Mary Ellen Russell

Landscape architect & arborist working on public infrastructure & residential infill development. City of Seattle School Traffic Safety Committee member.

[Mary Ellen Russell @MERussell4]

Sad to say this trash site is finally too much dumpster fire for me since *usk came out full MAGA. See you all on Bluesky or maybe in real life.

[Mary Ellen Russell @MERussell4]

@SeattleSubway 100%. Mayor Harrell has a big grin while signing like it's actually funding transportation improvements. WHY exactly isn't this just a law to fund transportation?

[Seattle Department of Transportation @seattledot]

Adams Elementary School students voted this "mountain" design as their favorite.

Colorful bulb-outs narrow the street near new crosswalks and speed humps.

📍NW 65th St between 26th and 28th Ave NW.

[Mary Ellen Russell @MERussell4]

@exante_me @mattyglesias Curious who you're thinking of. I've only seen it proposed by the sorts of folks who aren't opposed to new housing as long as it's 100% affordable and like to pretend like we have enough homes because vacation homes exist.

[Mary Ellen Russell @MERussell4]

@exante_me @mattyglesias Yeah, but that's not YIMBY, that's a NIMBY 'we don't need more houses, let's just make seniors move' position. As a YIMBY I'd love to see tons of senior friendly condos built so those who want to move can find one easily. Forcing won't be required, just make it possible.

[Andy Boenau @Boenau]

Minnesota has been documenting the results of their ~200 roundabouts. Some of you have anecdotes about why you don't like roundabouts, but look at these stats. Those crash reductions represent actual people who didn't suffer life-altering crashes or fatalities.

[David Zipper @DavidZipper]

New study: Vehicles are more likely to kill pedestrians if they have tall and blunt front ends and/or flat hoods.

That's a major indictment of American SUV and truck design -- at a time when US pedestrian deaths recently hit a 40-year high.

https://t.co/cAiAlfrZh0

[Mary Ellen Russell @MERussell4]

This week a car was crashed into the front of Math'N'Stuff in an attempted robbery for the 2nd time. If your kids love Math'N'Stuff as much as mine do, please consider a donoting here toward bollards/anchored bike racks to car-proof the store. https://t.co/aENSI9vOOq

[Mary Ellen Russell @MERussell4]

@finchfrii Where's the go fund me for some bollards? Let's make Math N Stuff truck proof.

[Mary Ellen Russell @MERussell4]

Where can I take out of town visitors for a free view downtown? I used to love the Starbucks in the municipal tower. Anyone know a good spot that's still open to the public?

[Qagggy! @Qagggy]

Man driving from an outlying residential zone into downtown on a freeway dividing two neighborhoods calls 15-minute cities a plot by the government to impose a specific lifestyle and divide the city into sectors, making travel between them prohibitively difficult.

[Alex Wakeman Rouse @AWakeRouse]

4 hours and 20 minutes for the SPS school
Board meeting last night and it didn’t even have student outcomes monitoring on the agenda.

[Robert Cruickshank @cruickshank]

SPS's Fred Podesta makes it clear that bringing back the 4,900 students who left SPS after 2019 would *not* solve the budget deficit. At best, we break even financially. This is not an enrollment issue and I hope the media recognizes this. It is a #waleg problem.

[Mary Ellen Russell @MERussell4]

@TheStranger Ah, @TheStranger, better late than never. Glad you finally noticed that those mass school closures aren't so "hysterical" or "imagined". Since you declare that you "determine who runs these schools" are you rethinking any of those school board endorsements?

[Mary Ellen Russell @MERussell4]

@AlexaVaughn Seattle school board members totally feel this! They just announced a schedule that halves the number of meetings with public comment opportunities for next year. That public feedback is so annoying.

[Mary Ellen Russell @MERussell4]

@erin_sagen There is a scarcity of places large enough for a family. 3 bedroom apartment and condos are super, super rare.

[Mary Ellen Russell @MERussell4]

@thebethocracy SOOOOooooo excited. Harrow the Ninth here I come.

[Robert Cruickshank @cruickshank]

@EddieLin19 Basically, the school district budget deficits we are now seeing across the state were caused by #waleg, and might actually violate federal law.

[Robert Cruickshank @cruickshank]

Thanks to @EddieLin19 who flagged this -- and discovered that WA sought a federal waiver to not comply with the maintenance of effort requirement on K-12 school spending. They got that waiver in 2022 - but not in 2023. WA now may have to pay back a lot of $$. Just appalling.

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

now that likes are private, i can finally like tweets about freeways and dress sneakers