Evan Roberts

@evanrobertsnz.bsky.social

3.5K followers 2.4K following 15K posts

Social, demographic, & economic history @UMNews HMED & Population Studies. Coffee, photos, Dylan, urban & transit fan, road & trail runner. Constructive, loving critic of where I live (Minneapolis) and where I'm from (Wellington) @evanrobertsnz most places .. more

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Economics 23%

Public Health 15%

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Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 12h

If you like dark coffee this from a northern Minnesota roaster is so good. Limited time availability.
fikacoffee.com/products/dar...

Darker than Dark Roast

December is the darkest month of the year for those of us up north in Minnesota. So with that, we bring you our seasonal solstice roast! We have created this extra-dark roast (think French Roast) as a...

fikacoffee.com

Reposted by Kris Inwood, Evan Roberts

Stephen Clarke @stephenclarkenz.bsky.social · 13h

Congratulations Erik Olssen — 2025 New Zealand Historical Association Award for Contribution to New Zealand History. #NZHistory #HistoryMatters #history @universityofotago.bsky.social

Reposted by Evan Roberts

Ari Ofsevit @ofsevit.bsky.social · 14h

There are two genders

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 15h

believe @trainsfan.bsky.social calculated the years of operational subsidy from the decommissioning costs, and it might have been less than 15 years. But still substantial.

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 21h

Another great book on transportation safety/mortality is this one by Mark Aldrich. Trains also dangerous. The particular lethality of cars at a population level came from putting them in the hands of the masses and all over the environment.
www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...

Death Rode the Rails

American Railroad Accidents and Safety, 1828–1965

www.press.jhu.edu

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 22h

Hard to know what Victor Gruen thought about modern zoning, but I suspect he would have recoiled at the wide separation of uses that surround the malls he designed.

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 22h

It's published in BMC Medicine but it reads like a public health article.

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 22h

I wonder if the multi-national nature of the author team and the comparative structure also plays a role here. I'm sure they're very focused on the data management and doing the analyses right, and as one draws away from the individual countries the policies become less clear to the author.

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 22h

so where coroners indices exist, one could work this out with a population denominator. The trickier thing would be approximating the risk per hour of human time exposed to horses. More of the horse injuries seemed to involve just the rider/passengers of carriage.

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 22h

Having read through the coroners index books for two places (NZ for most of the 20th century, and Hennepin County for 1910s and 1920s) I have pondered this question too. By 1920 it seems more car deaths than horse deaths, but 10 years earlier it's a little closer.

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 22h

Telling that the indigenous non-profit has now also fenced off their property in the public space and mobility disaster zone that is the Franklin Ave light rail station. It's their private property so the ethics of this are a little clearer than the trickier situation on the street below

Reposted by Evan Roberts

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 23h

Considering that horses are dangerous and riders are very regularly seriously injured, I wonder what the direct overall injury/death rate looked like when everyone in our society had to constantly ride/drive horses, versus the injury/death rate from cars today?

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 23h

short term mental health benefits of ambling around are high though!

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 1d

Exercise helps you fight to a draw against pollution. (Pigouvian pollution taxes now!)
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

Polluted air quietly erases the benefits of exercise

Long-term inhalation of toxic air appears to dull the protective power of regular workouts, according to a massive global study spanning more than a decade and over a million adults. While exercise st...

www.sciencedaily.com

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis, Scott L. Greer, Caroline Krafft , and 5 more Nicholas A. Christakis, Scott L. Greer, Caroline Krafft, Peter Tulip, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, Paul Fisher, Alessandro Rigolon, Evan Roberts

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 1d

Interesting new working paper that studies chains of movers after the construction of a new apartment building in Honolulu.

Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.

uhero.hawaii.edu

Reposted by Evan Roberts

Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 1d

Oregon's new statewide model zoning code includes a huge density bonus for community land trust & limited or shared equity co-op homes if all are affordable at up to 120% of median income.

Putting land into shared ownership for 90+ years gives you 3 additional stories, up to a total of 6!

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 1d

If you're down to a thin layer of ice I'm sure you could melt some with a cigarette? Maybe.

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 2d

Cherry stone grit does a much better job than sand of grinding the ice away as people walk or drive on it. And you can reuse it to some extent with mid season or spring sweeps.

Christy Klancher @stpauligrrrl.bsky.social · 2d

I switched to cherry stone grit a few years ago and it’s the best by far.

