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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 8h

This is a good post. We can build places to minimize exposure to elements while preserving walkability in any climate. We don’t have to build for hours long strolls. Think in terms of only needing to be outside for a few minutes, which is fine even in a Phoenix summer or Minneapolis winter.

Jarrett Walker @humantransit.bsky.social · 8h

Is climate really a barrier to making cities walkable? Only if you listen too much to elites ... humantransit.org/2025/10/nobo...

"Nobody Walks Here. It's too Hot or Cold or Wet or Dry." — Human Transit

Almost everywhere I travel as a consultant, someone asks me whether it’s realistic to expect people to walk given the extremes of their climate. They don’t just ask me this in Edmonton and Singapore. ...

humantransit.org

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Reposted by David King

Vince Mpls @vincempls.bsky.social · 8h

#OnThisDay Oct 8, 1956: Southdale, the first fully enclosed shopping mall in the world, opens in Edina, Minnesota. Architect Victor Gruen, later realizing his invention had not lived up to his utopian vision of a car-free public square, became the biggest critic of malls until his death in 1980.

Mall exterior with Dayton's department store sign in script.

Interior of the Mall 1956. Woolworth's with neon sign on the left with other shops surround a central indoor plaza. Wood finishes, skylights, balconies, plants created a wholly new indoor shopping experience. Color transparency by Grey Villet, Life Magazine archives

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 2d

In waiting for a Waymo today they gave me waits of 12 minutes (when I ordered), to immediately 3 minutes, then immediately to arriving, then 10 minutes, then 7, all within a couple minutes of actual time while I was at the pick up. This is awful service. Reliability once requested is a big deal.

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 2d

Of note for university budgets, graduate students (PhDs) often don’t pay tuition as these are funded studies. Undergrads and Masters students generally pay full price, so the distribution of these declines matters. Related, grant funding uncertainty could be part of this decline. (gift link)

Nearly 20 Percent Fewer International Students Traveled to the U.S. in August (Gift Article)

The data shows the steepest decline in August international student arrivals since the pandemic.

www.nytimes.com

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 2d

If you consider that people would stop going to these restaurants if that happened, sure.

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 2d

There is a problem with disorder on many transit systems. Not crime, not lawlessness, but things that occur that make people feel unsafe. One event can make a bus or train full of people worry about their safety. It’s a widespread problem. Operators are ill-equipped to fix it on their own. Gift link

What a week’s worth of rider text messages reveals about Metro Transit’s problems

Serious crime is down on Metro Transit, but riders continue to report “quality of life” crime that makes some feel unsafe on light rail.

www.startribune.com

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Reposted by David King

Bruce Stiftel @brucestiftel.bsky.social · 2d

"[I]n the end, he wasn’t really about parking. Don was an economist, and his mission was to help people understand the underlying economics of public goods and services. Parking was simply the vehicle, one might say, that he chose to do so."

open.substack.com/pub/futureof...

How Don Shoup Changed The World

Nobody thought much about parking until this UCLA economist wrote about it. Now, nobody thinks about parking the same way.

open.substack.com

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 2d

Of the nearly 17,000 who ran one of the three events, 52% overall were women. Running overall doesn't have a gender bias, as far as I know, and the spilt across all events seems to confirm that.

I'm not making a snarky point here, I'm legit curious as to why this difference exists across events.

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 2d

At today's Twin Cities marathon events, for the marathon 40% of runners were women, while for the half 64% were and the 10 mile 61% were. Why do these gender differences exist? Men have to do the hardest thing? Mothers have less time to train? (There are gender differences in household work.)

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 3d

Related.

Charlie Kirk-aligned church sued by father of sexual abuse victim

Nathaniel Pineda, an ex-volleyball coach at a Dream City Church-affiliated school, is in prison for grooming a 15-year-old girl.

www.phoenixnewtimes.com

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Reposted by David King

Katie Brennan @katiebrennan.bsky.social · 4d

Take it from me: You do NOT negotiate with abusers.

