Due to weird zoning that encourages mixed residential/office use at the building level, we have a number of high rises where the bottom half is office the top half are residential. These strike me as the rare good office to resi conversion projects because the floor plate already works...

My prediction is that all of the trashy, gaudy architectural stuff gets publicly destroyed early in the next presidency, but the massive increases to the power of the presidency... are pretty neat actually, and whoever we elect will probably keep them for use in new and creative ways.

Jan-Werner Mueller@jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · yesterday

"...after all, for anyone around the globe ever to trust a US government again, Trumpism will need to be thoroughly repudiated...the built environment is a prime candidate for making that distancing visible to the outside world."

What share of architecture programs require students to pass an economics class to graduate? I ask because this story profiles the architect who just persuaded the ICC to ban windowless bedrooms in its model building code. It offers zero consideration of how this will affect building costs or rents

A good man will learn the rules of soccer for the first time in order to coach kindergarten soccer

Street containers will never door you.

Man who calls the Cato Institute "CATO" in a post about the decline of Western Civilization is just too much

Magnet schools and the school bus death spiral are turning kids into super commuters 9thstreetjournal.org/2026/04/10/d...

Durham schools roll out new bus stops — up to 10 miles from students' homes - 9th Street Journal

Durham Public Schools will implement “express stops” for some 770 students enrolled in Durham School of the Arts and the Brogden Middle School dual-language program…

9thstreetjournal.org

I spent a week with Kol Peterson biking down every block in Portland's Cully neighborhood counting up tiny homes on wheels and occupied RVs. My conclusion: people are massively underestimating the popularity of this housing solution. www.sightline.org/2026/08/19/s...

Seven Lessons from Portland’s Mobile Dwelling Experiment | Sightline Institute

A new survey reveals the growing popularity of this low-cost, flexible housing solution.

sightline.org

It’s hard to square that the reading expectations for kindergarten have increased while literacy in later grades is declining

It’s funny how much of a red flag words like “consensus-based” have become for me the last 5-10 years. The sort of thing that once I read it in a white paper or report or policy doc I suddenly start reading things more critically.

Emily Hamilton@ebwhamilton.bsky.social · last wk.

The ICC uses a lot of imprecise language to describe its code development process, and here's an example of ICC speak making it into a CRS report, calling their code "consensus-based": www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

The ICC uses a lot of imprecise language to describe its code development process, and here's an example of ICC speak making it into a CRS report, calling their code "consensus-based": www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

Not a great look for the NJ state legislature. They have done nothing to advance housing, while other states have got their act together.

Emily Hamilton@ebwhamilton.bsky.social · last wk.

Last week the Mercatus team published our annual roundup of state housing supply bills. 2026 saw a slight decline in bills, after several years of consistent increases, with a total of 350 by our count: www.mercatus.org/research/pol...

Last week the Mercatus team published our annual roundup of state housing supply bills. 2026 saw a slight decline in bills, after several years of consistent increases, with a total of 350 by our count: www.mercatus.org/research/pol...

One thing we should get rid of with Woke 1 is Social and Emotional Learning in elementary schools. Replace SEL with more recess.

Families with kids should live in dense, walkable neighborhoods because that’s how you get a school bus stop that requires your kids to cross zero streets 🙏

I think it's refreshing that Natalie Harp doesn't appear to be doing cosmetic injectables.

Consider a 75' height limit for your townhouse zoning like Houston has. Someone might want to approach it: www.papercitymag.com/real-estate/...

Towering, $1.29 Million Five-Story Townhouse Draws a Curious River Oaks Crowd: Houston's Own Little Version of London?

