This contradiction is at the root of so, so, so much bad policy thinking in housing.

Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈@maxdubler.com · 3w ago

America’s broad consensus view on housing is that it should be cheap when people are buying it (affordability!) and expensive when people are selling it (Building Generational Wealth For Families!).

New anti-Mamdani rich person grift just dropped.

I really should have done this as a top-level post. This is a response to the @gothamist.com story today about a study claiming to show that Waymos are less safe than NYC for-hire drivers. I think it's an intensely flawed study and doesn't show what it claims to show. gothamist.com/news/are-way...

Are Waymo robotaxis actually safer than NYC Uber and taxi drivers?

A new analysis concludes Waymos were involved in more serious crashes per mile than the city’s for-hire fleet.

gothamist.com

Sasha Aickin@sashaaickin.bsky.social · 3mo ago

OK, having skimmed the study, I have the following reactions, in no order: * The study says that Waymos have a significantly lower rate of injury-causing crashes than NYC for-hire cars, and it's outside the 95% confidence intervals. That seems signficant, and a point in Waymo's favor.

I don't know much economics, but I'm confused about gas tax repeal. Obviously I think it's a horrible, pro-car, anti-climate policy. But even on its face, when the problem is a supply shock, isn't the price just set by demand? And won't producers just raise the price by the amount of the gas tax?

matcha is bad, actually

Our Executive Director @AnnemarieGray.bsky.social on joining @ZohranKMamdani.bsky.social's transition: "Bringing down the cost of living, especially the soaring cost of rent for working New Yorkers, has been the core of your campaign and the heart of my career in housing."

This is a must-read from @aarmlovi.bsky.social. A real path for substantial expansion of housing and transit in the city that can deliver on the promises of @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social. www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/a-h...

Vital City | A Housing Roadmap for New York’s Next Mayor

How Mayor-elect Mamdani can rise to the central challenge facing the city

vitalcitynyc.org

@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social has already proven that nothing changes unless we change it. Today, by joining Zohran and voting YES on Proposals 2 through 5, New Yorkers are wielding the power of our votes to change the course of our city’s future. @opennewyork.org

Just in: Zohran Mamdani says he's voting yes on ballot questions 1-5 and no on 6.

oh hell yeah it's the @newkingsdems.bsky.social voter guide! share with all your friends for information on every race and every question on your ballot in Brooklyn (and for the ballot questions citywide in particular!) tinyurl.com/NKDVoterGuid...

This new map based on @theNYHC data makes it clear: it’s too easy to block affordable housing in wide swaths of the city. If you agree every neighborhood needs to do its part in solving our citywide housing crisis, vote YES on Props 2-5.

While the New York City mayoral election increasingly seems like a done deal, the fate of three pro-housing charter amendments remains up in the air. I explain what they do, and why they matter. Vote YES on Questions 2, 3, and 4! open.substack.com/pub/mnolangr...

The Most Important Question on the New York City Ballot Isn’t About the Mayor

Vote "YES" on Questions 2, 3, 4, and 5.

open.substack.com

it’s honestly crazy how the New York City council, at the behest of speaker Adrienne Adams, is illegally spending millions of your taxpayer dollars on an unhinged NIMBY propaganda campaign if you live in NYC vote YES on measures 2-5 to make it easier to build affordable housing

Vishnu Reddy@vishnu.red · 12mo ago

my kink. getting my mouth taped shut by Vickie Paladino and Bob Holden when I try to build affordable housing in Queens

I just want more housing I'm so tired of all these people fighting it tooth and nail every step of the way Which is why I voted Yes on 2-5

As a general rule, anyone comparing NYC housing production numbers to Jersey City and Tokyo is a housing nerd who’s thinking seriously about our housing shortage.

Open New York@opennewyork.org · 12mo ago

"We need to build more housing all across NYC. Today NYC builds about 4 houses per 1,000 people, Jersey City is at 7, Tokyo is at about 10. We need to do this by streamlining the processes of private sector construction across the city, by ensuring we're building more around hubs of mass transit…

Your move, @governor.ny.gov

California YIMBY@cayimby.bsky.social · 12mo ago

[VICTORY ALERT] Governor Newsom has signed SB 79, which will make it legal to build multi-family housing near high quality transit! Our statement: cayimby.org/news-events/...

