Graph showing the results of an election simulation. Titled "Texas state results in Presidential elections, 2008-2048". Each year has error bars for the percentage of votes for the Democratic candidate, and a line indicated the likelihood of a Democratic win goes from approximately 10% in 2008, crossing the 50% line between 2024 and 2028, and going up to above 80% by 2048.

Blue Texas

As I watched election results come, I was reminded of a school project I did to model future Texas election results. As long as Latino voters remain more likely to vote for Democrats, and as long as the Latino population continues to grow relative to the white population, the data will show that Blue Texas is inevitable. But what it really leads to is a political realignment, which we’re now experiencing.

I hope the Democratic Party understands that they are reaping the benefits of the rejection of a deeply unpopular President and his party. That benefit is one-time only.

The political realignment is upon us. Let’s take advantage of the opportunity.

In an urban alley, two laughing people on bicycles ride towards each other with lances made of pool noodles. A crowd watches in the background.

Bike!Bike! West 2026

I had the pleasure of participating in Bike!Bike! West 2026, a conference of community-based and co-op bike organizations that I’d been unaware of until my friend and colleague July decided to take on the daunting task of putting on a multi-day anarchistic event here in Oakland.

A family of black bears, a mother and two cubs, perhaps six months old, grouped together under a tree in a meadow by a river. The mother is between the two cubs, with her head cutely resting on the cub in front of her.

Choose the Bear

Laura Killingbeck is embarking on the “Choose the Bear” bike tour, visiting support workers across Michigan to discuss gender-based violence. It brought up some thoughts about my own privilege as a cis het man traveling solo in remote areas.

A crowd of people at night, lit by green and red LED lights including a triangular green flag, dancing among many bicycles.

Another year of keep’n it real

Last year I wrote about how DJing at East Bay Bike Party was a joyful way to contribute to the community, that feels important in these times even though Bike Party lacks an agenda. The joy, alone, is enough reason to keep it rolling in 2026. But I think what I’m observing is, within a creative community, joy is generative. Innovators will find ways to use joy to deepen community and further community goals. And every time I participate in one of these events, whether it’s Bike Party, or a wedding, or whatever’s going to come next in the Bay Area’s resistance to fascism, I feel a little less despair at the state of the world.

A wide sidewalk in an underpass. Fancy lights hang down from the ceiling. Near the camera there is a Capital Bikeshare station which is full, or nearly so, of red and orange bikes. Further away, two rows of concrete barriers take up space. There is one Lime electric scooter. Two pedestrians appear to be entering the underpass from the far side.

More field work in Washington

During Oakland’s ill-fated plan to sell out its waterfront to John Fisher, OakDOT presented an image from a Washington, D.C. underpass as a vision for pedestrian access under 880. That project was already a failure in 2022; I checked it out while visiting D.C., and found that it now has several bike-specific elements.

A wide mural on a fence reads "ANACOSTIA". On the left side of the mural are images of Washington, D.C.; the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument, and cherry blossoms. A black child holds a hand-made sign with dripping paint reading "I (heart) DC". On the right side of the mural, three Black musicians play (a guitarist, trombone player, and keyboard)

The Bike Lab visits Anacostia

In my series on neighborhood change along streets named for MLK, Washington, D.C.’s Anacostia neighborhood was identified as notable; between 2000 and 2017, Anacostia saw Black population increase, while median income also increased. That unusual pattern could represent development without displacement, the Holy Grail of community and economic development. The bicycle is the Bike Lab’s preferred data-gathering tool, so on a visit to DC, I had to roll through the neighborhood to get a better sense of it.

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