So if Trump wants to illegally take New Jersey’s funding, we have to fight back with everything we’ve got.

My idea? Eminent domain Trump’s golf course for affordable housing.

My debut in @nydailynews:
www.nydailynews.com/2025/10/04/t...

Trump took Gateway money, we must take his golf club

Take it from someone who’s spent years as a survivor advocate, working with people hurt by those in power: You do not negotiate with abusers.

www.nydailynews.com

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 4d

That story says no one actually saw him though.

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 5d

I’m curious if Portland will succeed against ICE by suing over zoning violations. This is by William Fulton.

Will Zoning Survive Trump?

Portland's attempt to rein in ICE with a land use regulation could trigger a battle over the constitutionality of zoning.

futureofwhere.substack.com

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 5d

Possible but as of yet unlikely. We’d hear more stories if it was likely. But definitely something to consider. Flying is probably less likely than driving, or at least you would clear customs while still in Canada.

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 5d

Remake Star Wars but all the droids like R2-D2 have to have those little orange flags like delivery robots do. That’s a digital addition they should make.

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 5d

Does anyone have a sense as to how much planning scholars and urbanist types are directly working on network state issues? My sense is not much public scholarship of thinking in this is happening, but also that there should be more.

Tech Billionaires Already Captured the White House. They Still Want to Be Kings

From Montenegro to Northern California, the tech elite dream of building cities where they make the rules. Is this, finally, their moment?

www.wired.com

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 6d

I do recommend How Progress Ends.

David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 6d

Related, this idea is the worst of all combinations and will certainly lead to stagnation of new ideas as the knowledge networks are bled dry. Gift link

Exclusive | White House Asks Colleges to Sign Sweeping Agreement to Get Funding Advantage

An initial round of nine schools, including Dartmouth, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, are being asked to sign a wide-ranging “compact.”

www.wsj.com

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 6d

I’m reading How Progress Ends and one reminder from it is how a decentralized network of universities is critical for innovation. And the innovation needs more centralized bureaucracy to scale.

How Progress Ends

Shortlisted for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year AwardHow 1,000 years of global history show why technological and economic progress is often followed by stagnation and even collapse

press.princeton.edu

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Reposted by David King

The Onion @theonion.com · 6d

Jane Goodall, Author Of ‘15 Amazing Monkey Facts For Kids,’ Dies At 91

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Reposted by David King

☠️deadward niedermurder☠️ @niedermeyer.online · 6d

Waymo singlehandedly kept the AV sector going by moving slow, being patient, and not taking the kinds of risks that blew up other developers (and burning billions a year to do so).

Now they're scaling fast, and cash is pouring back into the sector, but the worrying episode count is rising as well.

Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 6d

Yeah exactly. And then when it runs over a kid and there's no fucking driver? Then what.

Love the "yes but human drivers make mistakes too" yeah no fucking shit but then they can try and help if something does go wrong or call the authorities.

Waymo driverless car caught illegally passing school bus

A woman recorded a driverless Waymo illegally passing a school bus letting off children in Atlanta.

www.kare11.com

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 6d

You would have to be insane to give personal health data to this administration, unless you want RFK Jr to personally follow up with your doctor, after you data is sold to whoever wants to buy it.

Why Pfizer’s Trump Deal Is Good News for All of Big Pharma

The company’s accord with the president clears a cloud over the whole sector.

www.wsj.com

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 6d

If they were enemy agents they'd be a bit more subtle about it.

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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 6d

I'll note that his approval dropped during the 2018-19 shutdown because people didn't think the new border wall spending was worth it. If new spending on a border wall caused disapproval, imagine permanently taking away benefits and services that people already know, use, and like.

David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 6d

That shutdown of divine creation was caused by his demands for border wall funding and his approval dropped during it, with him and his party blamed by most people.

2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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