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Comment by jseliger | Hacker News Reader

In good news, Seattle is building mass transit (http://soundtransit3.org/) and building housing much faster than California.

In bad news, much of the city is still zoned for single-family housing and it ought to be doing much more to increase the supply of housing (https://jakeseliger.com/2015/09/24/do-millennials-have-a-fut...). And while Seattle is building mass transit, it's doing so at a glacial pace. "Later" is better than "never," but the slowness and expense of construction is striking (https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/24/15681560/g...).

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In good news, Seattle is building mass transit (http://soundtransit3.org/)

Yes! I'm really excited for having light rail 10 minutes from where I live! And, as long as there's no delay, it's coming as soon as year 2035! Just in time when Year 2038 Problem will create huge employment opportunities for us old farts!

If the political willpower existed for building metros at Chinese speeds in North America then I would volunteer first to be the person swapping out the drill heads.

Unfortunately infrastructure is a slow moving game and we have to settle for less on this continent.

I'm gonna enjoy chilling in a self-driving car while other people stand in a crowded train in 20 years. ;)

You mean, enjoy sitting in never-ending traffic jam while people in a crowded train pass you by?

no, he should continue to work in self-driving car, otherwise, what's the point of self-driving :)

Ideally, if OP doesn’t spend a load of $$$ on a self-driving car, OP wouldn’t have to work more (to pay it off) and could retire sooner. But this world seems to be rather spendthrifty than thrifty.

Infrastructure investment: Providing today's solutions, one generation from now.

If you can get flexible enough hours to avoid the traffic from the 9 to 5 workers, then living on the other side of Puget Sound from Seattle can be a reasonable option for Seattle workers.

The flexible hours part is important because that makes the difference between whether commuting by ferry is a daily slice of hell, or a pleasant, low stress time to relax and read or nap.

Bremerton is just a 1-hour ferry ride away. If you don't mind adding an hour to your commute.

In the bad news section, there is gentrification in many neighborhood where lower class and middle class single-family houses are being destroyed to build larger single-family upper-class... Because, you know, a family of 4 needs 5000 sqft of housing, 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms...

I'm curious which neighborhoods this is happening in. All I see over in Ballard is single family homes being replaced by either multiple townhomes, or low-density multi-family.

Yes, Northeast side, like Wedgwood to Lake City.

In Seattle? Are you sure you aren’t talking about the east side somewhere?

The interim mayor just announced plans to upzone about thirty neighborhoods: http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/11/09/25555601/where-se.... Slow but steady progress.

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