Markus Johnson

@markusja

Abundant housing, abundant transit, & abundant bike lanes in our cities occupies a lot of my thinking. I'm sure other pieces of my personality will peek through over time. Consider reading:

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Markus Johnson@markusja· 2d

Oh the things we could look to build in Seattle/US cities if we didn't treat buildings taller than one story & young children as incompatible. Awesome daycare in Munich! www.kerearchitecture.com/work/buildin...

Modern 5 story daycare in Munich, not worried about "fitting in" the context or being taller than neighboring buildings. Evening lights showcase the multistory play area and slide, and bike parking on the front of the building.

Modern 5 story daycare in Munich, not worried about "fitting in" the context or being taller than neighboring buildings - from the side. Building of earthy tones with brown & orange exterior

Kids playing on the 5th floor terrace with views of neighboring buildings in the background

Diagram of the 3 level playground. Slides in the middle, small trampolines, climbing items

Markus Johnson@markusja· 4d

Noticed this balcony based heat pump in a neighboring building. Looked like an individual decision as didn't see it on other balconies. Something I hope can be more prevalent in new multifamily, assuming we can make larger balconies more viable.

Second floor balcony heat pump in unit closer to the left side of the photo.

Markus Johnson@markusja· 5d

2. Does this legislation impact directed/targeted/custom coupons based on previous shopping patterns? Because if so, I think a lot of people appreciate those coupons & seemingly save money on those. At least I know I find them useful Thanks for your consideration.

Snippet of my Safeway clipped coupons list for the week

Bluesky post describing similar process about how it "can be awesome" to get custom coupons towards the things you regularly eat/buy at the grocery store.

Markus Johnson@markusja· 19d

Jealous that Austin was able to approve a non-sprinklered pathway along with a pathway that that doesn't require 13R sprinklers like is likely going to be the case in Washington

1. Houseplexes with three or four units: (a) two-hour fire-resistance-rated assemblies between dwelling units and supporting construction; or (b) one-hour fire-resistance-rated assemblies where an automatic sprinkler system based on NFPA 13D is installed throughout the building.
2. For Houseplexes with two units, existing IRC regulations for twofamily dwellings will apply without modification.
3. All projects under the IRC Houseplexes: (a) shared external means of egress, where applicable; (b) no electrical receptacles in shared external means of egress; and (c) all penetration protection and draft-stopping measures currently required by the IRC.

Markus Johnson@markusja· 23d

Crowd enjoying World Cup Finals in U District, on a sunny day, with some residential highrises in the background

Markus Johnson@markusja· Jun 29

Whoops

Yellow jeep driven into fence barrier between elevated street and I-5 underpass exit.

Yellow jeep driven a couple of feet away from falling into I-5 exit. Fire trucks & tow truck work to get it back on road safely

Markus Johnson@markusja· Jun 27

I would say there are 3 often uses of the word. 1. The colloquial, aesthetic use of the word 2. The outdated, but still common conflation of gentrification & displacement as the same process 3. Common urban research definition which is more higher income + more educated move in

If the new supply adds a significant number of new units to the neighborhood that are occupied by higher-income households or people with more years of education, that in itself (all other things being equal) may lead the neighborhood to meet common definitions of gentrification.

Worries about displacement often treat gentrification and displacement as the same thing, but gentrification may happen without displacement if the population of high-income residents increases without any increase in the departure of low-income residents. More generally, neighborhoods can see a fair amount of turnover and demographic change in any given year regardless of gentrification, as people leave to pursue school or jobs, to be closer to family or friends, or as their housing needs change. In addition, lower-income residents tend to move more than other residents. Ultimately, neighborhoods change because of shifts in the composition of in-movers (Ellen, 2000). And displacement may happen without gentrification if people who want to remain in a neighborhood are pushed out because they can’t afford their rent, or their homes are converted to some other use, but they are replaced by new residents from the same demographic or even lower incomes.

Markus Johnson@markusja· Jun 20

I went down a little bit of rabbit hole from some of the ifp links, since it also points to Washington doing local amendments. I found a free 2014 version of NFPA 130. Below is shot of chapter 6. www.scribd.com/document/947...

Chapter 6 of NFPA 130, which regulates cross passage distance & impacts transit costs. See link in posts for full text download or reader.

Markus Johnson@markusja· Jun 20

Yes, though with conditions surrounding Type III-A, fire-rated wood framing. 510.10 I believe is the relevant section

Markus Johnson@markusja· Jun 19

Pike Place Night Market was pretty wild (laudatory). Also, experienced them closing the overlook on me for the first time.

