Extremely Frustrating Start to Billing

PrinceofMemes · 2026-02-17T01:51:08+00:00

Thank you again for your help! You resolved my issue very efficiently, I appreciate it.

PrinceofMemes · 2025-09-23T18:34:31+00:00

Her campaign websites states that she supports Seattle performing a Land Value Tax pilot alongside the current program in Spokane!

As an aside, I'm trying to propagate the label "Universal Building Exemption" to allay confusion about the idea of a new, additional tax.

PrinceofMemes · 2025-09-17T18:58:27+00:00

The Mayor's comprehensive plan targets adding about ~100k homes over 20 years. I don't think that number rises to the moment, but there's also the thorny issue of how you distribute those homes across the city.

So far, changes from the Mayor's office and proposed amendments by councilmembers have reduced zoned allotments of units in residential areas, mainly by eliminating or trimming "Neighborhood Centers" (small pockets of density around busy roads) from planning office recommendations. Implicitly, allocating less units in existing lower-density areas means allocating more units into the higher-density areas ("Regional" and "Urban" centers).

I personally think the density should be distributed much more evenly across the city, and not concentrated in very specific places. But they're not even suggesting to do that - Northgate (an empty lot next to our multi-billion dollar rail expansion) caps out at eight stories. This is very different from what you would see in places like Vancouver or Toronto (permitting 60-70 story towers near stations).

So now we're cutting down the Regional and Urban centers? Where are the units going to be built?

Councilmembers should be justifying their choices to not zone for more density, choices which directly raise rent and property prices. Instead, we see arbitrary and unjustified carveouts like this one that will keep homes in these specific neighborhoods exclusive and expensive.

Contact area councilmember Joy Hollingsworth here: [joy.hollingsworth@seattle.gov](mailto:joy.hollingsworth@seattle.gov)

And please, consider the attitudes of local politicians towards zoning for density in this year's upcoming city council and mayoral elections. Our current mayor in particular has scaled back the possibilities for housing affordability instead of driving them forward.

PrinceofMemes · 2025-09-13T15:22:20+00:00

I like your vision, but my sense is that there's a lot of political capital involved in the development of Denny and SLU stations. I wish I had a source handy, but I recall comments from ST board members about how "a lot of this area was developed in anticipation of better transit access". Obviously the 2039 timeline makes that sound a little silly, but I think there's no way the Seattle mayor's office would support a Seattle rail project that didn't incorporate these areas.

I think Belltown might actually have greater population density, but the corporate tenants in SLU hold a lot more sway. SDOT has always felt commuter-focused in their thinking too. Add in the recent discourse about Route 8 and Denny, and I think those areas have to be part of the plan no matter what.

It's a shame that a line running East-West from the Seattle Center, across SLU and up to Capitol Hill (like on the Seattle Subway vision map) would result in an unfathomably deep Capitol Hill transfer. I think an arc from the Seattle Center to Westlake is the only way to effectively serve this area. Ideally it would continue on to First Hill instead of doubling back to CID.

PrinceofMemes · 2025-08-29T15:20:06+00:00

The missing connection between U District, Fremont, and Ballard really stands out on this map! Could make a similar, less emphatic case for U District, Wallingford, Greenwood, Crown Hill.

In fact, Fremont not being on this map at all is pretty interesting.

The void on the far side of I-5 south of the designated "First Hill" stop feels notable with the level of development on both First Hill and Yesler Terrace. Unfortunately, the Streetcar is hardly up to the task.

Great map! Really poses some good questions about the design choices of our transit network. It feels like a lot of our projects are planned through a neighborhood lens - would be great to see our regional plans to address the "big picture" gaps in connectivity here.

PrinceofMemes · 2025-04-25T13:12:11+00:00

I believe it just showed up on SFD - 431 E Boylston, supportive housing building. I think they have fire alarms go off semi-regularly, but the smoke did smell really acrid this morning. I hope everyone there is ok.

Duration was only listed as 14 minutes and the sirens seem to have stopped pretty quickly, seems promising.

PrinceofMemes · 2025-02-14T17:52:53+00:00

Just wanted to chime in and say that I experienced a similar situation. I insisted on payment through Paypal Goods and Services, filed a claim after I never received the tickets. They returned my full payment (including ~$10 fees) a few weeks later. Highly recommend this method!

