ Opposition to Single Stairway Proposals is Unprofessional and Undemocratic,” by a fire protection engineer with the Seattle FD linkedin.com/pulse/fire-chie…
City Observatory retweeted
This is a great idea for the *entire* building industry. The fact nearly every home, building etc in America is a one-off, bespoke, site specific project that is not allowed to use most of the land it sits on is insane and a policy designed in a lab to make housing expensive.
In ideal urban construction market, owners can select from a menu of buildings, and have prefabbed “stone kits” delivered to site for assembly @mspringut
City Observatory retweeted
We have granted cars, stronger rights to housing, space, mobility, and safety than we have given to people.
This inversion is at the heart of what is wrong with American transportation which she metes out more injury and death to young people than any other cause. By far.