Outdoor food tents, lots of people, & skyline in background

Surprising placement of food right at doors to overlook

Markus Johnson@markusja· Jun 16

Also, watched the Egypt v Belgium game on the barge next to Pier 62. It was a pretty nice experience.

Large screen on floating barge with soccer game on. Shipping container aesthetic with some shaded tables

Elevated area on the barge. Soccer game viewing on the water

Markus Johnson@markusja· Jun 16

The pictures I took didn't do Game Day, pedestrianized Pioneer Square justice. But here's a glimpse of the fun people were having.

Markus Johnson@markusja· Jun 13

Wait!! Is this the northern intersection of that bridge? If so I didn't realize the bridge was pedestrianized

Markus Johnson@markusja· May 16

7-story, passive house, mass timber, scissor stair project also going up in Brooklyn www.woodworksinnovationnetwork.org/en-ca/projec...

Rendered view from street of 7-story 23 apartment building

Middle floors floorplan, showing two 2 bedroom apartments, two 1 bedroom apartments, and one 3 bedroom apartment

Markus Johnson@markusja· May 14

The fun thing about this piece is I was able to track down some archival history of the Uniform Building Code (which likely would've applied to most western states) to provide a sense when the codes changed. See page # linked in this section. Based on these the change happened in the early 1970s

Archival linked references that suggest the change in allowing scissor stairs happened somewhere in the early 1970s. Check article for links.

Markus Johnson@markusja· May 10

He's right relative to other US cities Seattle's done a decent job, and also this is studio & 1 b erasure, as at least for the last couple of years market rate studios & 1 b has similar/sometimes lower rental prices than subsidized units. Still not enough & cratering permits is set to reverse things

Table from Seattle Times August 2025 story, showing 36% of market rate apartments in seattle charge rents within 10% of the average subsidized unit. Cities like Austin, DC, Detroit & Portland rank higher.

Excerpt from Seattle Times August 2025 story: resident in subsidized unit was able to find market rate unit in South Lake Union that was 150 sf larger for a competitive enough amount that they made the move. Estimating unit was somewhere between $1,450 & $1,700, unclear by the way it is described in the story.

Sightline study, with table showing Seattle has done the best at building housing within city limits in areas where people already live, rather than relying on green field sprawl development like other metropolitan regions

Markus Johnson@markusja· May 2

Markus Johnson@markusja· Apr 16

Kinda fun to see similar dimensions and operating style in this proposed fix to a separate hypothetical route I had done thinking on medium.com/@markusjohns...

Markus Johnson@markusja· Apr 16

Ah fantastic. Only read the Op-ed. Missed the findings around potential spot for Interbay OMF, but that looks promising. The funnel light rail vehicles to new OMF, while refurbishing central OMF for light metro vehicle, at same time as West Seattle service starts is ambitious! But see viability

A section of Interbay south of golf course and east of BNSF train tracks.

Markus Johnson@markusja· Apr 2

Possible answer...Partly the codes & partly because it seems ST needs state legislation to develop on their own

Highlighting a line item in a Sound Transit policy opportunity document that says, "Expand Development Authority -> Provide Authority to ST to engage in development -> red circle that indicates policy would require voter or state legislature approval. "

Markus Johnson@markusja· Apr 1

I wanted to go deeper than the typical crayon exercise and wanted to think through & frame some of the planning decisions that I think Seattle should take a stronger roll on prior to any commitment to avoid ST3 timelines. We're talking about a hypothetical east-west elevated driverless metro

Map of a hypothetical east-west driverless elevated metro line from Magnuson Park to Golden Gardens. Includes stops in-between at children's hospital, U-district, Wallingford, North Fremont, Ballard at 15th, historic core of Ballard, ans 28th/65th.

Markus Johnson@markusja· Mar 21

Similar to CA, WA doesn't provide builders the right-to-repair & doesn't allow releases to builders & their contractors for 10+ yrs. CA bill looks to give builders the right to repair, that when they repair something they're released from responsibility of that claim, & dismiss prelitigation antics

establish an alternative process for certified buildings, as established by the bill. The bill would authorize a builder to obtain a certified building status for a building by undergoing private inspection, repairs, and reinspection during construction and would require the inspector to be a private licensed architect, engineer, or general contractor, as specified. The bill would prohibit future challenges to the status of the building as a certified building once certified. The bill would authorize the builder of a certified building to establish its own process for handling postconstruction claims. The bill would specify that a builder has a complete and unrestricted right to inspect and repair a certified building at times mutually agreed upon by the builder and claimant and within timeframes established by the builder. If a claimant refuses the offer of repair or prevents, restricts, delays, or frustrates access for more than 7 days from the mutually agreed upon day, the bill would deem the builder to have received a release.