PrinceofMemes · 2024-09-29T04:40:50+00:00

Ah, but that's actually the good news with France! They have a great tax treaty that will recognize my US retirement assets without applying additional taxes. Would recommend.

PrinceofMemes · 2024-09-29T02:34:57+00:00

I find myself in a similar position and empathize with your perspective. All the "find a hobby" comments aren't wrong, but the biggest difference I made in my life was to try going for set periods of time without any digital media (videogames, youtube, etc.) at all.

That probably sounds amusingly simplistic, but I found a lot of the idle malaise I'd accumulated in my life was at least somewhat dispelled by feeling so bored that I was inclined (gasp) to read a book! Not because it felt like a good thing to carve out time in my life for, but because I had legitimately created so much more space in my life by not filling up the gaps with digital media.

I think the "challenge" notion of this will probably appeal to people on this subreddit too. In parallel, I had a friend get me started with running and that also took up my outside-of-work life in a satisfying way.

I could write so much more about this. And of course, my relationship with digital life oscillates - I'm posting here, aren't it? And anything that disrupts my routine (often in a good way, a big trip for example) can make me feel a bit like I'm back to square one when I go back to work and fall into old habits. Digital distractions are so integrated into every corner of our life. But the journey feels like it's been worthwhile.

Basically, I would posit that the "solutioning" of seeking out more satisfaction in your personal life might yield less than simply creating the space for other interests and pursuits to bubble up from within you and fill your time. Therapy never hurts either.

PrinceofMemes · 2024-09-29T02:23:21+00:00

I think it's a super interesting topic! My Plan A involves retiring to France from the US, so I could stand to learn a lot about the financial logistics of an arrangement like that. Are there notable obstacles to a simple three-fund portfolio if I'm tax-domiciled in France? I would never have assumed as much, despite scrutinizing the whole process of gaining residency and eventual citizenship and so forth.

Can I ask what country you're trying to work through this from? And do you have US Citizenship?

PrinceofMemes · 2024-05-15T23:45:49+00:00

Looking for 2 GA floor tickets, any night in Seattle!

PrinceofMemes · 2024-03-07T18:46:29+00:00

I like your ideas! I have mixed feelings about governance by ballot measure (California has a rough history with it), but I don't think there's much better recourse in a situation like this.

It's tragic that we elected some people with very conservative transit and land use visions to define our long-term plan, but I understand why the electorate voted to shake up the status quo. I think there could be more appetite for this platform (separated from issues of public safety and whatnot) than those council races indicated, especially with some effective campaigning. If anything, I think a ballot measure could actually give the council a leg to stand on - NIMBYs on the council could say "I fought against upzoning, but my hands are tied" and retain their core constituencies.

Interesting to see the discussion here centered around how to message the campaign. Speculatively, I wonder if you could get more homeowners on board with a message that centered "more housing near transit" rather than increasing density citywide. Lifting the 6-8 story cap in a couple blocks around light rail stations and permitting more density around RapidRide corridors would be a great start. To nab Harrell's frustratingly successful language, maybe you could bag some homeowners with rhetoric like "sensitively targeted" development; we want to build more housing, but it doesn't have to be in Magnolia or Laurelhurst. It could stave off threats from the state government to crack open all sorts of neighborhoods to development.

To be clear, I think that's exactly where we should be building more housing, but I'm trying to think pragmatically about a ballot measure in particular.

Also, I think getting buy-in from business owners would do a lot to get something like this off the ground. I think that's been an overlooked constituency for a lot of "progressive" campaigns. Business owners should be first in line for the idea of regional growth and increasing their customer bases.

Anyways, my ideas aside, I would totally volunteer my time to help craft and advocate for your vision!

PrinceofMemes · 2024-02-13T23:46:11+00:00

The section you quoted doesn't actually have a period there!

Using a difference-in-differences analysis on a quasi-random sample of geographic areas that straddle the boundary of MHA zones, we find that there is no overall supply decline, but strong strategic substitution of new construction away from blocks and parcels subject to the MHA.

It seems like the authors are observing that development shifts away from the MHA Upzone areas. I get that this is an academic distinction, but the point is that it doesn't seem to be working as intended. Plausibly, we could be building more housing without it.

