Alex Shoor
@alexshoor.bsky.social
Co-founder & Executive Director of @CatalyzeSV 8-yr Housing Commissioner. @Vanderbilt - BA; @USCPrice - MPA. #ObamaBlvd
I just signed a petition to prevent the widening of Highways 85 and 101. Sign here: actionnetwork.org/petitions/st...
Stop the Expansions of the SR-85 and US-101
Air, community health, and traffic in Santa Clara County are under threat! VTA is planning on widening SR-85 and US-101 which will put more cars on our roads and substantially increase greenhouse gas ...
actionnetwork.org
What I have been saying: “Societies in which there is an extreme division between the wealthiest and the rest tend to be politically unstable ones as well.” Is This a New Era of Class Warfare? www.nytimes.com/2026/08/24/o...
Opinion | Is This a New Era of Class Warfare?
The class-based violence of the past was part of a broader struggle. Today, the violence is the end in itself.
nytimes.com
“The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live.” - Martin Luther Ling Jr.
Has America Already Undergone a Soft Breakup? www.nytimes.com/2026/08/09/o...
Opinion | Has America Already Undergone a Soft Breakup?
It can’t go on like this forever.
nytimes.com
This annual music festival coming up Friday through Sunday in Downtown is on my top 5-all time list of the best experiences in San Jose. summerfest.sanjosejazz.org
San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2026
August 7–9 2026, San Jose Jazz Summer Fest is the place to be with jazz, blues, salsa, Latin, R&B and global music, plus food and family fun!
summerfest.sanjosejazz.org
How can an accomplished actor like Matt Damon do a light Southern accent for Ford v Ferrari and a passable British accent in a cameo in a Thor movie yet doesn’t try an accent in The Odyssey?
Frustrating the City isn't moving on this with conviction and decisiveness. sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-kic...
San Jose kicks ranked choice voting down the road - San José Spotlight
The San Jose City Council has punted on a proposal that could have introduced ranked choice voting to certain city elections.
sanjosespotlight.com
Tordillos: Downtown San Jose has everything except neighbors www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/24/t...
Tordillos: Downtown San Jose has everything except neighbors
A California law, AB 2074, would streamline the approval process for downtown housing projects, making it faster and cheaper to build new homes close to jobs and transit.
mercurynews.com
“There are so many unnecessary, burdensome, onerous hoops and created by liberal funders that any time there’s a slight improvement, it seems like a major event worthy of praise. But excessive praise reinforces the message to funders that we're happy if they do the bare minimum”
Funders and the Prodigal Son Effect
Hi everyone, this is the next-to-last blog post before I go on my yearly summer hiatus. I’ll be off all of July and August to spend time with my kids, who got me a mug that says “Not the worst dad” fo...
nonprofitaf.com
Yes to this symbiotic relationship between water & power! ✅ More renewable energy overall ✅ Less $ spent on maintenance because shade keeps water potable ✅ More water is available because panels prevent evaporation ✅ Water cools solar panels which = more efficient panels
California Needs Water and Clean Power. It Might Have a Fix for Both.
nytimes.com
Borenstein: Porter's and Mahan's egos fuel Hilton in California governor race The key part of this editorial is not the headline or the author’s main point, but his mention of ranked choice voting as a way to improve our current primary system! www.mercurynews.com/2026/05/29/b...
Borenstein: Porter’s and Mahan’s egos fuel Hilton in California governor race
The legacies of the two Democrats will likely be that they enabled Trump’s candidate to move on to the general election.
mercurynews.com
“The question about whether invitations-only grants are valid is also a distraction. When I hear it, it sounds like “Should we invite everyone to compete to the death in the Hunger Games, or should we only invite a few people to compete to the death in the Hunger Games?’”
Let’s talk about invitation-only grants. Actually, let's not.
Hi everyone, I’ve been doing a lot of travel lately in promotion of my book, Reimagining Nonprofits and Philanthropy. It’s been exhausting, but also fun, as I get to meet with really cool people who r...
nonprofitaf.com
It’s bad enough he is destroying the livelihood & stability of thousands of American immigrants, now he is slowing or outright ending construction of housing for millions of Americans. Trump’s Deportations Are Costing Americans Jobs, Study Finds www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/r...
