UTL is about exploring past, present and future urban technologies in science and fiction, etc...
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Seattle's sizzling temps-will cool down soon
Thursday, August 14, 2025
Parts of coastal Washington, Oregon and British Columbia may pick up five to 10 times their August monthly rainfall
June, July & August are usually the best times for Vancouver to have the best weather of the year & it always goes by too fast. September is a shortchanged month, because things cool down too soon in Vancouver. While most of September is still supposed to be summer, by the 2nd week its more like spring & then fall by the 3rd week. So at best, summer in Vancouver can go from the first week of June to the first week of September.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/ca/vancouver/v6c/august-weather/53286 Vancouver still might have three days that are at least 25 C or 77 F and possibly 2 days that are at least 30 C.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/seattle/98104/august-weather/351409 Seattle still might have a few days that are at least 30 C, or 86 F.
32 C https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/seattle/yearly-days-of-90-degrees
https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle/seattle-90-degree-day-record-most-in-a-year/281-f472a02d-003c-46a0-8b05-093f4dc09398 In September 2022, Seattle was still having some days that were at least 90 F. In contrast by mid September, its difficult for Vancouver to even have a 70 F day. Summer is supposed to be at least 3 months.
However, that hardly means that all 3 months will be like typical summer weather. Soon, the last 20 C day will arrive in shortchanged September and then the next 20 C day in Vancouver will likely be in mid April. In between are 7 months of Vancouver not having even one 21 C or 70 F day. WTH?
At least Seattle gets a little less rain than Vancouver & has hotter summers, but it still has cold, damp crappy winters. Fortunately, Grunge didn't start up & grow in Vancouver, because more people might have given up from the cold & damp crappy fall & winters.
https://www.revolutioncomeandgone.com/articles/1/the-origin-of-grunge.php
https://recordweekly.com/2020/05/01/seattle-grunge-story/
Sunday, January 12, 2025
The Aurora Bridge in Seattle SR99
https://www.got99problems.org/blog/aurora-bridge
Most of SR99 through Seattle isn't a freeway, but by Vancouver, BC standards, it might as well be.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_Bridge
https://cdn.geekwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/seattletraffic-768x572.jpg
https://www.weberthompson.com/project/aurora-bridge-swales-project/
https://www.built.fnf.com/built-podcast/seattle-aurora-bridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_State_Route_99
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Seattle's Bridges
Fortunately, Seattle was never Vancouverized with narrow bridges, short trains and stumpy buildings.
https://bridgehunter.com/wa/king/85278000000000/
https://www.theurbanist.org/2020/04/16/west-seattle-bridge
https://seattlebusinessmag.com/economy/west-seattle-far-dead
https://www.theurbanist.org/2020/10/21/replace-dont-repair-the-west-seattle-bridge-and-add-rail
https://www.theurbanist.org/2020/11/23/new-west-seattle-and-ballard-link-open-house/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_Canal_Bridge
https://pauldorpat.com/2014/05/17/seattle-now-then-the-ship-canal-bridge/
https://i0.wp.com/pauldorpat.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/v-lk-s-now-on-express-lane-web.jpg
Monday, November 4, 2024
The Seattle Streetcar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Streetcar
https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/getting-around/transit/streetcar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Streetcar#Future_expansion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_North_America#Second-generation_streetcar_systems
https://www.theurbanist.org/2024/02/02/it-could-be-the-end-of-line-for-the-seattle-streetcar Hopefully, thais can be resolved. Otherwise, Seattle might start to emulate some of the backwards planning that is in Vancouver, BC.
https://www.ggnltd.com/seattle-streetcar-city-center-connector
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Lake_Union_Streetcar
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=streetcars+and+trams
Monday, June 19, 2023
Perth, WA and Seattle, WA
Perth and Seattle are fine examples of what hasn't been allowed in Vancouver, BC. Perth has good year round weather & better infrastructure than Vancouver. While Seattle can almost have as much cold & crappy damp Vancouver weather, it's not a thwarted city. Perth & especially Seattle permit taller buildings, wider bridges & have longer trains.
https://www.westernaustralia.com/en/places-to-visit/perth-and-surrounds/travel-to-and-around-perth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perth#Infrastructure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windan_Bridge , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goongoongup_Bridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railways_in_Perth#Routes_and_services
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_line,_Perth#Stations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_line,_Perth#Rolling_stock
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandurah_line
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/High_Wycombe_train_gn1.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perth_railway_station#/media/File:Perth_station_platform2.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle#Transportation
https://www.soundtransit.org/blog/platform/making-i-90-floating-bridge-stronger-longer-lasting-trains This crossing provides 4 Lanes each way with 2 tracks for LRT.
