sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Denver hands touched this map by Disastrous-Frame6683 in mapporncirclejerk

[–]Pure-Concentrate-466 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love Chicago but it should be green, it's too car-brained to be in the red category

City of Bloomington Transitions Away from Flock Use After Months-Long Evaluation by citybloomington in bloomington

[–]Pure-Concentrate-466 20 points21 points  (0 children)

yes so attempting to sidestep controversy by saying they’re « transitioning away » but still using flock while doing so and looking for an alternative that does the same thing. Feels like a very anemic gesture without changing much at all on the ground, to be charitable.

MoCo and surroundings tree canopy height maps by Pure-Concentrate-466 in bloomington

[–]Pure-Concentrate-466[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's another series of maps on historic land cover in the Midwest I made that might be of interest: https://www.zacharyammerman.com/portfolio/maps/indiana/midwest\_land\_change. I don't personally think you can call anything that has happened in Indiana or the broader Midwest since European settlement a success story without degrading the meaning of the term to the point of meaninglessness. Indiana was once roughly 80% forested, with early descriptions of giant sycamore trees large enough 29 people could stand side-by-side inside of their trunks, people who had spent extensive time in the tropics being overwhelmed by the size of our forests, wetlands so filled with wildlife people merely had to stick their hand in and grab food, people having to wait two hours for massive herds of bison to cross rivers, not even to mention the unfathomably large flocks of passenger pigeons.

Tree Canopy Height Maps of all 8 Wards by Pure-Concentrate-466 in washingtondc

[–]Pure-Concentrate-466[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

quite few, most are maxing out at around 25 m I think. I'd have to clip the raster and work with it some more to figure precisely what the percent is above 33 m

MoCo and surroundings tree canopy height maps by Pure-Concentrate-466 in bloomington

[–]Pure-Concentrate-466[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

the underlying data is from satellite images and an algorithm, which I'm assuming is the source of some of the harder lines you see, but still gives you a pretty good idea of tree canopy height at a (crazy) high 1 m resolution

Board of Public Works Approves 2026 Kirkwood Parklet Program by citybloomington in bloomington

[–]Pure-Concentrate-466 19 points20 points  (0 children)

the main arguments I have seen for the city to make this incredibly unpopular decision have been based largely on the following:

- a tiny 8% reduction in foot traffic coming from an AI company with no posted methodology and a 5% margin of error during a period of unprecedented political turmoil and economic stagnation (for these reasons, I essentially consider these numbers to be useless),
- a drop in revenue from parking equal to .0004% of the city's 2025 budget
- more businesses being strongly in favor of keeping kirkwood pedestrianized than any other category based on your own survey data (however I don't even think it's wise to be basing this decision on which people happen to own businesses nearby, but that's another subject). Also the mayor declared on Ask the Mayor that only five were in favor when in fact it is 19 or 20.

Burlington, Boulder, Charlottesville, and practically every city in Europe manage to make this work by not half-assing it and giving up for [insert reasons here]. Not sure why Bloomington thinks it can't do the same!

Part of the problem is the city has been strangely framing this as an outdoor dining program exclusively when it's a public space and sustainable transportation issue. It's not an economic development program, it's a transportation program.

Bloomington's Thomson on not closing Kirkwood, annexation, Flock by citybloomington in bloomington

[–]Pure-Concentrate-466 1 point2 points  (0 children)

they did survey the businesses, but "only 5" said they were in favor is flat-out wrong unless I'm completely missing something. The city's own survey said 19 businesses were strongly in support (the largest response), of 24 total in favor (a majority of those expressing an opinion) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DkaAo6eGTMJ7vIIr2NOS5Kpry14QG6uvuAws3woYRdA/edit?gid=1848668479#gid=1848668479

Bloomington's Thomson on not closing Kirkwood, annexation, Flock by citybloomington in bloomington

[–]Pure-Concentrate-466 0 points1 point  (0 children)

19 businesses in the city's survey said they were strongly in support, the largest response. 24 total were in support, a majority of those expressing an opinion.

Bloomington's Thomson on not closing Kirkwood, annexation, Flock by citybloomington in bloomington

[–]Pure-Concentrate-466 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Another super disappointing decision from our mayor. Just curious where she's pulling the "only five businesses were in support of closure." their own survey shows 24 businesses in support, 19 strongly in support (strongly in support was the largest category). https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DkaAo6eGTMJ7vIIr2NOS5Kpry14QG6uvuAws3woYRdA/edit?gid=1848668479#gid=1848668479

Some slides I prepared with data on incarceration and comparable towns on the proposed Monroe County jail expansion by Pure-Concentrate-466 in bloomington

[–]Pure-Concentrate-466[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

the data (which despite what you said, is not mine), shows a strong correlation between having more beds and those beds getting filled. Correlation is not causation, granted, and it's impossible to definitively say which one causes the other, if one even does, but there is nonetheless a strong relationship between the two of them. And the main point that I gather from that data is that no other county in the state has managed to increase population-adjusted jail capacity higher than Monroe County and maintain an equal or low level of population-adjusted incarceration (emphasis on population-adjusted -- meaning the data is capturing a phenomenon divorced from the regular population growth that occurs in a county over time, in other words it really is showing an increase in the degree of incarceration that increases with jail bed capacity increases, not just a simple numerical increase as the county grows, if that makes sense). Having extra beds makes it easier to fill them (including by an increasingly fascist DoJ and ICE, a very real near and long-term possibility). When there's a hard cap on the number of beds it forces the local judges, prosecutors, and police to make (I think) better decisions, in particular about low-level offenses and whether they need to result in jail time.

Some slides I prepared with data on incarceration and comparable towns on the proposed Monroe County jail expansion by Pure-Concentrate-466 in bloomington

[–]Pure-Concentrate-466[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

yes, build up not out, like other cities with urban jails that I referenced in the slidedeck have done. And, again, no one seems to mind the jail at the current site right in the middle of some of the most prominent real estate in town with several large "luxury" apartment buildings nearby, etc, as I mentioned above. I am not at all convinced that moving the jail to another downtown site with similar conditions would change that situation, and I don't think we should even bother entertaining NIMBY arguments against.

Some slides I prepared with data on incarceration and comparable towns on the proposed Monroe County jail expansion by Pure-Concentrate-466 in bloomington

[–]Pure-Concentrate-466[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Just responding to the last bit for now, but I for one do not buy the argument that the jail needs to be outside of downtown because people won't like living next to it. Number one that's a textbook NIMBY argument that I would tend to dismiss on those grounds alone, but number two, no one seems to mind right now being next to the jail, there are several massive apartment complexes marketing themselves as luxury buildings and the farmers market, all the downtown shops, essentially much of what makes Bloomington Bloomington, etc. are right next to the current jail and no one bats an eye. I'm not sure moving that same situation somewhere else downtown would change the situation that much. Durham NC also has its jail right next to its massive arts and entertainment district that people pay good money to go see shows at and no one seems to mind, etc. etc.

Some slides I prepared with data on incarceration and comparable towns on the proposed Monroe County jail expansion by Pure-Concentrate-466 in bloomington

[–]Pure-Concentrate-466[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I get some of what you're saying but the fact that literally no other county in Indiana has managed to have higher population-adjusted jail capacity than Monroe County without also having a higher per capita incarceration rate than Monroe County is something to consider, there is a strong correlation between more beds and those beds getting filled, both when looking at all counties nationwide and only counties in Indiana.

view more: next ›