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
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#Transport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrows_Bridge_(Perth) 10 lanes with 2 commuter train tracks in the middle. This was possible, because WA isn't thwarted by anything like the imposed restrictions in the BC part of Canada.
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.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Washington/comments/qr4avd/i90_floating_bridges_in_seattle_in_fall/#lightbox Unfortunatly, Vancouver isn't allowed to have such a wide highway and train crossing. WA is able to plan and build on a much larger scale than what restrictive BC permits.
Essentially, Perth+and+Seattle both have been able to develop on a grander urban scale than what the restrictive Vancouver Mind Virus allows. There is just something about the small-scale thinking of backwater BC that hasn't caught on with, or been adopted by WA.
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
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."
Sunday, March 29, 2026
Seattle's 'Crosslake Connection' draws steady crowds on second day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jabSGw2M4tA
Seattle's New Light Rail On a FLOATING BRIDGE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmh5uVguIlM
Seattle's Sound Transit just expanded their Link Light Rail system by running the 2 Line across a floating bridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmh5uVguIlM&t=2s
Seattle has a good extensive regional train system and its getting bigger and better.
Some years after Montreal and so many years after Perth, but still better than backwards Vancouver.
Perth Narrows_Bridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrows_Bridge_(Perth)#Railway_bridge:_2005
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:6_car_train_on_narrows.JPG
Unfortunately, all of these nice train and wide highway bridges aren't allowed in narrowminded Vancouver. A congestive transportation approach was implemented decades ago.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Second+Narrows+Bridge
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
Sunday, May 31, 2026
Vancouver 450 ft and Fahrenheit 451
Was a 450 foot height restriction just by chance, or was it intentionally made to be very close to 451 Fahrenheit? Despite being around the same size as Paris, Boston & SF, Vancouver remains as a very restrictive city.
Any tall building in SL City is under 450 feet. Honolulu is still stuck around the 450 foot maximum, while San Diego is stuck at 500 feet. Even Rio DeGennaro still has shorter buildings than Vancouver, BC. Washington, DC has strict height limitations like Paris. However, W,DC could eventually set up their own equivalent of La_Defense. Its a fine example of allowing tall buildings just beyond the city limits.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451 (1953) By the 1950s, so many things were already banned, watered down or scaled back in provincial backwater Vancouver. Generations later, there was the No Fun City mind virus that further tried to cancel out things in such a small city with so much red tape and other ridiculous obstacles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451_(1966_film) By the mid and late1960s, the city made sure that its first office tower to have more than 29 floors wouldn't be until the 1970s. Its highly doubtful that Vancouver will have an office tower at, or over 40 stories by 2030. However, Burnaby and Surrey could, because they aren't under the extreme restrictions of the Vancouver Mind Virus (VMV).
It wasn't until 1973 when Vancouver allowed its first building to be taller than the Los_Angeles_City_Hall. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_City_Hall
The Scotia_Tower (stump) is a good reference point to visualize the small scale of backwater Vancouver, as its about the same height as the Los_Angeles_City_Hall at 453'.
https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/scotia-tower/4396 453'
https://skyscraperpage.com/b65/vancouver/the-scotia-tower 452'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Wall_Centre It opened in 2001 at 157.8 m (518 ft). Its 49 feet shorter than the Philadelphia_City_Hall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_City_Hall Opened in 1901 at 548 ft (167 m).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451_(2018_film) By 2018 it was quite apparent that Vancouver was in the process of allowing for more buildings over 450 feet. However, nothing has been permitted to reach 700 feet, so far. A tower over 1000 feet would help to water down its provincial mindset.
SF, Sydney & Auckland are just as scenic as Vancouver & warmer throughout the year. They all have taller building than what Vancouver currently permits. Seattle is just as scenic as Vancouver, but its allowed to function like a proper big city, because it doesn't have the imposed restrictions like Vancouver has. While its cold, damp & depressing like Vancouver during the fall & winter, Seattle usually gets noticeably hotter summers than Vancouver, BC. The tallest building in Seattle is the 76 story B of A office tower.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/LA_Skyline_Mountains2.jpg/1280px-LA_Skyline_Mountains2.jpg While the L.A. City Hall looks like a stump there, in Vancouver it would still be one of the prominent buildings.Everything is so small or scaled back in Vancouver. Even the Greater Vancouver mountains aren't allowed to be as tall as the ones in L.A. While the San_Francisco_Bay & Port_Phillip Bay by Melbourne are big next to their cities, English_Bay in_Vancouver is so much smaller. Its even smaller than Elliott_Bay by Seattle.