Essentially, Perth+and+Seattle both have been able to develop on a grander urban scale than restrictive Vancouver. There is just something about the small-scale thinking of backwater BC that hasn't caught on with, or been adopted by WA.
Saturday, September 16, 2023
Seattle
Seattle might seem small when compared to NYC & Chicago, but it's quite big when compared to little Vancouver, BC.
https://visitseattle.org/things-to-do/sightseeing/top-25-attractions/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle#Transportation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Seattle
https://skyviewobservatory.com , https://skyviewobservatory.com/about
https://skyviewobservatory.com/location , https://skyviewobservatory.com/news
https://skyviewobservatory.com/downloadable-virtual-backgrounds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Net_(building)
https://www.djc.com/news/re/12105569.html This building was Vancouverized so that it can just be another stump building in Seattle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Tower
| Antenna spire | 484 ft (148 m) |
|---|---|
| Roof | 462 ft (141 m) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Tower#History
It would take almost 6 decades before the BC part of Canada would allow what Seattle had in 1914.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Centre_(Vancouver)
It's always amazing to see how Seattle & Calgary are allowed to be big cities, simply because they aren't limited by Vancouver & BC type restrictions & imposed limitations.
Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Seattle vs. Vancouver, BC Weather
You get cold, damp crappy fall & winter weather in both cities, simple as that.
"Vancouver’s annual average rainfall is 57.3 inches (1455 mm), while it’s 39.3 inches (998 mm) in Seattle.
It means 168 days of rain in Vancouver in an average year, and 150 days of rain in Seattle."
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
New Year's Eve fireworks in Seattle
https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/how-watch-nye-fireworks-seattle
Despite Seattle being relatively close to backwards Vancouver, BC, no Mind Virus will be thwarting Seattle.
https://seattlebloggers.com/new-years-eve-in-seattle/
https://www.spaceneedle.com/newyears
https://www.seattlecenter.com/events/featured-events/new-years-eve
Thursday, February 5, 2026
SF and Seattle, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seyMIhry1M8
The SF and Boston land area can almost both fit into Seattle. However, the SF Bay Area and Greater Boston still have a lot more people than the Seattle-Tacoma Area.
Unfortunatly, growing poverty and substance abuse, combined with more job losses makes for a tougher situation, overall.
Seattle's Economic slide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxB8-RotFIU
Massive layoffs hit Seattle tech companies as city struggles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLvbQGr0Xmg
Seattle’s Downtown Isn’t Coming Back the Same https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLRMYCSm1Cs
Friday, April 19, 2024
The 4 Lane Bridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Bridge_(Seattle) WA
https://www.historylink.org/File/20389
The 2 level, 12 lane Ship_Canal_Bridge is right next to it.
The north end of the Montlake_Bridge is close to the University_of_Washington_station. The 380-foot-long (120 m) station_layout is almost as long as any underground LRT station in Edmonton. In contrast, the first 2 lines of the Vancouver Skytrain only have only 80 m stations. The 3rd line is a joke that is the Canada Line. It was only designed to have 50 m stations. The Montreal Metro & TTC Subway were designed to have 152 m. Unlike Seattle & Edmonton & especially Montreal & Toronto, building for longer trains isn't a problem. That's because they don't have anything like a backward BC mentality or a water it down, because its Vancouver, approach to things. Being from Vancouver, it's always amazing to see what other cities are able to do, simply because they don't take a backwater BC approach to things.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont_Bridge_(Seattle)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballard_Bridge (Seattle)
MONTREAL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Bizard_Bridge Even a backwater part of Montreal will get an upgrade from a 3 lane joke to a 4 lane bridge with wider sidewalks. https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/bridge-construction-causing-travel-nightmare-for-ile-bizard-residents-1.6564161
https://www.westislandtoday.com/post/the-construction-of-l-%C3%AEle-bizard-s-bridge-is-well-underway
- Expanding to 4 traffic lanes, 1 more than the existing bridge
- Building a wider two-way bike path and sidewalk
- Complete redevelopment of the road, water and sewer mains and street lighting system
- Refurbishing electrical networks and wiring
https://montreal.ca/en/articles/building-new-bridge-pont-jacques-bizard-26379 Fortunatly, no one from Metro Vancouver was able to stop this Greater Montreal improvement. The backward BC mentality is terrible. It would be devastating if Quebec had ever started to emulate the BC approach to things.
https://globalnews.ca/news/10180724/new-jacques-bizard-bridge-west-island-traffic Unfortunatly, the new bridge won't have a couple of bus-lanes. https://www.ebcinc.com/en/2022/04/05/new-jacques-bizard-bridge A 6 lane bridge would have allowed for that. Perhaps a parallel bus-bridge might eventually be built there, someday. That's what Calgary eventually did with the the+Cushing+Bridge upgrade.
