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Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀

@aceckhouse.bsky.social

Sixplex enthusiast. Redwood irredentist. Lake Merritt booster. Erstwhile Prince of Prosciutto, now Policy Director at California YIMBY. Cities are for people not cars. California is not full. he etc

4826 Posts2463 Follower734 Folgt
Adriana Valencia for AC Transit Ward 3 2026@valencia4actransit.bsky.social · 2d ago

This is why I'm running to be your representative on @rideact.bsky.social's Board of Directors, Ward 3. I believe that the bus should be a viable commuting option in the East Bay, and not an option-of-last-resort that leaves people stranded.

Lev Lazinskiy🌈@levlaz.org · 2w ago

Wtf is going on with AC transit the last few days. One of the business commuter lines in the system. Just casually cancelled during peak hours.

Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀@aceckhouse.bsky.social · last wk.

good news: HCD has rejected Beverly Hills' attempted shell game to make 15% of their TOD capacity disappear (TODAP = Transit Oriented Development Alternative Plan) a great win for both housing and mathematical integrity www.hcd.ca.gov/sites/defaul...

While the enacted TODAP addresses many statutory requirements, HCD finds that the TODAP is not in substantial compliance with SB 79 (Government Code Chapter 4.1.5). The standards and provisions of Government Code section 65912.157 continue to apply in the City unless and until the City adopts a TODAP that has been approved by HCD.However, the City of Beverly Hills does not subtract the existing unit count from the gross TODAP capacity; rather, the City’s TODAP has a gross zoned capacity that is equal to SB 79’s net zoned capacity. The City must; therefore, recalculate its TODAP based on the statutory requirements of a net-to-net comparison of the SB 79 zoned capacity.
Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀@aceckhouse.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Most cities are doing their best to follow the law, but some are not. The worst is probably Beverly Hills, which is trying to use a shell game to disappear nearly 3,000 homes worth of zoned capacity. HCD should have nipped this in the bud, but there's still time for them to bring down the hammer.

Beverly Hills was the first city to propose a local TOD alternative plan, which are allowed under SB 79. The core logic of those plans is straightforward: The city can move some of the zoned capacity from one place to another; the alternative plans are then reviewed and certified as compliant by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). But Beverly Hills is trying a shell game by which they just make that zoned capacity disappear instead. A local alternative plan under SB 79, also referred to as an “Eckhouse Plan,” must maintain the same “net zoned capacity” as the state zoning standards. Net zoned capacity is calculated by subtracting the density & floor area of existing uses from the capacity allowed by the zoning. Since the law requires cities “maintain at least the same total net zoned capacity” between SB 79 and the local alternative plan, the city should do that on both sides of the ledger: subtract existing uses from SB 79’s capacity, and from their local plan’s capacity. Instead, Beverly Hills calculated net zoned capacity from SB 79, and then compared that to the total zoned capacity of their local plan. The result: overcounting their local plan’s capacity by nearly 3,000 homes, or 15% of the total capacity. Most troublingly, HCD did not address this problem in their initial review of the city’s alternative plan. We will continue to work with HCD and other stakeholders in Beverly Hills to ensure that their final Eckhouse Plan is compliant with the letter of the law.
Stephen Judkins@stephenjudkins.bsky.social · 2w ago

I feel every few weeks there's a meticulously researched @stephenjacobsmith.com post that's like "here's this one dude in charge of the California Doorknob Industry Commission who has statistically caused 67k more people to be homeless"

Daniel Kay Hertz@danielkayhertz.bsky.social · 2w ago

Your 20s are for believing everything is structural and your 30s are for learning that actually it's often just some guy or small group of guys (gender neutral)

Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 3w ago

Putting the historic district in the context of its consequences, a very clear trade-off is being made. This historic district would protect buildings that housed past LGBTQ businesses and residents, at the cost of allowing future generations of queer refugees to live in the Castro.

Californians for Electric Rail@calelectricrail.org · 4w ago

With transit capital funding on its last legs, it's time to consider a new approach. We've gotten very little in concrete service improvements from 10 years of TIRCP competitive grants. Let's stop paying for paperwork and fund capital via multiyear investment programs. bsky.app/profile/cale...

Californians for Electric Rail@calelectricrail.org · last yr.

Funding is a major, underappreciated contributor to the high construction costs and long timelines that hold back electrification. In our new policy paper, Against Patchwork Funding, we propose a smarter way to fund rail: Multi-year Investment Frameworks. 🧵 calelectricrail.org/against-patc...

Cover page for the paper, which says “Against Patchwork Funding: How Multi-year Investment Frameworks Can Deliver Rail Service Infrastructure Cheaper and Faster” Californians for Electric Rail June 2025. Image shows a dollar cut up into many pieces over a railroad track
YIMBYonese Liberation Army@dingbattitude.bsky.social · last mo.

