It was sad to see the South Lamar HPB location close, but the new S 1st spot seems even better and will give them long term stability in 78704: www.mysanantonio.com/business/art...

When will Central Texas' newest Half Price Books open?

Central Texas' literary scene is about to get even more lit.

mysanantonio.com

gwen howerton@kissphoria.bsky.social · 4w ago

the company tells me that they're basically having to get into the real estate business because landlords have decided it's more profitable to have a big box store than a used bookstore. so they do a lot of shuffling and are very careful about how they expand:

De-paving parking lots & eliminating local parking requirements is patriotic, pass it on 🇺🇸🎆🎇 🇺🇸

Tom Broderick@trumbullbrod.bsky.social · last mo.

This is one of the MANY reasons I support parking reform. Less pavement, less heat islands, more spots to have a cold beer!!!

The legal arguments for Trump's birthright citizenship executive order are vapid and embarrassing. Multiple lower court judges legit laughed DOJ lawyers out of the room. The fact that four Supreme Court justices twisted themselves into logical pretzels to buy it is a constitutional emergency.

The Constitution Is On Life Support

Four justices are prepared to stuff the Fourteenth Amendment’s promises in the garbage because Mister Trump demands it.

ballsandstrikes.org

This one’s for you Professor Shoup!

Parking Reform Network@parkingreform.org · last mo.

🚨 BREAKING 🚨 North Carolina legislature passes most comprehensive parking mandate reforms in the country! Water conservation groups and proponents of small businesses and main streets come together for a bipartisan success story!

need to start thinking now about a full package of judicial reforms: new justices, new circuits, new district courts, ethics reforms, docket reforms, and transparency reforms.

"Cities that lift minimum parking requirements may find that the overall change in parking supply is modest, while the added flexibility can make new development more feasible and allow land to be used more efficiently." - UCLA Center for Parking Policy escholarship.org/uc/item/8df4...

BREAKING: On the 39th anniversary of the founding of ACT UP, protestors have shut down traffic outside Grand Central demanding “Money for AIDS and healthcare, not for ICE and warfare.”

Let's keep arguing about parking spaces, everybody.

Rima I Anabtawi@rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · last mo.

France just hit 43.8°C (110.8°F) on Wednesday, making it the country's hottest day ever recorded. For perspective: that's hotter than Florida's all-time record high of 42.7°C (109°F) set in June 29, 1931 — set in Palluau (Vendée) youtu.be/WHlZhqHiSuQ?...

🎉 HUGE YIMBY WIN! 🎉 The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act has officially passed Congress! This is the most significant federal housing legislation in more than 30 years, and reflects a growing national consensus: we cannot solve housing affordability without building more homes. 🏘️

Anti-Prime Day starts…NOW! 🥳 Today through 6/26, enjoy free standard shipping site-wide, all while supporting local, independent bookstores.

Begging news outlets to stop illustrating deadly heat waves with happy beach fun 🏖️😎 and life-saving vaccines with terrifying needle assaults 💉😭. Especially on social media (where many/most people get their news) the photo is the most prominent part of the story; these choices undermine it completely

Bianca Nogrady@biancanogrady.bsky.social · last mo.

FFS I thought we'd moved past the ignorance of illustrating stories about deadly heatwaves with photos of people frolicking at the beach/in lakes/in fountains. Heatwaves are the deadliest agents of climate change. They kill nearly half a million people each year, and that's only going to increase.

nobody in British politics seems to want to say it but the single biggest driver of their inability to keep a prime minister for any length of time is that Brexit was stupid and ruinous and made everyone’s lives worse

I think maybe the next PM for the center left party in the UK should try pursuing some center left policies instead of right wing policies. Just an idea of what might work politically.

RFK Jr. says that HPV vaccine is “dangerous and defective”. A new study from England shows that HPV vaccines have reduced deaths from cervical cancer to ZERO for women aged 20-24. Significant reductions in older age groups were observed as well, though the latter have lower vaccination coverage.

Cervical cancer mortality trends following HPV vaccination in England, 2001–24: an analysis of population-based mortality data

Our findings provide the first robust national-level evidence, albeit observational, that high HPV vaccination coverage is associated with a substantial reduction in cervical cancer deaths. This is sh...

thelancet.com

If you don't understand why Austin's Project Connect will be transformative for our city, then please do not vote in this highly scientific, very accurate local news poll: cbsaustin.com/news/polls/p...

POLL: What impact will the Austin Light Rail project have?

Austin's long-awaited Light Rail project continues to take shape. City leaders will be meeting on Wednesday to try and move rail transit closer to reality.As th

cbsaustin.com

social media that's bad for minors is obviously bad for adults too. crazy to me that the move seems to be to just accept that and ban minors rather than regulate the obvious design patterns that were put in there on purpose which make it harmful to its users

you, naive: seattle and NYC elect democratic socialist mayors and win championships me, wise: seattle and NYC elected pro-single stair mayors and win championships

This is *also* Elevators in North America: ✅ Bespoke, region specific standards ✅ Extremely limited marketplace competition ✅ Costly maintenance contracts with few alternatives In 2027 #txlege can follow the lead of WA+@sightline.org & address expensive elevator regs & help housing affordability.