Saturday, May 25, 2024
Seattle and Vancouver, BC
Seattle is about the size of Burnaby, NW & Vancouver, combined.
https://www.movingwaldo.com/where-to-live/seattle-vs-vancouver-where-should-i-live/
https://versus.com/en/seattle-vs-vancouver
https://www.globe-gazers.com/vancouver-vs-seattle/
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Developers are now turning many of Northgate's parking spaces into a light-rail station to connect the neighborhood to downtown Seattle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Link_tunnel#Route_and_design
https://www.soundtransit.org/northgatestation
http://www.chron.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Dallas-Is-Not-Planning-To-Kill-The-Dog-Of-The-5331589.php
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2017/03/02/seattle-university-district-high-rise-rezoning.html
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Seattle: AWV Replacement Tunnel Project
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaskan_Way_Viaduct
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaskan_Way_Viaduct_replacement_tunnel
Cost Overruns For Seattle-Area Tunnel Projects
Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Project ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Seattle_bridges
Wednesday, September 4, 2024
Columbia Centre in Vancouver and Columbia Center in Seattle
https://modtraveler.net/city/vancouver_694/listing/columbia-centre Not even 30 floors in Vancouver, but its impressive when compared to what's in Victoria-Prince+George-Kamloops.
However, the Columbia_Center in Seattle almost has 80 floors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Center#Design It would still be an impressive building in NYC, Chicago, Houston, LA & SF. It's still the tallest office tower in Seattle.
It's not just that Vancouver gets more rain than Seattle & especially Calgary, but that almost everything has to be symbolically watered down in Vancouver, when compared to those cities.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-wettest-city
Tuesday, December 31, 2024
Vancouver vs. Seattle
https://versus.com/en/seattle-vs-vancouver Seattle never imposed the harsh level of restrictions that Vancouver has.
https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/new-years-eve-fireworks
https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article297812518.html
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Vancouver, BC & Other Cities
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Car-free living in Seattle
Friday, July 11, 2025
The Rise and Fall of an Awkward Dining Trend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgejGeLwrj4
The Space_Needle became an instant Seattle landmark since the early 1960s. The same for the Calgary_Tower by the late 1960s.
https://www.spaceneedle.com , https://www.calgarytower.com
Both were possible, because Seattle & Calgary aren't under anything like Vancouver's imposed restrictions.
The H._R._MacMillan_Space_Centre opened in October 1968, some 4 months after the Calgary Tower & 6.5 years after the Space Needle. Of course Vancouver was behind, as usual. The first thing that you notice is that there is no tower. It's a classic stump of a building.
https://thecdm.ca/partners/industry/the-hr-macmillan-space-centre
https://www.spacecentre.ca/celebrating-55-years
https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/qhnz76/tbt_vancouver_planetarium_1968
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Museum_of_Vancouver.jpg The Stump
The movie Final_Destination_Bloodlines provides a CGI depiction of what an actual tower, not a stump would look like. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Destination_Bloodlines#Plot
While Final_Destination_Bloodlines was filmed in Vancouver, it was set in New York State.
Something peculiar happened in Seattle in 2025.
https://people.com/space-needle-crack-glass-floor-absolutely-safe-11770526
https://wrif.com/2025/07/08/crack-space-needle-glass-floor/
https://cryptogmail.com/is-the-space-needles-glass-floor-cracking-heres-the-real-story/
Final Destination: Bloodlines Movie Clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iQhOmebDqo
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Seattle
Thursday, December 19, 2024
A Landslide halts Amtrak service between Seattle and Vancouver, once again
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/amtrak-suspended-landslide-vancouver-seattle
A double track tunnel or even a trench would be very expensive to build. Thus, an elevated double track line would be better. However, people would likely complain and prefer the current backwater BC situation.
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/12/19/vancouver-seattle-amtrak-rail-service-suspended-landslide/
Backwater BC must upgrade its transportation corridors.
https://globalnews.ca/news/10925862/white-rock-bc-landslide-amtrak-service-seattle/


