YIMBYs, a new moment of triumph is upon us! Atherton, the Silicon Valley enclave that prohibits all but single-family homes, one of the most exclusionary towns in the country, has just received its first multifamily housing project (ever!) under @scottwiener.bsky.social’s SB79!

He really isn't, and I remain surprised by how many otherwise smart people continue to be suckered by this guy

George Pearkes@peark.es · 6d ago

Not really going to get in on the politics here but the conversation between @volts.wtf and CF's Jan Sramek was fascinating. Sramek is planning something very different than what you'd think based on "tech utopia" and "backed by Marc Andreessen", both of which are very bad things.

Alameda County: meet your candidates Join us in downtown Oakland on Thursday Aug 20th at 6pm for a mixer to meet candidates and elected officials running for office across Alameda County this fall. RSVP required. @seamlessbayareaca.bsky.social

it's really pathetic how, for many people, much intra-urban 'politics' in places like the Bay Area seems to boil down to 'I think these people are lame'. then don't hang out with them! no one is forcing you at gunpoint to go to their fucking happy hours.

Probably the most difficult thing YIMBYs face -- really, anyone who lives in a city -- is that government-subsidized street parking is one of the single largest barriers to affordability, safe streets, and climate action. That's because drivers view it as an entitlement, like social security. 🧵

YIMBYs vs our (leftist, somehow?) opponents

It brings me absolute joy to share that the City of San Mateo has received our first SB79 project, and it's a beaut! - 20 units - 5 stories - Replacing a single family home - 4,400 sq ft lot - 198 units/acre - No parking included We absolutely love to see it!

One example of non-socialist mass politics that's been effective? YIMBYism. Wouldn't say they're turning out a ton of people for demos, but they can turn people up to community meetings, and it's made clear to elites that there is a genuine popular constituency for pro-growth housing policy.

It’s very disheartening, because I talk to a lot of liberal friends and they all are aghast at the idea of charging more for insurance but, this is what’s gonna happen when you don’t let insurance companies raise rates!

Urban Land Rent 🇸🇴🚰@urbanlandrent.bsky.social · 2w ago

This is the first time I’ve ever seen a CA publication speak plainly about both the stakes (and the basic distributional politics involved) The FAIR plan is a ticking time bomb and the primary problem is it promises to insure uninsurable property for rich people. www.latimes.com/business/sto...

For the last 4 (!) years, I've been chronicling the journey of a 40 unit 100% affordable housing project for senior farmworkers in Half Moon Bay, California. Despite being approved in May, the journey sadly isn't over: a measure has qualified for the ballot this November to stop the project. 🧵

Santa Cruz locals always say this about Highway 17 too. "Oh tourists crash and cause the jams" no dummy thats you and your neighbors zipping tight turns at 80 mph off muscle memory until you crash into another car, deer or boulder

Warren Wells, AICP@warrenjwells.bsky.social · 3w ago

One of the consistent Marin beliefs that always frustrates is that, "The bad drivers are tourists/out of towners." No, they 100% are not! Those people are driving slowly because they are unfamiliar with the area! It's reliably the locals who are whipping blind turns at 40 mph.

Imagine calling yourself a leftist and claiming new multifamily housing will cause gentrification in Palo fucking Alto

So cool that The Nation is now publishing anti-abundance hit pieces from the crazy NIMBY lady who got fired from the Richmond Review for stealing campaign signs www.thenation.com/article/poli...

An Abundance of Influence

A group of YIMBY Big Tech donors took over San Francisco politics. Now they’re setting their sights on the rest of the country.

thenation.com

Great news today for people who want California cities to be more affordable!

bro I need this “no taxes on [very broad group of people]” thing to be revealed for the honeypot that I so desperately hope it is, they got fuckin’ Abdul El-Sayed on it now

Possibly the first SB79 project in existence is a proposal to turn an old motel on .38 acres of land near the California Avenue Caltrain Station in Palo Alto into a 76 apartments. 200 units per acre, on a parcel where housing was not previously allowed. We absolutely love to see it!

This might be the funniest thing to happen since the time he got COVID

if you haven't seen any photos of what the US used to look like before the clean air/water acts, you should take 30 seconds for a quick image search

Ken Vogel@kenvogel.bsky.social · last mo.

NEW: Trump's flurry of pardons to Clean Air Act violators were the latest move by his administration to undermine laws intended to fight climate change & curb air pollutants that harm human health, @karenzraick.bsky.social & I report.

Seems like we should maybe build more housing in San Francisco and LA, idk

Last year the California legislature passed Senate Bill 79, which legalized multifamily housing within a half mile of major public transit stops across California. This legislation was nearly a decade in the making. As of today, is officially active! Let the building begin!

I'm the author of ACA 22. I'm also adamantly opposed to it. That deserves an explanation – so I want to tell you what went down w/the ACA, and the fight over transfer taxes & the Taxpayer Protection Act. 👇

"You'll never guess why prices dropped!" It's Emeryville, they built a lot of new housing, and now there are lots of homes available. Saved you a click. Turns out supply and demand is real after all. www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/a...

Why home values in this Bay Area city have plunged more than anywhere else

It’s a bad time to be selling a condo — and this East Bay city has a lot of them.

sfchronicle.com

working class: the 2026 ford F-150 Raptor, a gun collection, blue lives matter shirt ruling class: bicycle, public transit, the women in that “gen z boss and a mini” video

Sharon 🪳🌹@sharonk.bsky.social · last mo.

i genuinely do find it fascinating how being authentically "working class" in America now has nothing to do with like, your actual relationship to ownership or your wage relation/bracket, but entirely about what you consume or look like

Tragically, this tweet that I wrote 6 (!) years ago is even more true today than it was then

The California Forever billionaires are trying to buy their way into the Governor's office. I guess we'll see if it works! calmatters.org/politics/202...

Tech billionaires hire Democratic dealmakers in renewed push to build a Bay Area city

Billionaires want to build a new city on California farmland. They're lobbying to skip environmental reviews and using a shipbuilder as political leverage.

calmatters.org

The best time to listen to Buffy trying to save the state was last year; the second best time is now

You enjoying the show? Sit back and grab a cherry coke; Prop 13 was only the beginning.

IMHO, CA's left being so trash compared to NYC is due to SF leftists defending turf when YIMBYism started gaining traction up there coupled with a guy in LA stealing money meant for people with AIDS and funneling it to anyone willing to say that single family zoning was revolutionary praxis.

Mikhail Gorbaechev@mikhailgorbaechev.bsky.social · last mo.

Pretty humiliating for DSA-LA tbh.

CEQA should make greenfield illegal or at least impossibly difficult. California can and should be 100% infill near transit -- both housing and jobs/institutional.

David Roberts@volts.wtf · 2mo ago

New analysis: red states are building much more housing in total, but most of it is greenfield sprawl; blue states are building much more housing *as infill, near urban centers & transit*. Glass half full I guess?