What: Unveiling of Carnegie Homes’ Kensington at River Oaks Where: Kensington at River Oaks, 1705 Waugh Drive at Peden Street PC Moment: More than 200

papercitymag.com

Michael Andersen@andersem.bsky.social · 2w ago

Many such cases After 10y in the zoning biz here’s my checklist for productive townhouse code: ✅ how big can they be? no right answer but bigger=more ✅ is subdivision easy? townhomes are for ownership ✅ can they face sideways? most lots are midblock ✅ can they be detached? many want their own walls

Many such cases After 10y in the zoning biz here’s my checklist for productive townhouse code: ✅ how big can they be? no right answer but bigger=more ✅ is subdivision easy? townhomes are for ownership ✅ can they face sideways? most lots are midblock ✅ can they be detached? many want their own walls

Alex Bozikovic@alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 2w ago

Gentle density reform in Toronto has been a waste of time. After 4.5 years, 1,200 net new homes. That’s 266 homes/year, equal to one highrise apartment building. And that’s not counting multiplexes being “deconverted” to houses. malcolmkennedy.com/to-multiplex...

@ebwhamilton.bsky.social @salimfurth.bsky.social describe it as "the first direct repeal of YIMBY-era housing supply legislation." www.mercatus.org/research/pol...

The UK has a housing problem far more severe than what we deal with in the U.S., so naturally Andy Burnham puts forward a TOD scheme that's a fraction of what Arlington, VA allows. I had fun recording this segment about our more serious TOD: x.com/GBNEWS/statu...

GB News (@GBNEWS) on X

‘Is this what Andy Burnham wants your community to look like?’ GB News Presenter @tomhfh takes a tour of Arlington, Virginia, to see how a community is already testing the ideas behind Andy Burnham’s...

x.com

The ag lobby really, really, really, really, really, really, really wants you to think AI is the reason reservoirs are going empty. It's not. It's agriculture.

Kent Lind@camasonian.bsky.social · 2w ago

We have data on this. The blue is all the non-ag human use:

I still remember an SAT analogy practice question where one of the incorrect answers was Beauty : Truth when the correct answer was supposed to be synonyms. I remember it because the same English teacher who gave the practice question taught the Keats poem to our class...

I was excited for Xi’an Famous Foods to open because we love the park out front, apparently other people are also for the food based on the completely insane line

Good piece by @ebwhamilton.bsky.social. These caps are really counterproductive, and remarkable, given we are finally recognizing across the political spectrum the supply crisis.

Emily Hamilton@ebwhamilton.bsky.social · 3w ago

New from me at Governing: www.governing.com/finance/how-... State property tax caps are spreading like wildfire. And most concerningly, some states are adopting Prop 13-style "welcome neighbor" rules that lead to lower tax bills the longer you've been in your house.

New from me at Governing: www.governing.com/finance/how-... State property tax caps are spreading like wildfire. And most concerningly, some states are adopting Prop 13-style "welcome neighbor" rules that lead to lower tax bills the longer you've been in your house.

How Property Tax Caps Keep Too Many Homes Off the Market

By locking owners in place, Proposition 13-style assessment limitations put the homes that growing families need out of reach. Some states are finding ways to hold down tax bills while avoiding this t...

governing.com

In the last few years Portland has fully funded inclusionary zoning, suspended development fees, & auto-approved limited zoning variances. Seems like that might: 1) boost housing production ~50% (from a very low baseline) 2) let us respond promptly if more people start wanting to live here

Insightful post by @michaelwiebe.bsky.social on feasible versus infeasible zoned capacity: www.buildingabundance.ca/p/upzoning?u...

Upzoning

When zoning constrains housing supply, upzoning leads to more homes

buildingabundance.ca

I’m not sure how much I believe this “””data””” but according to my oura ring a long weekend with my kids, their two grandpas, and two step-grandmas is much more stressful than a work day

NYC hogs all the glory for being #trashcity but Boston is just as bad. And you can only take the garbage out from your indoor trash 2X per week? WTF?

We're working with @metroabundance.bsky.social to collect cost drivers in California building codes and standards above and beyond national model codes/standards. See here for more – please circulate among architects, engineers, etc. in the state! admin.centerforbuilding.org/wp-content/u...