Trump’s Deportations Are Costing Americans Jobs, Study Finds
nytimes.com
I just wrote a @theactionnetwork.bsky.social letter: Tell Your Representative: Vote YES on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Write one here: actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...
Tell Your Representative: Vote YES on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
The U.S. House is expected to vote this week on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act: a major opportunity to take real action on the housing shortage. Your voice is the most powerful force in this mom...
actionnetwork.org
The rush to silence Black voters ahead of the 2026 election is stone cold racism. It's Jim Crow 2.0.
In this #housingcrisis, I welcome seeing more fees being administered on people who leave homes vacant (or land empty)! www.mercurynews.com/2026/05/14/t... I've been advocating for this type of law in #SanJose for years; glad to see a more moderate city like San Diego also considering it!
Taylor Swift, lawsuits and quirky exemptions: How empty homes tax works in other cities
If Measure A passes on June 2, San Diego would join a group of cities in California, Canada and abroad that tax second homes or properties that are unoccupied for most of the year.
mercurynews.com
As recounted by one of the greatest Americans ever, Martin Luther King, tremendously wise and noble words from another of the greatest Americans, Abraham Lincoln: When talking about the South: “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”
Let's hope they make this July opening in #SanJose: www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news...
Spark Social food truck park in downtown San Jose pushes opening to July - Silicon Valley Business Journal
"People are just hungry for a project like this, because this is a really cool community project we can get so many different entrepreneurs involved [in]," the hub's operator said.
bizjournals.com
Measured in dollars, some corporations cause more societal harm than their corporate philanthropies or rich executives will ever give to solving the issues they made worse in the first place. The Impossible Math of Philanthropy www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/o...
Opinion | The Impossible Math of Philanthropy (Published 2025)
nytimes.com
Local government as lenders! The Return for These Investors Isn’t Money, It’s More Affordable Housing www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/b...
The Return for These Investors Isn’t Money, It’s More Affordable Housing
nytimes.com
Why i have become such a convert on planting more trees in cities: A tree can cool a place the same as 10 room-size air conditioners running 24 hours a day! 🌳🏡🌲 From @jeffspeck.bsky.social’s “Walkable City” book
My Friend Is Depressed. Does That Excuse Her Flakiness? www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/w...
My Friend Is Depressed. Does That Excuse Her Flakiness?
nytimes.com
I'm gonna say this once (ok, maybe more than that): "Donating" money to AI, particularly to for-profit companies, is NOT philanthropy. I can't think of a "cause" less in need than AI. U.S. private AI investment hit $109.1 billion in 2024, acc. to Stanford hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/202...
Economy | The 2025 AI Index Report | Stanford HAI
hai.stanford.edu
In the #SiliconValley #housingcrisis, here's the perverse, vicious cycle we find ourselves in. Follow along: 1. A school district has declining enrollment because housing is too expensive & families can't afford it here. 2. That district needs new revenue to make up for fewer students. (cont)
I don't know the Craigslist founder, yet I love his values that he shares in simple language here! Craigslist Made Me Rich. Giving the Money Away Is Easy. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/o...
Opinion | Craigslist Made Me Rich. Giving the Money Away Is Easy.
nytimes.com
I'm pretty selective these days when it comes to publicly supporting politicians. As always, I'm looking for folks that possess my four "I"s criteria: Integrity, Ideas, Initiative, & interpersonal relationships. At this moment, my city of #SanJose needs something additional:
Love this piece from former @catalyzesv.bsky.social funder Ruby Bolaria Shifrin in @insidephilanthropy.com. www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/a-false... Yes, to rent stabilization / tenant protections AND building lots more homes, both market-rate and affordable!
A False Choice: Why a Big-Tent Approach on Housing Matters
Should funders "pick a side" in the debate over housing policy? Guest author Ruby Bolaria Shifrin argues that robust coalition building is the better approach.
insidephilanthropy.com