Jane is a hero and I’m very frustrated she was removed from the Airport Commission for basically no reason

Jane Natoli 🥑🚲🍍@wafoli.bsky.social · last yr.

I spoke with BAR about not being reappointed to Airport. Whatever’s next, I appreciate the kind words of many leaders I respect in our community! In the meantime, I’ll keep busy I’m sure www.ebar.com/story/158675...

After 8 years, we did it! SB 79, the biggest upzoning bill in state history, just passed the Legislature. Brief 🧵, with some important thank yous. 1/x

California YIMBY@cayimby.bsky.social · last yr.

[BILL ALERT] SB 79, which broadly legalizes more homes near high quality transit stops, has passed the Senate floor! The bill is now on the Governor’s desk. Learn more: cayimby.org/legislation/...

This is what will turn me into the Joker. Building 100% affordable housing for seniors, on city land which up until then was rented out for private use, & which preserved some of the lot for public space. EXACTLY what left-NIMBYs say they want. Took the better part of a decade to plan, and now gone.

Liam Quigley@elkue.bsky.social · last yr.

NEW: The city has decided to let the Elizabeth Street Garden stay for good, according to first deputy mayor Randy Mastro. Councilmember Chris Marte has 'agreed to rezonings in his district' to increase affordable housing in the area, Mastro says. "This is an example of how government should work"

My buddy Jason Anthony has been working on this article for quite a while, and I've been so excited for other people to read and learn about it. Jason is one of the most curious and omnivorous thinkers I know, and I'm so hyped that others get to experience that: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

The World’s Hardest Bluffing Game

Why are some Iraqis so good at figuring out when a person is lying?

theatlantic.com

I gotta say that @scottwiener.bsky.social is just the absolute GOAT. he has pushed major pro-housing legislation every year and SB79 is his magnum opus. when the history books are written about California’s housing crisis, Scott will be the leader who had the wisdom and courage to make things happen

Sam@samd.bsky.social · last yr.

THE MOST TRANSFORMATIVE HOUSING BILL IN THE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA HAS JUST PASSED THE STATE SENATE!! LET’S FUCKING GOOOOO if your state senator voted yes, please call them tomorrow and thank them!!

This is huge huge huge. Blue states can change housing policy; it just takes persistence and will. Scott Weiner is a legend, and the legacy of SB 827 lives on!

There's a lot about AI that I think is exciting & potentially great, but I think it's incredibly frustrating how much worse it's made Google Search. It used to be that whenever you Googled a unit conversion, you got a unit conversion calculator. Now it gives two different answers, both wrong:

Reading through Google's A2A Protocol, and while I appreciate its goals, there are some really strange things going on at a technical level. The first thing is that the way that agents are supposed to interact is... just talking back and forth? Feels like vibes to the nth power.

You set the house on fire, watched it burn, and then lost your nerve and put it out. You now have a partially burned house. Great job.

i should be in charge of the marvel movies. i will cast mark rylance, jared harris, mark strong, paul dano, and paul giamatti as the avengers. their headquarters are the municipal planning office of a midsize american city. the supervillain they defeat will be various challenges to zoning reform

I went to nationals twice for National History Day as a kid, and it’s the most baseball, mom, and apple pie program you can imagine. This is so fucked.

Anise K. Strong@anisekstrong.bsky.social · 2y ago

I just got confirmation that National History Day, a program that does more to ignite K-12 students' love of history, learning, and yes, even the United States than anything else I've ever seen, had all its funding cut yesterday by the DOGE-axe at the NEH - including for this year's ongoing contest.

My canonical example of how otherwise great junior engineers can cause tremendous damage is that they often tend to want to completely rewrite the codebase in a newer language or framework. Rewrites are always like 10x messier than your most pessimistic predictions.

makena kelly@makenakelly.bsky.social · 2y ago

SCOOP: DOGE wants to rebuild SSA's codebase in months, risking benefits and system collapse, sources tell me. The plan is to migrate all systems off COBOL quickly which would likely require the use of generative AI. www.wired.com/story/doge-r...

One working paper that contradicts the rest of the housing econ literature, and is based on SFH data only, and actually shows a statistically significant difference between areas with housing constraints and those without, does not disprove the YIMBY thesis.

One thing that I find just perplexing about fine-tuning is that, as far as we can tell, there is no public pricing document for Haiku 3 fine-tuning on AWS Bedrock (which is the only place you can fine-tune Haiku 3). It just... isn't there.