@jacksonp42
Urban Planner (by education, somewhat by employment). YIMBY. Humanist. Fan of science, nature, and science fiction. Unfortunately unable to look away from the train wreck that is American politics. Posted opinions my own unless otherwise indicated.
Oregon passed a law requiring cities to fund affordability mandates on new buildings—or scrap them.
Portland's unfunded version had driven builders to cap projects at 19 homes to dodge the mandate; since the city fully funded, that distortion disappeared.
www.sightline.org/2026/03/05/o...
Cities often block affordable housing through zoning laws. But new research shows these rules don’t just affect their residents: they appear to raise costs in nearby neighborhoods too.
evictionlab.org/how-exclusio...
Racks full of bikes at the start of the contraflow bike lane along Rue de la Folie Méricourt and street lights "folie, mericourt amour" on a rainy Wednesday morning.
#paris #RuedelaFolieMéricourt #bike #15minutecity #urbanism #cafe
America’s renters face rising costs, aging homes, risks from climate hazards, and a shrinking safety net.
Join us tomorrow, March 12 @ 4pm ET, for the release of America’s Rental Housing 2026.
Register at:
www.jchs.harvard.edu/calendar/ame...
@rondakaysen.bsky.social @clpha.bsky.social
Three traffic engineers walk into a bar. As they exit and begin crossing the street, 50 buffalo round the corner, trampling one to death...
#Market #Square #Rynek #Wrocław #Poland
Folks, it’s not perfect, but the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act—which the Senate is expected to pass in the next few days—is mostly excellent policy.
It is worth celebrating a major piece of bipartisan legislation passing through regular order, with a full committee process. That’s a big deal!
Speaking of voter suppression, this voter ID proposal would be a nightmare for California. Great reminder of the importance of turning out for the midterms.
The nation’s affordable #housing crisis is driven in part by a shortage of available homes, and #research shows zoning policies play a major role.
As Congress negotiates an #affordability package, effective land‑use strategies could help. Learn more in this new Urban Wire article.
Berkeley homeowners can upgrade their windows, roofs, eaves, and vents to prevent a wildfire’s sparks, embers, or heat from setting your home ablaze.
Community Message: berkeleyca.gov/commu...
1/9
Want to get healthier? Consider biking to work!
The Central Coast has some very grim inter-city riding conditions, thanks to Caltrans lack of accommodation parallel to US-101.
Riding between Atascadero (where our in-laws live) and Templeton (where I want to do a gravel ride), a *mile away* requires a nearly 10 mile bike ride.
NIMBYs in Rancho Cucamonga want to stop apartments from being built within walking distance of the local community college. The city is already sprawled into the foothills but heaven forbid we build infill in a gap. www.dailybulletin.com/2026/03/08/r...
Typical Dutch street design: narrow city-centre streets where cars, pedestrians and cyclists share the road paving is used, alongside build-outs and tight geometry to naturally slow motor traffic. Then, once on main roads, clear red cycle tracks keep bikes and motor vehicles safely separated.
Over the past two decades, rent growth has substantially outpaced income gains for renters. From 2001–2024, median US rent rose 30%, while median renter income grew just 9%—worsening affordability challenges.
New report out this Thursday, March 12.
www.jchs.harvard.edu/calendar/ame...
We now have three years of post-ULA permitting data to compare to pre-ULA, and...it's not good. Average annual building permits issued in LA City have fallen by 1/3 since the measure passed. If you think this is due to macro factors, look at the rest of the county and state - doing mostly fine.
In California, by law drivers are allowed to collectively set their own speed limits with the archaic and pseudoscientific 85th percentile rule.
This is why our communities have become hostile and deadly to anyone outside of a car.
It's long past time that we repeal this law.
An image showing Thousand Oaks housing statistics for 2021-2029, with 1 Extremely Low Income, 26 Low Income, and 313 Above Moderate Income units permitted so far, and 554 units proposed in all applications received.
An image showing Thousand Oaks housing statistics for 2021-2029, with no SB 35 or 423 permits, three SB 9 duplex units, 135 ministerial and 419 discretionary units, and 411 units in applications submitted that requested a density bonus.
An image showing Thousand Oaks Regional Housing Needs Allocation progress so far, with 1 extremely low income unit, 1 out of 735 required very low income units, 26 out of 494 required low income units, zero out of 532 required moderate income units, and 660 out of the required 860 above moderate income units permitted so far.
Going to speak at City Council on our Annual Housing Element Progress Report today. It is not looking good for us to meet our RHNA.
Our streets in the US are so wide. And believe it or not engineers and planners here will tell you the ROW on the left is “too narrow” to add bike lanes or bus lanes
Total abortion bans may have reduced rents by 4 percent (?!?!?!?!?). That shows huge demand for living in states that protect women’s lives. California should expand housing production as a matter of civil rights because living here means you simply have more rights - something people really want!
Lots of little mid-rise single-stair buildings in my neighborhood, but this trio might be my favorite
Speaking of circular sanitation, La Bistoquette in Geneva completed construction several weeks ago. This mass timber cooperative has over 100 homes and every WC flush is directed to an earthworm composter onsite, where the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium can be returned to the soil.
New housing bills would cap surprise infrastructure fees, study simpler building codes for small apartments, and ease condo financing.
Bringing down those costs could spur more homebuilding and ease the shortage driving California's high housing prices.
pro.stateaffairs.com/ca/housing/c...
in case you've never seen it, this is Roger Ebert on The Mummy
This should also lay waste to the NIMBY lie that people in SoCal don’t want to live in denser communities closer to where they work - people are willing to pay a huge premium to be closer to the jobs.
"Cities need both market and non-market housing options that meet the needs of diverse residents, and allow low-income residents to remain in their communities and live near to transit and essential services." #HappyCities
Always remember that EVs might be slightly better than gas powered cars, but that at its most basic, a city made for EVs is still a city made for cars. We need to shift to #PlacesForPeople not parking; roll/walkable places connected by transit: experience a city, don’t just drive thru it.
A street in the car-free development of Culdesac, in Tempe, Arizona. White stucco buildings surround a quiet courtyard lined with desert vegetation.
Do people really like being trapped in an autocentric system? We talked with the authors of a new study showing that on the contrary, nearly 1 in 5 American car owners is “strongly interested” in living car-free, and another 40 percent are open to the idea. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
Mamdani gets it right. You cannot call yourself a progressive and at the same time purposely stifle private housing development.
You cannot claim you are part of a welcoming blue city to those fleeing red states while saying “we’re full” because you made sure we didn’t build enough housing.
single stair solves this
