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macdiehard.bsky.social
All about solving the housing and homelessness crisis. Join us at http://SeattleYIMBY.org.
95 posts 91 followers 158 following
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Nice post demanding better governance in blue states by @erikloomis.bsky.social www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/05/poor...

I would be more sympathetic to anti-gentrification arguments against new market rate housing if blocking new apartments actually stopped rich people from moving into neighborhoods; but it doesn't. There is no home that is too shitty for a rich person to buy and renovate into luxury housing!

NYC seems to love congestion pricing. Let's bring it to Seattle!

Everyone with money on the line understands that new housing supply reduces rents in existing buildings. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

One detail I want to highlight on the kiosk proposal: the city council is being asked to approve the (30 year) term permit *before* the city signs the revenue sharing agreement with DSA. Currently the vote is set to happen before we even know how much $ the city will get back from the kiosks.

Unbelievable

living in freiburg opened my eyes to the power of trams. quick. affordable. you see things while you travel (as opposed to being underground). of course dedicated tramways instead of mixed traffic is the way to go (freiburg's altstadt is a mostly car-free downtown prioritizing trams, bikes, feet)

Yes! Density and parks!

If Seattle elected leaders and city planners don’t want to see more townhomes and want homes that are cheaper to build, then we need to double the stacked flat bonus and remove the lot minimum requirements. Without that, you’re locked in for townhomes.

0.6 FAR bonus would be even better and would equal OPCD’s original 1.8 FAR for stacked flats near transit

This is what a housing crisis looks like.

“If we were still a serious country, Trump’s crypto corruption would lead to his immediate impeachment and removal from office.”🔥 @pkrugman.bsky.social Krugman ▶️ no matter what “cosmetic changes” Republicans make to the dumb GENIUS Act - Sen Dems should block it. open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

Great article! Let's make stacked flats as affordable to build as town homes. Email the SBCC ([email protected]) and tell them to reject the WABO amendments and support Markus Johnson’s amendments citing the desires of the state law and ability to lower the cost of housing. [details in article]

Write your City Council members

I don't keep up with education matters much but looks like Mississippi and some other red states are getting impressive results. Maybe it is not just blue vs red housing policies we should look at. open.substack.com/pub/timdaly/...

7 of 10 states with highest young homeownership are Republican-leaning, while 7 of 10 states with lowest rates are Democratic-leaning.

Just asked a California transit manager if the state's Zero Emission Bus mandate is causing them to run less service than they otherwise would. He said: "Yes, definitely." A diesel bus only has to get 4 ppl out of cars to be better for the planet than an electric bus. Hmm.

Washington state has to work overtime to counteract Seattle

A year later and middle housing’s future in Seattle is still murky: www.djc.com/news/ae/1216...

NEW STORY // Seattle Commission Warns Of Adding ‘Poison Pills’ to Middle Housing Changes www.theurbanist.org/2025/05/05/s...

Council is set this week to propose amendments to the Mayor’s interim middle housing legislation—could be good, like Stacked Flat and affordable housing bonuses or could be poison pills, like MHA and additional design limits. www.theurbanist.org/2025/05/05/s...

This is very good. hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/what-left-...

Housing is the brown M&M's test for anyone claiming they want to change the world. If you can't grasp "more house where people want house" then how are you going to deal with far more complex problems like health care, trade policy or national defense?

US policy uncertainty right now is off the charts -- worse than during covid, 2008 financial crisis, debt limit showdowns, after 9/11, you name it. www.policyuncertainty.com

Something has got to be done here to protect state laws. It is just too much whack-a-mole fighting the relentless NIMBYism of “local control” that caused the housing crisis to begin with. Attn @jessdbateman.bsky.social @staterepjuliareed.bsky.social

The three floor townhouses currently being built are not suitable for those who cannot climb stairs. The city and Council would need to change zoning and regulations to make all-on-one-level stacked flats feasible

The City of Issaquah is set to waive a requirement that a five-story building include a building step back just for one specific affordable housing project, where it would add $1.2 million to the building's cost. Is that requirement worth adding $1.2 million to other projects?

Well, this is breaking news to some. For instance, some Seattle council members and Seattle homeowners on NextDoor

We need to elect more people who are not SF homeowners

What a concept

People like Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr. and Elizabeth Cady Stanton who were instrumental in creating a better nation made constant reference to the ideals of our founding. They did so because "everything sucks" cynicism will only build you a movement of impotent mental patients.

Fortunately, Wyden is my Senator so I don't have to call him. You should call yours, though

Our kids deserve better.

Cartoon with caption by my buddy @jackhauen.bsky.social

Response From OSE!!! The City has planted 22,700 trees in the last two years. This is fantastic, and far in excess of the 1800 we lose, so we should see a growing tree canopy!! We can have more trees and more housing and it helps that the city is planting thousands of public trees!!!

Monday's Most Read # 3 - A Bold Move to Help Fix the Housing Crisis Just Happened in an Unexpected Place link.theoverheadwire.com/ryc9t @henrygrabar.bsky.social @slate.com

www.thenation.com/article/soci... "Much of the class conflict in housing politics takes place not between Big Real Estate and local communities but within communities: Affluent homeowners, particularly when they are organized into neighborhood associations, form powerful anti-housing blocs."

I look at transit improvements by the "80/20 rule". We can easily and quickly solve virtually all transportation needs for 80% of people with existing, known, operating transit solutions right now. The remaining 20% maybe can't use transit at all or still need a car at home. Most of us don't.

Tax incentives often explain a lot

The median red state GOP legislator is like "it's really cool when people want to move here, we should build homes for them and create good blue collar jobs," the median blue state Dem legislator is like "fuck off, we're full," and inter alia this could easily swing the 2032 presidential election