Todd R
@toddrhbg.bsky.social
Consumer of information and ideas, preferably with a sense of humor. Local > National interests. Striving to be civil.
Wrapping up a couple weeks in the cradle of NIMBY-ism in Southern California. But to show the impact of state level land use reform, you can see a 2-story ADU going up in the foreground and a 4-5 story condo building behind. Would never ever have happened with local control.
No more bike lanes protected by “paint” on heavily traveled roads. It’s a lazy design.
Livable Cville@livablecville.bsky.social · 3w agoIf you’re interested in the future of Crozet, consider attending the meeting this evening on Eastern Ave. We definitely want to see protected bike infrastructure as part of the design. Meeting is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the conference room in the Meadows Community Center, 5735 Meadows Drive.
If you drive through NC and especially SC, you will see construction is booming for manufacturing, distribution and workforce housing sites. Virginia is sliding closer to a state like Maryland as a bureaucracy centric state and further from the Sunbelt free market onshoring manufacturing states
Cardinal News@cardinalnews.org · 2mo agoOpinion: Over the past year, Virginia has lost more jobs than any other state
not really fourth of july content but i found thus explanation of affordable housing financing in DC very informative.
Why affordable housing can’t pay for itself
Understand development costs, the financing needed to meet them, and the ever-present “gap.” This is the first in an ongoing series about how affordable housing works.
ggwash.org
Attaching onerous inclusionary zoning requirements to an upzoning is an extremely effective poison pill that ensures very few projects actually get built. It is bad policy rooted in fundamental misunderstandings about how housing markets work.
Requiring for-profit developers to rent a percentage of new homes to poor people at a loss is bad, kludgy neoliberal policy that attempts to outsource a key state function to private market actors. Instead of this de facto tax on new housing, the state should tax property to fund housing subsidies.
Nathan@nwylabour.bsky.social · 2mo agoIndeed, one of the easiest ways to free things up for the private sector would be for the state to build more affordable housing directly, instead of putting in affordable housing requirements that then collapse the viability of private sector building projects.
Very relevant to Charlottesville’s unfunded IZ requirements. Some in-depth points relative to unfunded IZ restricting the types of affordable units it seeks to require. It takes one step to find this gap through finding the IZ requirement to allow projects to be financed and built.
The Urbanist@theurbanist.org · 3mo agoNEW OP-ED// Op-Ed: Bellevue’s Wilburton Housing Policy Actually Builds Housing By Joe Fain (Guest Contributor) via @theurbanist.org
This is what leadership looks like.
Sally Duncan@sallyforsupervisor.bsky.social · 3mo agoHousing is good! I want more housing of all kinds for people at all price points. I want smart expansion of the development area. I want reduced tap fees and development fees. I want faster permitting and developer incentives that work.
These are the people who don’t show up at the CCAC or public hearings bashing attached housing in Crozet.
Jim Duncan@jimduncan.bsky.social · 3mo agoIn the god-awful facebook post, the consensus is: - we don't trust that infrastructure will be provided (valid) - growth is bad - we're full - Nothing will be affordable again - too many homes & townhomes - developers are bad. - BoS doesn't care or listen And then there's this comment.
Brand new homes are expensive primarily because building them costs a lot of money and the sale or rental price needs to cover the cost of construction. We have a housing affordability problem because restrictions on new home building have driven up the prices of OLD housing that should be cheaper.
Affordable Housing Is Harder to Build Than We Want to Admit
Affordable housing isn't built by demanding it, it's built when the math works. A look at the financing gap behind every project, and who closes it.
thewychefamily.com
Here is what happens to housing supply when you modify your zoning ordinance to basically remove townhome and apartment construction as a by-right use (2008-2010) Then you end up with a “housing crisis” with little acknowledgment that the jurisdiction contributed mightily to the crisis.
New Private Housing Structures Authorized by Building Permits for Harrisonburg City, VA
New Private Housing Structures Authorized by Building Permits for Harrisonburg City, VA
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Thank you for posting. Staff and policy makers need to be reviewing data more paying less attention to meetings attended by people anecdotally expressing very narrow points of view
"Michael Monaco"@mmonaco.bsky.social · 3mo agoFRED data has updated with 2025 numbers for new residences by building permit, and that means we can now point at the numbers for housing price index, population, and new homes and go "HUH, seems bad"
Crozet may have land use issues, but it also has the best urban-ish trail system around. Perfect day for a return hike. Shout out Crozet Trail Crew!