Existing law prohibits a builder from obtaining a release or waiver in exchange for repair work mandated by law, as specified, and authorizes a claimant, at the conclusion of the repair, to file an action for violation of the applicable standard or for a claim of inadequate repair.
This bill would repeal that provision.

Existing law authorizes the builder to make a cash offer and no repair, and authorizes the builder to obtain a reasonable release in exchange for the cash payment.
This bill would instead authorize the builder to obtain a release related to the claims asserted in the above-described notice in exchange for either a cash payment or repair, including a full and general release, as specified.

Existing law specifies that the prelitigation procedures are to be strictly construed, and that, if the claimant does not conform with the requirements, the builder may bring a motion to stay any subsequent court action or other proceeding until the requirements are met. This bill would instead authorize the builder to bring a motion to dismiss any court action or other proceeding and would require the court to grant the motion.

Markus Johnson@markusja· Mar 21

Just to try and break it down further, existing law doesn't require claimants to have solid evidence about the issue in their condo, that the issue be significantly damaging to the building, or be caused by og construction. Regular wear & tear of a home can be used for a claim. Similar setup in WA

Existing law specifies that to make a claim for violation of construction standards applicable to construction defect claims, a homeowner need only demonstrate that the home does not meet the applicable standard, and that no further showing of causation or damages is required to meet the burden of proof, provided that the violation arises out of, pertains to, or is related to, the original construction.
This bill would instead require a claimant to affirmatively demonstrate that there is a violation of the applicable standard, that the violation caused appreciable, nonspeculative, present physical damage to another component part of the building, and that the violation is caused by the original construction. The bill would specify that only specified construction defect provisions in the Civil Code are the exclusive remedy for any claim or action seeking recovery of damages arising out of residential construction, design specifications, surveying, planning, supervision, testing, or observation of construction. The bill would prohibit an insurer from asserting repairs as a voluntary payment or as a payment made without the insurer’s consent, or deny counting the costs associated with those repairs.

Existing law requires a person claiming that the construction of their residence violates standards of construction, as specified, to provide a written notice of the claim to the builder that, among other things, describes the claimed violation in reasonable detail sufficient to determine the nature and location of the claimed violation. Existing law authorizes that written notice to be provided by the claimant’s legal representative.
This bill would require additional information to be included in the notice, including, at a minimum, a description of the observable evidence of the damage believed to result from a violation, copies of any reasonably available photographs, estimates or reports relating to the damage, and the room within the home or unit in which that evidence may be found. The bill, in case of a group of homeowners or a homeowner’s association, would require the notice to be signed by each affected homeowner and for claims involving common areas, to be verified by the president of the association.

Markus Johnson@markusja· Mar 13

2024 Olympic Pink

Special painted pink bike lanes for the 2024 Paris Olympics

Markus Johnson@markusja· Feb 20

McDonald's is great, especially as a low cost gathering spot for teens (when done well). Makes me think of how the tourist trap McDonald's in Paris was absolutely aimed at people like me (I know we won't get something like this).

McDonald's on the Champs Elysees in Paris, France. Outside covered eatery in the foreground & McDonald's with second story eating area with large windows

Markus Johnson@markusja· Feb 12

My fleeting shot of the retro Metro bus

Retro Metro Bus amongst the crowd at Seahawks Super Bowl parade

Markus Johnson@markusja· Feb 10

I took the survey already & used it as an opportunity to share my experience through the lens of this underrated framing that @shanedphillips.bsky.social shared a couple years ago.

This table is national data from 2021 for people who moved within the last two years. They could choose multiple reasons for moving. The "forced to move" responses are negative; probably *some* "reduce costs" people too. Aside from Other and NR, the rest are all positive. 80%+
Positive leaning reasons include things like new job, forming own household, being closer to family, change in family size, reduce commuting time, larger or better quality home, wanting to live in a more desirable neighborhood

Markus Johnson@markusja· Jan 19

One week after doing this nonsense

Markus Johnson@markusja· Jan 19

I'm sure I've been missing these ultra highlight throws the entire season, but look at Caleb's feet here! He threw the ball 40+ yards essentially flat footed???

Markus Johnson@markusja· Jan 9

A reminder of staff's original proposal. In and around the area I live, you can see the areas attached to the transit corridors designation would have seen apartment zoning sometimes 3-5 blocks off where the bus route is. Also, adding Alt 5 EIS map for comparison.