Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 1h

I can’t say for sure but just going off satellite view, I think so!

It looks like there’s a route accessible from the public sidewalk, that may be my adventure for the day

Crude drawing of a possible route to the boardwalk at Springdale Green

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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 2h

They planted more than 4,000 trees for the project

This is the bird blind at the highest point of the boardwalk, where the most red cardinals were seen perching in the elm trees. The wooden slats screen you from the birds, who don’t recognize humans as predators unless they’re standing in the open.

The bird blind, sited at a curve in the boardwalk, with outdoor seating under the pergola and evenly spaced vertical wooden slats partitioning it from the path.

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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 2h

Some super cool landscaping & native ecology restoration work for these offices in East Austin

This land had been contaminated for more than 70 years by the infamous “tank farms” left by the oil majors, which once stored jet fuel for the old Mueller Airport

www.archpaper.com/2025/10/dwg-...

Aerial drone shot of Springdale Green from above the floodplain, the foreground is dominated by forest with a curving boardwalk running through it. Further back, the red curving corners of the office complex are lit by golden hour sunset rays.

Furnished pavilion jutting out into the forest with ceiling fans hung from a timber roofdeck above, supported by the slender white columns that ring the perimeter of the pavilion

Photo of an “s” curve been in the fenced .62 mile elevated boardwalk, trees surround the structure

Atmospheric shot of a curving top floor outdoor deck, with the downtown skyline visible in the background and the forest rising closer to the view. The deck has its own shaded canopy, supported by round concrete columns, and sits above the glass curtain walls of the office floor below. Chairs, tables, and green plantings are scattered across the deck.

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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 16h

God it’s gonna be a great day to be an American

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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 16h

They never tell the crowd to leave, people just sort of slowly filter out until YMCA is playing over a deserted bleacher scene

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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 16h

Apparently the most innings Detroit has ever played in a postseason game

Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 17h

At least one of them suggests Vance should continue to title himself Vice-President, out of respect

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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 17h

Absolutely gorgeous photo

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Reposted by Parker Welch

Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 19h

Costs aren’t going to come down, we’re going to bring them down

Ben Christopher @frombenc.bsky.social · 23h

Ben Metcalf @ternerhousing.bsky.social: "If costs come down and interest rates drop, you can imagine we’ve set the table for a building boom."

calmatters.org/housing/2025...

Gavin Newsom signs law overhauling local zoning to build more housing

After weeks of waiting, California’s governor signed a bill that will allow mid-rise apartment buildings near major transit stops in California’s biggest metro areas.

calmatters.org

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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 1d

Cambridge, California, Texas, NYC, Washington—I think this year could really be remembered as the start of a new era

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Reposted by Parker Welch

Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 1d

UPDATE: Newsom has signed SB 79 into law!!

This is a great day for anyone who cares about ending California's housing and homelessness crisis, getting the state to net zero emissions, and recovering American democracy.

Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 2d

If you live in California, please call @gavinnewsom.bsky.social at (916) 445-2841 and urge him to sign SB 79. Here's my post about why the bill is so important: publiccomment.blog/p/newsom-s-f...

Newsom's Fateful Choice

Why the governor needs to sign SB 79

publiccomment.blog

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Reposted by Parker Welch

Central NJ Yimby 🏗️🚲🚇🇺🇸 @princetonyimby.bsky.social · 1d

Huge. Congrats to all the California YIMBYs for making SB79 happen. You are a force to be reckoned with and an inspiration to the rest of us around the nation!!!

Joe Cohen @cohenhouse.bsky.social · 1d

WE DID IT!!!

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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 1d

And we don’t always get the bad cards. Sometimes you win both Georgia senate seats in a January run-off! We only need so many breaks like that in a row to get out of this mess

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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 1d

Honestly, I think we have a good shot of fixing it.

We got here through a streak of bad luck & a series of critical people failing to make the right decisions. The world looks very different if Mitch doesn’t fuck the senate trial, or Manchin drops the filibuster, Jones instead of Garland…etc.

