"Source: U.S. Census Bureau, City of St. Paul, Visit St. Paul" Ummm.

💯. And this is a crisis in lots of places that have "cheap" rents on paper.

Tony Damiano@tonydamiano.bsky.social · 2w ago

"The focus on housing affordability, however, ignores the issue of housing quality. These are not two separate issues, but rather, two sides of the same coin... [low-income famlies] rent or buy homes that are so deteriorated, that they have become “affordable.” progressive.org/op-eds/the-h...

Glad to be be represented by Molly. This is a compassionate, pragmatic response to a brutal issue that doesn't simply have a "fix it" button we can press.

Molly Coleman@mollycoleman.bsky.social · 2w ago

I wanted to share a bit about my reflections on yesterday’s public hearing, the conversations I’ve had the opportunity to have over the last two weeks, and where I think we go from here. medium.com/@molly_17258...

When you're on a bike, you're IN the world, not just viewing it. My outgoing 4-year-old says hi to everyone as we ride by them. It's his (and my) favorite thing about the ride to and from preschool.

Fietser@americanfietser.bsky.social · 2w ago

I'm sitting here along the trail with my cargo bike interacting with my daughter and I see a guy with two kids ride by on his Urban Arrow, having a conversation with them, and he sees us and gives a wave. God I love this aspect of connectedness through transportation!

Joining the 1000 Club today! www.maptap.gg July 22 100🎯 100🎯 100🎯 100🎯 100🎯 Final score: 1000

Wes Burdine@wesburdine.bsky.social · 2w ago

Damn, this was there for the taking. www.maptap.gg July 22 99🎯 99🎯 100🤯 98🎯 100🎯 Final score: 992

The two hardest and most unforgiving facts in housing policy are that it actually costs a lot of money to build new homes and that the rents that poor people can afford are not enough to pay off the cost of construction.

Eli Friedmann @eligit.bsky.social · 2w ago

Although I do understand the frustration with the brutally high cost of housing, people tend to deemphasize the actual cost. of materials, maintenance (which goes on indefinitely), insurance etc. The want to think all of the cost is due to the greed of whoever owns the building.

The magic trick to Vision Zero success seems to be an urban environment with few to no stroads.

Daniel Herriges@dpherriges.bsky.social · 2w ago

Serious traffic injuries down by 50%, and no deaths in 3 years! It's just physics. When drivers can't hit people at speed, people aren't killed by cars. The rest—engineering an environment where even the worst drivers don't hit people at speed—is political will. www.planetizen.com/news/2026/07...

Serious traffic injuries down by 50%, and no deaths in 3 years! It's just physics. When drivers can't hit people at speed, people aren't killed by cars. The rest—engineering an environment where even the worst drivers don't hit people at speed—is political will. www.planetizen.com/news/2026/07...

Massachusetts town celebrates 3 years with no traffic deaths

Somerville is following Hoboken's Vision Zero playbook with impressive results.

planetizen.com

New bump-outs are bumpin'

Eric's right about this, but doesn't bring up the obvious solution: Upzoning Kenwood and the shores of Cedar Lake www.startribune.com/green-line-s...

Roper: Secluded new Minneapolis light-rail station is a puzzling stop at the beach

The 21st Street Station on the Green Line has a dubious purpose, and dreams of bringing riders there by bus are fading.

startribune.com

Duluth is one of the cities I hear frequently invoked as a climate haven. It rarely gets too hot. Yet due to climate change, occasional bouts of drifting wildfire smoke are now just part of what summer is in MN. No place is truly a climate haven. Shit's coming for all of us in one form or another.

Mara Abolish I.C.E.@mauratwit.bsky.social · 3w ago

Jfc look at Duluth

I've been wordsmithing a line in a report I'm writing, that planners (zoning) need to move from requiring separation to allowing proximity.

There is an incoherence of a certain sort of urbanist who wants there to be organic growth but is unwilling to actually do anything that might permit organic growth

Vancouver Sun@vancouversun.bsky.social · 3w ago

Opinion: It takes time to grow a village. You can't accelerate that evolution through rezoning vancouversun.com/opinion/op-e...

These seem pretty great and could adapted to Saint Paul’s smaller 40’ lots. (And should legal by right within a 1/4 mile of all light rail and brt stops). I bet the elevator bit will be the most difficult part of the 3 ingredients to sort out

Sightline Institute@sightline.org · 4w ago

🚨 Eye candy alert 🚨 How do we add more homes to our existing leafy, quiet, 50'-wide residential lots? @lanefab.com has a gorgeous idea.

The news should be covering ICE like a serial killer on the loose

Grudgie the Whale@grudgie.bsky.social · 3w ago

I don’t think it’s good that ICE is on a murder spree

Appreciating @blindeke.bsky.social's righteous anger here. I do not have confidence in the new mayoral administration on public works and street safety issues. I hope they prove me wrong over time. Not off to a good start.