Protected bike lanes should be a very high transportation priority for cities like Harrisonburg, Waynesboro, Staunton and Charlottesville. The scale is pretty perfect to fit these in where painted lanes on opposition street sides exist. It also removes parking in bike lane issues
Livable Cville@livablecville.bsky.social · 3mo agoDon’t forget: protected bike lanes will make Charlottesville safer for EVERYONE
Question? Does every major higher education board appointment in Virginia have ties to Dominion Energy. Anecdotal evidence says “yes”. And what about running an energy and lobbying business qualifies one to serve in a University executive capacity?
This stuff from Matt is fantastic for missing middle urban infill ideas
Matt Hutchins AIA@matthutchins.bsky.social · 3mo ago'BEACON' is 1090sf 3BR 2BA on a narrower 16.7x40 footprint perfect for a backyard duplex, or 3 across the face of a 60' lot. Two 10x40 modules, with all the plumbing+kitchen+mechanical in two 6.7x 27 modules. The stair runs perpendicular to the length, eliminating hallways.
It’s not just big cities like Austin showing the power of supply on affordability, college towns can participate just as effectively. You just have to overcome entrenched legacy status quo attitudes and prejudices.
M. Nolan Gray 🥑@mnolangray.bsky.social · 4mo agoFor 45 years, Berkeley built virtually no new housing. By the mid-2010s, it was one of the most expensive college towns in America. Around that time, YIMBYs took over and kicked off a building boom. Today, rents are below 2018 levels in nominal terms—a remarkable case of progress on affordability.
This has to be stressed repeatedly. High quality and high density student housing helps alleviate the shadow marked of students living in single family housing within proximity to a University. There is also much less disruption from parties at a managed project versus an absentee owner backyard
Steven L. Johnson@stevenljohnson.org · 4mo agoSatiating student housing demand through new projects frees up rental units for non-students—for example the house across the street from me now has students but for most of the time I lived here had non-students. It will almost certainly return to non-students once The Verve & The Blume open
These dual lanes with physical separation are sooooo much better than one lane each side separated by “paint”.
Nora 🇪🇪@llcrane.bsky.social · 4mo agoRoanoke has better bike lanes than Charlottesville - a significantly larger city.
Having lived near Beaver Hill and driven past the existing manufactured home community on a regular basis, I found the existing community quiet and well-maintained. It is in a beautiful setting and would provide affordable workforce and retiree housing as an extension of an existing community.
Livable Cville@livablecville.bsky.social · 4mo agoAffordable housing advocacy opportunity in Albemarle County! We sent a letter in support of the Beaver Hill rezoning in Crozet. It would allow 49 new manufactured homes at an existing mobile home park. This is a great opportunity for more affordable housing! 🧵 docs.google.com/document/d/1...
This is very true. People must accept more neighbors and more compact living and give up commuter trips
Livable Cville@livablecville.bsky.social · 4mo agoBuilding way more housing in Charlottesville and Albemarle County’s urban ring (and expanding the ring a bit while we are at it) would be just about the best pro-environment action the Charlottesville area could take
Amazing how Austin had the infrastructure to bear such growth, tic
M. Nolan Gray 🥑@mnolangray.bsky.social · 6mo agoNew research from Pew quantifies the extent of the success of YIMBYism in Austin: after a huge run up in prices over the 2010s, the city dramatically liberalized and kicked off a building boom. Now rents are falling. www.pew.org/en/research-...
Pro-housing reform is simple. Courage is required to face down well-heeled legacy homeowners.
Livable Cville@livablecville.bsky.social · 8mo agoLegalizing ADU’s and making them easy to build is basically the lowest hanging fruit of common sense housing reform. We hope to see Albemarle make this happen soon!
This is honestly hilarious when you think about it and how grossly dysfunctional the Albemarle land use and housing market is compared the the entirely of non-NOVA Virginia
Jim Duncan@jimduncan.bsky.social · 11mo agoQuick look at why growth is happening outside of Charlottesville + Albemarle. Median price of sold single family new construction home in 2025: - Albemarle: $944,625 - Wayensboro: $367,485 - Augusta: $452,437 - Greene: $454,563 - Louisa: $452,113 - Fluvanna: $402,578
My literal heroine! This is the local politics we need in all our communities to supply abundant housing. How students should be treated in a major university town and how housing is about “yes” where every single material project faces nimby opposition.
Steven L. Johnson@stevenljohnson.org · 12mo ago🔥
