Patrick Siegman
@siegman.biz
Transportation planner and economist. Founder, Siegman & Associates. Formerly Principal & Shareholder at Nelson\Nygaard. LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/5cekhrjh
NIMBYism is a red state problem too: “Both this year and last, a flurry of proposals in Republican-controlled states aimed to make it harder to build clean energy.“
State legislatures are getting better at clean-energy permitting…
Unlike in 2025, almost no states have passed laws that make it harder to permit and site renewables this year, a report finds. What’s driving the shift?
canarymedia.com
"Michigan's housing crisis isn't a mystery. It's a supply shortage."
Michigan's housing crisis isn't a mystery. It's a supply shortage. | Opinion
Michigan is short 119,000 homes. As prices climb, lawmakers must move past gridlock to solve the housing crisis.
detroitnews.com
Escondido's Emily Marquez sees it clearly: SB 79's transit housing brings families in without pricing them out. Costly parking mandates aren't a downside, it's what makes that housing more affordable to build in the first place. www.10news.com/news/local-n...
New California law allows high-density housing near transit stops, sparking debate in Escondido
Senate Bill 79 is now law in California, allowing the construction of high-density and affordable housing near major transit stops.
10news.com
Indianapolis is considering a proposal to let businesses decide how much parking they need. Simple, sensible, and long overdue. More room for homes and businesses that people actually need. 👏
Councilor Wants to Eliminate Parking Mandates Throughout Marion County
Indianapolis City-County Councilor Jesse Brown says he's looking to remove parking requirements throughout Marion County.
wibc.com
North Carolina has eliminated minimum parking requirements for most new developments, marking a major shift in transportation and land use policy. The change could help reduce traffic, lower development costs, and support more transportation choices. ssti.us/2026/07/20/n...
North Carolina’s new parking law could reshape its transportation landscape
Under a new law in North Carolina, most cities and towns will not be allowed to set minimum parking requirements for new developments or changes in building use. This change comes amid a growing…
ssti.us
Your annual reminder that urban heat islands are a policy choice. www.sightline.org/2022/01/11/t...
To Stop Building Heat Islands, Stop Overbuilding Parking Lots | Sightline Institute
Parking lots amplify high temperatures. Why are we still requiring them to be larger than they need to be?
sightline.org
tldr: this ballot measure is to block 345+ low income homes from being built on what is currently a parking lot. It brings me back to when I was looking at daycares and learned there was a shortage because staff can’t afford to live anywhere - which is how I learned about this YIMBY stuff
California has passed more than 100 laws that make housing easier to build, so why hasn't more been built yet? In part, because our NIMBYs are endlessly creative. It can still take years to overcome their delay tactics. 🎁link:
This coastal city promised farmworkers affordable housing. Now, opponents are lining up against it
This housing project received state-wide attention in 2023 when a mass shooting at two mushroom farms left seven dead and exposed the living conditions of agricultural workers in Half Moon Bay.
sfchronicle.com
We are going to stop the killings on the streets of San Francisco. Step by step, we're going to get there. 🎁link:
San Francisco is set to slow drivers near schools. Here’s the new proposed speed limit
A new policy will go before the SFMTA board on Tuesday.
sfchronicle.com
Patrick Siegman@siegman.biz · 5mo agoAnd yes, reducing speeding saves lives. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!
A 1909 ad “in the San Francisco Call newspaper encouraging people to move to ‘absolutely the most desirable place for a permanent home in Northern California’—‘Rock Ridge Park,’ which is now known as Upper Rockridge, said: ‘No negroes, no Chinese, no Japanese can build or lease in Rock Ridge Park.‘“
She’s pushed to build more housing across California. Now there’s a NIMBY fight in her backyard
The plan to build 415 units in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood is a lesson in what residents might have to sacrifice as a result of years of blocking housing.
sfchronicle.com
I’m delighted that the World Cup is over, because now we can get back to the fun stuff. Who will take home the Shoup Prize in 2026?
Welcoming Neighbors Network@welcomingneighbors.us · 3w agoNC recent parking reform win sets a new bar: ✅ No minimums for homes or businesses ✅ Applies in most areas, not just near transit ✅ United conservationists and builders behind one bill This is what leading on housing looks like 🌱
🚨MASSACHUSETTS HOUSING ACTION ALERT MA should stop requiring every new home to come with more parking than residents need. Amendment 135 to the Senate Ec Dev Bill removes parking minimums near transit and caps them at one space per home in most other cases. Ask your Senator to vote YES
Greystar development director Andrew Phelan "says Greystar bases parking decisions on market demand — not government mandates — and typically builds above municipalities' required parking counts anyway."
Developers don't expect parking minimums law to change much
Developers don't expect parking minimums law to change much.
axios.com
This is the kind of degrowth I can get behind.😎 In response to sweltering heat waves, Japan now supports less fabric and more bike commuting.
Why Tokyo’s New Shorts Policy is Sparking Debate in Japan (Gift Article)
The Tokyo government is allowing workers to wear shorts for the first time this summer, prompting delicate questions about etiquette and hairy legs.
nytimes.com
Bellingham's Tiny Home Village "has achieved about a 70% rehousing rate for moving residents into permanent housing." The village "offers 8-by-12-foot units for formerly homeless individuals." Am I right in thinking these tiny homes are only legal because reformers got the ICC to admit that...