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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 1d

Now I’m no map expert, but I think I spot a difference between the east and west here

dereksagehorn.bsky.social @dereksagehorn.bsky.social · 1d

People Powered Media report on SF housing production 2015-2022

Key Finding 3, p. 6: "developers are building multi-unit throughout SF contrary to the common narrative that SF has not built housing outside of the eastern areas of the City"

Figure 3, p. 13:
www.peoplepowermedia.org/ppm-report

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Reposted by Parker Welch

Sean Jursnick @seanjurs.bsky.social · 2d

AIA Tennessee Single-Stair Design Competition Finalist:

SEED BLOCK (a prototype for block-scale growth)

proposing a repeatable, flexible, six-story mixed-use protype tailored to grow within Knoxville's typical 50'x100' lot dimensions.

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Reposted by Parker Welch

Dallas Area Transit Alliance @ridewithdata.org · 3d

Thank you to @goodmoine.bsky.social at @labreportdallas.bsky.social for this excellent article profiling us and our fight for our fellow riders of DART!

DART’s Big Problem and the Little Group That Wants to Solve It

The Dallas Area Transit Alliance launched right as some of the public transportation agency’s suburban partners began pushing to defund it.

labreportdallas.com

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Reposted by Parker Welch

CJ Ciaramella @cjciaramella.bsky.social · 2d

Huge death penalty and forensic science news: Texas' highest criminal court has stayed the execution of Robert Roberson, who was less than a week away from becoming the first person in the country to be executed based on disputed evidence of shaken baby syndrome reason.com/2025/10/09/t...

Texas court blocks execution of Robert Roberson in landmark 'shaken baby' case

Roberson has been saved again from becoming the first person to be executed based on disputed evidence of Abusive Head Trauma, formerly called "shaken baby syndrome."

reason.com

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Reposted by Parker Welch

T&E @transportenvironment.org · 3d

🚛 The Netherlands is seeing a major shift in urban freight thanks to zero-emission zones for freight in 18 of its cities.

By early 2025, 78% of new vans were electric -- compared to just 9% across the EU.

📑 New @cleancitiescampaign.org briefing: bit.ly/431I7al

Clean Cities Campaign graph with the title: Dutch municipalities with zero-emission zones for freight have a higher share of electric vans.

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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 2d

Mamdani talked about single-stair on Odd Lots, Talarico sponsored the single-stair pre-emption bill in the Texas House, we might have to make this the new litmus test 🤔

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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 2d

I would like some of that energy for building the housing, trains, and solar farms our cities need to thrive please

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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 2d

One place we remained committed to building state capacity: the DOD

And you know what, it worked! The Second Offset Strategy produced a force that won a ground campaign against an army of a million men in less than 100 hours.

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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 2d

The Carter/Reagan era of austerity did so much damage to America’s state capacity, it’s unreal. HUD, USMTA (now FTA), DOE, the GMENAC report, the freezing of the federal workforce—we just about gave up on solving problems we couldn’t bomb, tax, or credit

City Nolan @ndhapple.bsky.social · 2d

Model station designs for both cut and cover and mined! It favors mined-twin tubed stations (a la Crossrail) because of reduced excavation size. The US/MTA habit of mining boxes underground is likely the most expensive way to build a subway station.

Pdf pgs 55 and 56.

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Reposted by Parker Welch

City Nolan @ndhapple.bsky.social · 2d

Here are the Subway/Metro Station design guidelines that were compiled by UMTA/USDOT in the 1970s in an attempt to prevent WMATA-style cost overruns again.

It got shelved when everyone at UMTA got laid off and we forgot it. But it's prescient about cost drivers -- rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/11352

DOT ROSA P

ROSA P serves as an archival repository of USDOT-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other information authored or co-authored by USDOT ...

rosap.ntl.bts.gov

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Reposted by Parker Welch

Welcoming Neighbors Network @welcomingneighbors.us · 3d

“If we want an affordable Austin, we have to build it.”

New state laws, championed by @texansforhousing.bsky.social, are making sure they can. 🏆

Opinion: New State Housing Bills Will Help, Not Hurt, Affordability in Austin

If we want an affordable Austin, we have to build it

www.austinchronicle.com

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