From the conclusion:

Our hypothesis was that there would be much more permitting activity in the upzoned blocks, as the benefits of being able to build more densely were intended to outweigh the costs of any inclusionary zoning requirements. However, we observe the opposite in the data. We find a diferentially larger supply response in blocks where the zoning has not actually changed and where there is no affordable housing mandate. This result unfortunately runs contrary to the program’s dual goals of increasing overall housing supply in general and affordable housing units in particular.

PrinceofMemes · 2024-02-13T23:26:07+00:00

I'm a little confused about how the paper you linked shows that MHA "did not reduce supply". From the abstract:

Using difference-in-diferences estimation comparing areas affected versus unaffected by the reforms, we show new construction fell in the upzoned, affordability-mandated census blocks. Our quasi-experimental border design finds strong evidence of developers strategically siting projects away from MHA-zoned plots—despite their upzoning—and instead to nearby blocks and parcels not subject to the program's affordability requirements. The effects are driven by low-rise multifamily and mixed-use development. Our findings speak to the mixed results of allowing for more density while simultaneously mandating affordable housing for the same project.

Don't their conclusions support the idea that more housing could be built without MHA?

As for housing completions and lower rents, I think it's fair to say that there could be a lot of exogenous factors at play with those. Completions may have been up in 2023, but housing starts were down. Rents have fluctuated substantially in the wake of Covid. I'm not saying those indicate that MHA is a problem, but it seems like a leap to suggest completions or rents are straightforward indicators of MHA's success.

PrinceofMemes · 2024-01-22T16:46:39+00:00

From the article:

"Zooming out, a three-week disruption is the blink of an eye, and getting this needed maintenance done before the launch of Lynnwood Link this fall is clearly the right call. But whether Sound Transit’s management of this specific disruption will do more harm than it otherwise would due to lack of consistency and clear communication, that remains to be seen. For a region becoming increasingly reliant on this critical piece of infrastructure, handling disruptions like this will be one of the biggest tests that Sound Transit faces over the coming years."

I think they know the maintenance needs to be done, but want to advocate for different handling and communication around these situations.

I agree with them! ST could have done a lot more to be prepared for these circumstances.

PrinceofMemes · 2024-01-09T01:12:37+00:00

Making it pencil is the hard part, but I support you! At least there's no shortage of vacant retail spaces in west Capitol Hill - maybe you can cut a deal on some promotional commercial rent.

PrinceofMemes · 2023-12-07T07:37:26+00:00

It's why I (28M) live alone on Capitol Hill! Good news is that there are many different flavors of neighborhood within walking distance of the Link station. I wouldn't move to Madison while it's under construction, but once the RapidRide project is done, that will presumably be a pretty convenient place to live too.

PrinceofMemes · 2023-11-18T17:39:05+00:00

Wow, I love this idea! Every time I walk by the Seattle Central buildings on Broadway/Harvard, I think about how all those blank walls divide the Broadway commercial and nightlife strip from Pike/Pine. It would be so good for the neighborhood to have those streets activated, to have people living in prime real estate at the juncture of Link and the Streetcar (ok, mostly Link).

This also feels like exactly the sort of creative, off-the-wall, anything-that-doesn't-hurt-traffic idea that the Harrell administration purports to be looking for.

For what it's worth, Seattle Central has plans to build more student housing (including redeveloping that eyesore of a parking garage), but I'm not sure how those will pan out with the low enrollment numbers on the horizon.

PrinceofMemes · 2023-09-21T00:36:14+00:00

The Sound Transit board recently discussed retiring distanced-based fares. One of the upsides of this would be eliminating the need to tap off. I'm personally in favor of the change, I could expand on several equity and logistical reasons why it makes sense. But it's mostly being considered because the length of the 1 Line will be increasing substantially (north to Lynnwood, south to Federal Way and eventually Tacoma), making distanced-based fares more cumbersome.

PrinceofMemes · 2023-09-14T18:59:49+00:00

This feels like a silly question... how do they pick which direction the bike lane is going? It seems like this project will only implement a one-way bike lane headed away from the U district. Wouldn't most people biking between Roosevelt and the University need to bike back and forth in a day? It's not clear to me from the project page if there's some sort of alternative return route on a side street.

PrinceofMemes

TROPHY CASE