Rewind: Parking-free apartments; downtown tasting room closes; tiny homes update
Here are The Bellingham Herald’s top stories from last week to catch you up.
yahoo.com
Port Townsend, Washington, was the first city in the state to remove minimum parking mandates. The sky did not fall. Port Townsend’s success should reassure leaders in timid places, like Boston and New York, that they can follow suit.
Twice As Many Small Towns Have Eliminated Parking Mandates As Large Cities | Sightline Institute
Three hometown stories show why parking reform is for everyone.
sightline.org
Steve Boland@steveboland.bsky.social · 2w agoPort Townsend, WA, or as I like to call it, the hinge of the Salish Sea (or maybe that’s Victoria)
If staff at every firehouse near a street design project must be allowed to weigh in on the project, then those staff should also be required to pass a series of college-level classes on designing safe streets beforehand, and required to participate in on-site reviews of every serious crash.
Stephen Jacob Smith@stephenjacobsmith.com · 2w agoFeels like there’s an interesting story to be told about the balkanization of US fire departments, especially in big, old cities, into little one- and two-bay firehouse fiefdoms. In San Francisco the union even enshrined it in a ballot measure that made it illegal to close any firehouses!
Rick Chellman, PE, loves to tell stories about how he has helped cities save millions of dollars and avoid ramming oversized roads through their towns by simply reducing the design speed for proposed projects. The knock-on effect of this move is tighter geometries.
Marco Chitti@chittimarco.bsky.social · 2w agoThis grade separation project in Puglia is being built for €8.9 million. In Canada, grade separation projects generally cost more than $40-50 million, but often in the 100s. A little trick to make them cost less is to accept tighter geometries, like the ones you see below. fteng.it/progetto/sot...
“Before Smart Streets, 15.6% of people who got flagged for illegal bus and bike lane parking did it again within 90 days, Belsky said. As of January 2026, that recidivism rate had dropped to 7.6%.”
Chicago Tribune@chicagotribune.com · 2w agoChicago bike lane ticketing program records big fines against delivery companies
I’ve often heard neighborhood advocates say cities should require smaller footprint retail spaces in new buildings, because they think they are easier to fill. Personally, I’m skeptical of the idea that planners, who generally have no expertise in retail, should micromanage store sizes. 🎁link:
Big-Box Retailers Have a New Strategy for Breaking Into Urban Markets
nytimes.com
dawg the brazilians are calling it asfaltos unidos in the QTs we're getting cooked
Arif Hasan, but NFL🔨⚒️🛠️@arif.bsky.social · 2w agothis shot is so bleak lmao
When planners defend parking mandates, I think of T. Paine: “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, & raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.” ― Thomas Paine
Geoff Green@geoffgreen.org · 2w agoSome planners on the NC planning listserv are strategizing ways to get around the restriction.
To avoid a backlash, North Carolina's parking reform advocates should teach city staff how to manage curb parking well, so that this Mayor's fears never come to pass: "'My concern is if there's not enough, then people tend to park illegally. They park in the street. They cause accidents.'"
Matthews mayor not a fan of new parking law
MATTHEWS – Don't expect Matthews Mayor John Higdon to lead any pep rallies for a state law that prevents local governments from setting minimum parking requirements for development.
thecharlotteweekly.com
About 10 years ago I posted a very dry April 1st joke about a 60 story tower proposal for this Rockridge parcel (on a twitter account about Oakland building permits). People took it completely seriously and lost their minds. That was the high point of my social media experience in the 21st century.
Patrick Siegman@siegman.biz · 3w agoIn a well-planned region, you can spot the major transit stops from the air, because the tallest buildings are clustered around them. Thanks to recently-adopted state laws, California is getting there.🙂
It's a good change bsky.app/profile/sieg...
Patrick Siegman@siegman.biz · 3w agoUnfunded inclusionary housing requirements reduce housing construction and raise rents, so I’m glad to see #SanFrancisco reducing them. Instead, SF will fund affordable housing using a funding source that doesn’t have these flaws: property taxes.👍
Existing: 6.3 acres of parking Proposed: 600 homes, 25,000 sq. ft. of commercial, "including retail and a health clinic or childcare center" State law gives BART the right to build on its own land, so local zoning won't be a problem!
BART’s East Bay housing designs are taking shape. Here are the plans
A team spearheading a new housing development at the Ashby BART Station unveiled preliminary design images this week, depicting five gleaming apartment buildings rising above green lawns and...
sfchronicle.com
Transitioning from physical parking meters to pay-by-phone can help cities reduce rents and home prices. Why? The cost of installing & maintaining physical meters is a significant obstacle to charging for curb parking.
Goodbye Parking Meters As Budapest Goes Fully Cashless from July
There was a district in Budapest where parking meters generated 100 million forints (281 559 euros) annually, but starting July 1, you will no longer be able to purchase tickets from them. Currently, ...
hungarytoday.hu
Paul (parking reform) Barter@paulbarter.bsky.social · 3w agoRemoving parking meters and shifting mainly to mobile payments has benefits but is controversial. Winnipeg removed parking paystations in July 2025 (with prepaid paper passes as a backup option). I wonder how it is going. cc @parkingreform.org www.parkingreformatlas.org/parking-refo...
This week, the decline of minimum parking mandates continued.🙂 First up: an #Indianapolis city-county councilor introduced a proposal to remove minimum parking mandates everywhere in Marion County (which includes Indianapolis).🧵
Councilor Wants to Eliminate Parking Mandates Throughout Marion County
Indianapolis City-County Councilor Jesse Brown says he's looking to remove parking requirements throughout Marion County.
wibc.com
