Matt. PE.

Civil Engineer with a focus on Traffic & City Building 🚦 UCLA '23. AU '20. Tweets my own, etc.

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

Hopefully, this account can grow to be a casual discussion & learning resource for those interested in traffic, transportation, and other urban issues.

Follow me to learn with me!

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

There definitely is an ideal size for local gov.

Large enough to see economies of scale but not large enough that bureaucracy & middle manager-isms set in.

The problem is that different systems have different ideal geographic sizes, e.g. the municipal power grid system size differs vastly from the street repair size optimum, transportation planning differs from building inspection, etc.

Then you throw in disparities in income geographically and you can fail to fund things if a region doesn’t have the support of its neighbors.

Tough problem to solve 🤷‍♂️

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

If voting was a push notification to everyone’s phone I think more people would vote.

I see no problems with this plan.

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

As I build my public meetings project, I am continually astounded by the data volume.

Confirms what I’ve been feeling recently - there’s simply no way to manually keep detailed tabs on more than a few cities

Going to/watching all council meetings alone would consume hours/days!

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

@BayAreaNewLibs @credealjunkie @moseskagan I believe Rick Caruso is running for a LA County BoS next year.

A win there would represent that same shift imo

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

@qwe_304 All comes down to $$$ !

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

LA has installed “Cool Seal” on some streets near me recently.

Designed to be both a slurry seal and some sort of sun radiation reflector to help lower surface temps.

Very clear difference in color (lighter is where it was applied)

Excited to see how it holds up!

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

@DanielAndrewsUS @GDCAndrew Only if the city already tracks it / has documentation of it.

They don’t have to create records in response to FOIA

(Which is good, FOIA requests already take up like half of the permit techs time just pulling down old records)

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

@BradGoldbergMD All comes down to $$$

I have no clue the price of this Cool Seal but my bet is you could do 50 of them for the same price as a full roadway reconstruction

Not saying you should but… 🤷‍♂️

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

@dilloncl Too much what?

Striping, curb paint, cost, ?

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

And another All-Way Stop with new continental crosswalks & AB 413 (Daylighting Law) compliant corners is live!

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

@LeeCodding lol agreed

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

@ATSTALK1 Now this is cool

Will be asking our road guys about this today

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

@Atomic_Ferret Lol fun fact that green paint is methyl methacrylate (MMA).

If you are LA/OC local you may recognize that as the chemical tank that nearly exploded near Garden Grove, CA.

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

@RisaSher They claim 20° so definitely significant!

I’m all for trying something!

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

@Spose2whatnow Oh interesting I didn’t know about the NGO! Do you know which one by chance?

And technically this does count as a roadway preventative maintenance measure similar to a slurry seal 🤷‍♂️

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

I value your expertise immensely, thank you for the response.

*If* you could buy an increase in value for less than it cost you, then you of course would right?

I agree the value-add is currently somewht nebulous - Is it simply a matter of “proving” the economic return then?

(And finding good municipal partners, navigating community needs, etc. all non-trivial things. Regardless, feels like a space worth exploring more if the multiplier is there)

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

In urban settings, I’m of the opinion that it doesn’t matter how good your private development design is - Unit mix, floor plans, amenities, etc don’t matter - until your public right-of-ways are great.

The potential for value-add is significant so where is all $$$ for change?

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

@bobbyfijan Off the top of my head:
- Atlanta Beltline
- Baton Rouge Government St. Redesign
- Indianapolis Monon Trail
- Street trees -> 10% bump

I haven’t been personally but supposedly NYC Highline & SF Embarcadero are good examples.

(Baton Rouge probably best clear cut example imo)

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

@moseskagan This book completely changed how I view managed systems at large!

(And sadly revealed that many who work in public infrastructure / planning have not read it)

[Matt. PE. @_MattHuff]

@Diplomatt42 @GaryWinslett @nicholas_bagley I am sort of building something like that.

1st step is listening in the right place, i.e. public meetings.

My goal is all public meetings within LA & OC counties by end of June.

Nothing on the account yet but a dream!

https://t.co/nt3Y665wlL