Vancouver really needs to have bus and HOV bridges built next to its mostly narrow & congested bridges. Only a 5 car Skytrain is the max on the first 2 lines and ultimately, just a 2.5 car joke of a train on the YVR-Canada Line.
Selective+Door+Operation can allow a short train to have an extra car at each end, despite a shorter platform.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Vancouver_sunset_%28J%29.jpg/3840px-Vancouver_sunset_%28J%29.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Los_Angeles_with_Mount_Baldy.jpg/3840px-Los_Angeles_with_Mount_Baldy.jpgAustralia like the USA, has some big & tall cities on the Pacific Rim. However, Vancouver symbolically kept watering down its size, because that's how you demonstrate a reluctance towards proper urban planning & growth.
Oddly enough, the imposed small scale Vancouver mentality & agenda wasn't adopted by most cities around the world. Officially, there is no Vancouver Mind Virus (VMV), but somehow something like it keeps manifesting, just like the BCMV.
Despite its size, Canada has less than 1% of the worlds population. Its been difficult enough just for Canada to even have half of 1% of the worlds population.
One expects Melbourne and Sydney to be proper big cities. However, Australia has big stuff at both ends of the country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges#Design Its a 12 lane crossing in Brisbane.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrows_Bridge_(Perth) 10 lanes with 2 commuter train tracks in the middle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane_Skytower It has 90 floors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q1_(building) Almost has 80 floors.
Perth Central_Park_(skyscraper) at 51 floors and 108_St_Georges_Terrace at 50. Very restrictive Vancouver still won't permit any office tower to have a 40th floor. Calgary and Seattle each have a few over 50 stories.
So far, provincial Halifax hasn't been allowed to be on a similar scale as Boston and Montreal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_L._Macdonald_Bridge 3 lanes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Murray_MacKay_Bridge 4 lanes.
The scale of Vancouver is kept below that of Calgary & Seattle or even Auckland, in some ways.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Bridge A classic 3 lane BC bottleneck-chokepoint. No parallel bus and truck tunnels and especially, no LRT tunnel.
Provincial backwater Victoria isn't allowed to be on a similar scale of Wellington, NZ.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Street_Bridge Another BC 3 lane wonder.
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
Saturday, July 11, 2026
University Bridge (Seattle)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Bridge_(Seattle)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/University_Bridge_from_Ship_Canal_Bridge_-_01.jpg/960px-University_Bridge_from_Ship_Canal_Bridge_-_01.jpghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Seattle_-_University_Bridge_and_U_District%2C_1963_%2849561206388%29.jpg/960px-Seattle_-_University_Bridge_and_U_District%2C_1963_%2849561206388%29.jpg
The University Bridge and the Burrard+Street+Bridge in V-BC used to have 6 lanes, but 2 lanes were removed for bikes. In both cases, a bike bridge should have been built next to them. Then, they both could still have 6 lanes.
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
Sunday, June 21, 2026
How the Seattle to Vancouver area could become a megaregion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POcg0oFvVf8
The larger Portland, Seattle and the Vancouver, BC (V-BC) region has a lot of growth potential. However, Seattle size buildings haven't been allowed in Portland and in Vancouver, BC. Nothing like a 12 lane Ship Canal Bridge has been allowed in Portland and Vancouver. While Oregon and backwater BC haven't been able to thwart the largest city in Washington State, Seattle might eventually become more of a magnet in pulling more people into the area between Portland and V-BC.
Right now, Vancouver, WA (V-WA) still has a wider bridge than V-BC. Most of the V-BC bridges are so damn narrow that its not possible to have an efficient regional express bus network. As long as there is a refusal to build proper BRT bridges as part of a regional system, it remains a sad joke.
The Skytrain (LRT) was built with shorter stations than what the underground stations in Seattle and Edmonton are at. Whenever possible, the Skytrain stations are shorter than the C Train stations in Calgary, DART stations in Dallas and even the Max in Portland.
The biggest mistake of the Skytrain was to not build all of the stations with a future level clearance to eventually have Montreal Metro size stations of 500 feet or 152.5 m. Instead, the first 2 lines only have 80 m stations and the line to YVR (The Canada embarrassment Line) is only 50 m. Backwater BC logic is that a 5 car Skytrain could run twice as frequent as a 9 car Montreal Metro train. Someday, a 2.5 car YVR-Canada Line train could also run much more frequently than a 9 car Montreal Metro train.
There is just one key problem with that type of BC logic. While initially constructing short stations and having short trains can save money, its not proper BIG city size infrastructure. In the long run, it costs more to try to lengthen stations for longer BIG city type trains.