If you want to know why it feels like there is no direction or vision in LA, this is why. The LA establishment is stuck 50 years in the past, serving people like the Sherman Oaks HOA who want all the opportunity of being a global city while pretending their neighborhood is a village.

Kierkegaarden Cop@joshsteich.bsky.social · last mo.

Bass hates taco trucks because she’s running for the mayor of 1984 Los Angeles; Raman is running for mayor of 2026. And the Sherman Oaks HOA believes in an American dream of suburbs without a city, and Bass is willing to pretend that’s sustainable.

Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀@aceckhouse.bsky.social · last mo.

know local elections are important but aren't sure how to learn about them? have strong opinions about housing, land use, transportation, etc that you want to share with local candidates? either way, this event tomorrow might be right for you!

East Bay for Everyone@eastbayforeveryone.bsky.social · 2mo ago

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

dereksagehorn.bsky.social@dereksagehorn.bsky.social · 2mo ago

You can meet Adriana Valencia and learn about her priorities (and other pro-housing and transit candidates) at the @eastbayforeveryone.bsky.social and friends candidate mixer at Kinfolx (19th Street BART) on 8/20 at 6pm. bsky.app/profile/east...

East Bay for Everyone@eastbayforeveryone.bsky.social · 2mo ago

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

Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀@aceckhouse.bsky.social · 2mo ago

jumpstart homebuilding with this one weird trick (stop charging people tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege of building housing)

Rebecca Saltzman@rebeccaforec.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I'm working to end unfunded inclusionary zoning in El Cerrito, which has produced zero affordable units. A year ago City Council reduced inclusionary fees to 25% and reduced or eliminated other fees for four projects. It worked! One of those projects is going to Planning Commission next week.

Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀@aceckhouse.bsky.social · 2mo ago

SB 79 at one month: 1) Very encouraging signs of developer interest in actually using the law 2) New projects are all in high resource areas with exclusionary histories 3) We won’t see the full impact in most of the state’s biggest cities for another 5 year 4) Beverly Hills is on some bullshit

Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀@aceckhouse.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Most cities are doing their best to follow the law, but some are not. The worst is probably Beverly Hills, which is trying to use a shell game to disappear nearly 3,000 homes worth of zoned capacity. HCD should have nipped this in the bud, but there's still time for them to bring down the hammer.

Beverly Hills was the first city to propose a local TOD alternative plan, which are allowed under SB 79. The core logic of those plans is straightforward: The city can move some of the zoned capacity from one place to another; the alternative plans are then reviewed and certified as compliant by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). But Beverly Hills is trying a shell game by which they just make that zoned capacity disappear instead. A local alternative plan under SB 79, also referred to as an “Eckhouse Plan,” must maintain the same “net zoned capacity” as the state zoning standards. Net zoned capacity is calculated by subtracting the density & floor area of existing uses from the capacity allowed by the zoning. Since the law requires cities “maintain at least the same total net zoned capacity” between SB 79 and the local alternative plan, the city should do that on both sides of the ledger: subtract existing uses from SB 79’s capacity, and from their local plan’s capacity. Instead, Beverly Hills calculated net zoned capacity from SB 79, and then compared that to the total zoned capacity of their local plan. The result: overcounting their local plan’s capacity by nearly 3,000 homes, or 15% of the total capacity. Most troublingly, HCD did not address this problem in their initial review of the city’s alternative plan. We will continue to work with HCD and other stakeholders in Beverly Hills to ensure that their final Eckhouse Plan is compliant with the letter of the law.
Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀@aceckhouse.bsky.social · 2mo ago

SB 79 has been in effect for a month now, so I wrote my take on how implementation is going. Pretty well, I think! But there are some important tests coming for HCD @cayimby.bsky.social cayimby.org/blog/sb-79-o...

SB 79, One Month In: Taking Stock of California YIMBY’s Signature Bill

SB 79, California YIMBY’s signature legislation that legalized apartment buildings near transit stops throughout California, went into effect on July 1, 2026. Under the law’s provisions, jurisdictions...

cayimby.org

Professional Husband@bajaenjoyer.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Israel has basically become the easiest test normie dem voters have for whether or not a candidate is ballsy enough to actually fight. Thems the breaks. That’s why Stevens’ amorphous “give em hell” stuff is falling flat

East Bay for Everyone@eastbayforeveryone.bsky.social · 2mo ago

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

Meet Your 2026 Alameda County Candidates!

An informal mixer to meet candidates running across Alameda County this fall. Grab a drink, ask questions, and get a feel for who's on your ballot.

events.humanitix.com