Jonathan Stegall @jonathanstegall.bsky.social · 2d

I use the cherry stone grit when there's ice on the sidewalk. You can get a 50 lb bag at Ace Hardware for $12 and it lasts (at least for me) like three or four winters. www.acehardware.com/departments/...

Reposted by Evan Roberts

Christy Klancher @stpauligrrrl.bsky.social · 2d

I switched to cherry stone grit a few years ago and it’s the best by far.

Jonathan Stegall @jonathanstegall.bsky.social · 2d

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 2d

Seems like this is related to the problem of America lacking good mass-market medium quality bread at a decent price point. You can buy air filled fluff in supermarkets, or high-end stuff at high end artisanal prices. But mass market good dense bread, not really.

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 2d

Wet snowfall on a holiday weekend is the worst. I remember Christmas/ Boxing Day 2009 was a bit like this, and sidewalks were awful. Apparently people give up on shoveling for the holidays.

Reposted by Evan Roberts

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 2d

I think it's underrated how good a writer Darwin was.

❀°。Der Siebenschläfer *.ﾟ✿ ⋆ @sababausa.bsky.social · 2d

Charles Darwin briefly discussed dogs’ senses of humor in the 2nd edition of ‘The Descent of Man’ 👇 and then fleshed those ideas out further in ‘The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals’

darwin-online.org.uk/converted/pd...

Most of the more complex emotions are common to the higher animals and ourselves. Every one has seen how jealous a dog is of his master's affection, if lavished on any other creature; and I have observed the same fact with monkeys.
This shews that animals not only love, but have desire to be loved. Animals manifestly feel emulation. They love approbation or praise; and a dog carrying a basket for his master exhibits in a high degree self-complacency or pride. There can, I think, be no doubt that a dog feels shame, as distinct from fear, and something very like modesty when begging too often for food. A great dog scorns the snarling of a little dog, and this may be called magnanimity. Several observers have stated that monkeys certainly dislike being laughed at; and they sometimes invent imaginary offences. In the Zoological Gardens I saw a baboon who always got into a furious rage when his keeper took out a letter or book and read it aloud to him; and his rage was so violent that, as I witnessed on one occasion, he bit his own leg till the blood flowed. Dogs show what may be fairly called a sense of humour, as distinct from mere play; if a bit of stick or other such object be thrown to one, he will often carry it away for a short distance; and then squatting down with it on the ground close before him, will wait until his master comes quite close to take it away. The dog will then seize it and rush away in triumph, repeating the same manœuvre, and evidently enjoying the practical joke.

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 2d

Rorschach test for your default transportation mode is whether you think of Bridge 9 as a pedestrian or bike bridge 😀

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 2d

In between those poles, I find that asking the question is it land or building bulk that will limit density to be a useful way of looking at the effect of zoning regulations.

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 2d

Basically the land constraint is the operative one in suburbs, through lot size and unit count. e.g. if most land is in 1/4 acre lot sizes for 1 unit, that's the limiting factor on growing population density. In cities the bulk regulations tend to be more binding.

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 2d

I also recognized the building in the background, and knew where you were! Enjoy the echo in the tunnel on your way to work!

Reposted by Evan Roberts

Todd Litman @toddlitman.bsky.social · 2d

"Road Cost Recovery Trends" (vtpi.org/rcrt.pdf)
This short study calculates the portion of US roadway expenditures paid by fuel taxes and tolls. Most local road costs and a growing portion highway costs are funded by general taxes; user fees now cover less than half of road spending.

Although user fees once funded most highway expenses, local roadway spending, which represent about 27% of total road costs, are primarily funded by general taxes, and during the last six decades total inflation-adjusted roadway spending increased much more than user revenues so, user fees now finance less than half of total road spending. (https://vtpi.org/rcrt.pdf)

Per vehicle roadway expenditures and user revenues declined, while annual subsidies increased from less than $400 in the 1970s to more than $500 now. (www.vtpi.org/rcrt.pdf)

Between 1960 and 2023 roadway spending per vehicle-mile declined 43% and user revenues 63%. (www.vtpi.org/rcrt.pdf)

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 2d

Like all simple distinctions there's a point where this breaks down, but it's a good starting point.

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 2d

Random thought for a quiet Wednesday, I've found it useful in looking at city zoning codes to distinguish between places where land requirements are the major limitation on increased density, and places where the building bulk regulations are the major limitation

Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 2d

The weight of the ice can then pull the line down and make it looser. Not the most urgent, but most lines are pretty easy to retract or fold down.

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