YIMBYonese Liberation Army@dingbattitude.bsky.social · 2mo ago

On the operating costs side, the growth of monopolies in the transit industry combined with bespoke US procurement requirements is absolutely devastating agency budgets because once you’ve made the capital investment you are stuck with the ongoing costs.

Steve Hilton, a Republican from Britain who is running for California governor, was a public champion of Brexit. Has one reporter asked him about his support for this massive failure of a policy, and how it reflects on his political judgement? Not that I could find.

Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A whole 12% of voters think Brexit has been a success. And just 25% of Leave voters. Sigh.

On ladder trucks: A Pierce (US) 100’ ladder is ~46’9” in length. A Rosenbauer (EU) 105’ turntable ladder is 33’9”. -13’ (28%) shorter -5’ MORE reach -articulates AROUND obstacles vs straight ladder -Cheaper -More nimble -Faster setup -Superior extraction for disabled or injured

Jason Cox@jasoncoxnc.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Meanwhile European marketing is “here’s how our equipment works & fits w/in your environment to be as useful as possible” One is marketing on providing the most value & flexibility. The other is marketing in much the same way as a sports car maker - buy this because it looks cool & you deserve it.

Another great housing affordability hack for the 90th #txlege session ⤵️

Metropolitan Abundance Project@metroabundance.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Revolving loan funds are among housing's most cost-effective production tools: fill the financing gap on stalled projects, collect repayment, repeat. Montgomery County, MD pioneered the model in 2021 — five states have since launched their own. www.remappingdebate.org/article/revo...

Thrilled that @aura-atx.org will be hosting @nerd4cities.bsky.social in Austin this fall 🏙️ 🤠 Get your tickets NOW, since we're expecting a sellout 🎟️ 🙌

Ray Delahanty | CityNerd@nerd4cities.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Patreon pre-sale now live for September 3 in Austin. Super excited for this one, there is SO much to talk about. www.patreon.com/c/CityNerd

for every graham platner, there's dozens of just as capable women you could be investing in who don't have nazi tattoos or abusive pasts you just don't want to expand your class analysis to encompass gender

Texas public schools are falling off a financial cliff, and Austin ISD happens to be the Roadrunner looking down at all that empty air: www.ryanpuzycki.com/p/friday-nig...

Friday Night Lights Out

How Texas Defunded Its Neighborhood Schools

ryanpuzycki.com

A great reminder that we can't solve the climate crisis without completely reorienting land-use policy in this country. Car-dependence is a choice. If you're an environmentalist and you aren't working on supporting urban densification, you're literally and figuratively spinning your wheels.

David Roberts@volts.wtf · 2mo ago

New @carbontracker.bsky.social analysis reveals that, in carbon terms, legacy automakers are as bad or worse than oil companies. Lots of the hatred people direct at "Big Oil" should be redirected at "Big Auto," but it doesn't happen because people love their precious vroom vrooms.

♥️🗞️goodbye for now to @thebarbedwire.com — it’s been an honor, and any newsroom would be stupid not to hire @carakelly.bsky.social @briangaar.bsky.social @iamleslierangel.bsky.social and @candibolden.bsky.social

A good and important summary of why transit struggles to compete with highways. This is why we need more partisanship in transportation; there's no appetite to challenge this paradigm on either side of the aisle. www.ryanpuzycki.com/p/highway-ro...

Highway Robbery

When Transit Gets Run Off the Road

ryanpuzycki.com

Great recap of Austin's HD49 race which pitted a former CM against up & coming labor organizer @montserratgaribay.bsky.social. Even in a low turnout, runoff May election, a coalition of Labor+teachers+UT students+urbanists (@aura-atx.org) got the job done: www.austinchronicle.com/news/austini...

Austinites Elect Montserrat Garibay to Represent Central Austin • The Austin Chronicle

Austinites Elect Montserrat Garibay to Represent Central Austin

austinchronicle.com

Bass (center-NIMBY) is puffing up Pratt (right-NIMBY) as a way to lock Raman (left-YIMBY) out of the race, meanwhile Huang (left-NIMBY) is acting as a spoiler to divide the left vote. 3/4 candidates functionally collaborating to shut out the only one who would do something about LA's housing crisis.

Poll Tracker 📊@polltracker.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Los Angeles mayor primary (Berkeley IGS poll) 🟦 Karen Bass 26% 🟦 Nithya Raman 25% 🟥 Spencer Pratt 22% 🟦 Rae Chen Huang 9% www.latimes.com/california/s...