St Paul's Hamline Avenue Mill and Overlay is a Street Safety Betrayal

[Aftermath of a recent car crash on four-lane segment of Hamline Avenue.] The maddest I ever saw Barb Thoman was at a Transportation Committ...

tcsidewalks.blogspot.com

"Reducing housing demand" in plain English: "Let's see if we can get more people to forget about buying or renting homes and instead go live with their parents, double up, leave the country, or live on the street. Then we won’t need as many houses, and the problem will be solved."

Should Everyone Have a Decent Home? Obscure HUD Document Suggests No — Shelterforce

A call for research proposals on reducing housing demand suggests a radical and troubling shift that may be coming in housing policy.

shelterforce.org

I predict that in 10 yrs: ➡️Nobody remembers the fights over Hennepin + Lyndale ➡️A few nerds will browse streetview and marvel that previous generations tolerated the old designs ➡️People at public meetings will say biking isn't viable bc Minneapolis has 9 mos of brutal summer

St. Paul is being outpaced on housing construction by Minneapolis and first-ring suburbs like Richfield and Edina. Shared macroeconomic factors like interest rates and labor shortages can't explain that. Great piece here on three things that can, and what we need to do about it.

Sustain Saint Paul@sustainstpaul.bsky.social · 4w ago

www.sustainstpaul.org/news/3reason...

The lesson ICE took from MN was that Bovino-style aggro showboating backfired. They have in no way backed off the mass-deportation agenda or the horrific means (concentration camps) it requires, they're just quieter about it.

Gillian Brockell@gillianbrockell.com · 4w ago

We can see this in the ICE flight data. Domestic “round-up” flights are spiking, and some activist flight watchers report the flights are getting fuller. But deportation and removal flights remain steady. This means the concentration camps are getting packed to the brim. It’s awful to comprehend.

Wrote a piece w/ my CT Parking Reform Co-founder about our state’s new flexible residential parking rules. Connecticut’s new parking regs went into effect on July 1st, and our message to builders and municipalities is the same: EMBRACE PARKING FLEXIBILITY! ctmirror.org/2026/07/09/p...

Opinion: Parking flexibility comes to CT: Let’s embrace it

Ushering in parking flexibility is a mainstream, common-sense policy that will help build more homes for our friends and family.

ctmirror.org

Grateful that Bill is helping bring more attention on this. With the original patio delay we lost probably $50k in revenue. This time around it's probably going to end up being similar. I have at least had one conversation w/ a higher up at the city with hopes of overall improvement.

Bill Lindeke@blindeke.bsky.social · 4w ago

I wrote about St. Paul's Department of Safety and Inspections (DSI), long a thorn in the side of business owners trying to do just about anything. www.minnpost.com/cityscape/20...

I don’t understand all the FIFA rules, but I believe our loss to Belgium today means we are required to adopt their street design standards

Qagggy!@qagggy.bsky.social · last mo.

USA v Belgium is a tough one for me because on the one hand I’m American and on the other hand…

The most eco-friendly housing you can build is in places where people default to liking the idea of environmental review, even if it's costly and time-consuming. Meanwhile, wanna put a 3000 sq.ft house with a 3-car garage on 1/2 acre in an exurb, 7 miles from the nearest grocery store? Let 'er rip!

Michael Hobbes@michaelhobbes.bsky.social · last mo.

Three years of "environmental review" to build housing in a major city, fucking kill me www.theurbanist.org/court-of-app...

I hope Mexico beats England today as revenge for Mexico week on the Great British Bake-off

This tedious Atlantic piece fearmongering about a movement the author disdains reminds me of a cardinal rule for engaging with politics in a sane and productive way: let people tell you themselves what they believe, and believe them.

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

once again, so much of discourse in America would be improved if there were multiple ballot lines here we have chait complaining that DSA is too radical www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

This one has all the cliches. A design that retains 75% of parking is equated with forcing people to be car-free. When you give nearly all public right of way to cars, fixing that problem will necessarily mean swapping space previously devoted to cars. hillandlakepress.org/lyndale-aven...

Lyndale Avenue Construction Splits Minneapolis Neighbors

Lyndale Avenue construction in Minneapolis pits bike advocates against small business owners. Can a neighborhood stay neighborly when it deeply disagrees?

hillandlakepress.org

USMNT uniforms:

Happy Connecticut Parking Reform day to all who celebrate! 🎉 Starting today: ➡️ no mandates for developments 16 homes and under *statewide* ➡️ right-sizing parking for 16+ developments More homes (especially more infill homes!), less unused parking 👏

So much pain inflicted on this poor family for no good reason at all.

Bill Lindeke@blindeke.bsky.social · last mo.

"Zong was deported to Laos, a country he had never stepped foot in before. Overnight, Linda, 41, was turned into a single mother of five sons — King, 3; Titan, 7; Everest, 8; Kenji, 15; Yaay, 17." www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/0...