Max Dubler 🏳️🌈
@maxdubler
Microblogging and policy at @cayimby. Find me on Bluesky. he/him
Salesperson: and as you can see, the jacket has this wonderful red lining Me, an urban planner, eyes narrowing: it has WHAT
Note also that member deference for affordable housing is almost certainly illegal Chicago is in active litigation with HUD and their MPO has proposed a similar BSA proposal to comply. The CRC is simply helping NYC comply with federal Fair Housing law x.com/CMSandyNurse/s…
2/ @KristyMarmorato @OswaldFeliz @EricDinowitzNYC @CMCarlinaRivera @JulieMenin @AmandaFariasNYC @JoannAriola32 @BobHoldenNYC @CMSandraUng @CMShahanaHanif @alexaforcouncil @CMChrisMarte @CMCHRISBANKS42 @KamillahMHanks @CMNantashaW @CMJulieWon @susanzhuangnyc
New York is the kind of place where even the pols who are *relatively good* on housing supply still want to maintain their power ... to tax new local housing supply.
That’s not the point. I support new housing in my district - but we also negotiate deeper affordability, union jobs, & significant investments in Parks and other infrastructure to meet needs of growing communities. This Commission has decided that shouldn’t happen any more.
Costco is the most trustworthy institution in American life. If you have a problem with Kirkland Signature™, you have a problem with me.
Would Americans be better off without Costco? Zephyr Teachout says yes. I say no. marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolu…
If only there were some way to increase the supply of homes.
Housing is expensive in SF and NYC because there's a massive demand for it.
people really do not know, or do not internalise in their view of the world, that this kind of ecclecticist or neo-gothic/baroque/classicist/empire architecture was the labubus/stanley cups of the 19th century
The overwhelming majority of San Francisco’s celebrated Victorian homes were built with facade elements that were mass produced with power tools in off-site factories and ordered from catalogs. Basically none of them were “hand carved.”
What's an economic asset that can't run away from taxes...used as an input in basically every economic activity...🧐
Guys at some point we are going to have to tax SOMETHING I’m just saying
Founding stock — are you a horse? A dog? One's value to society is determined by what they do, not what some random blood connection did 400 years ago. That conviction, now being destroyed, is what once made America a distinct and extraordinary civilization in world history.
Imagine being an Indian living in America via the UK, claiming American citizenship while speaking with an English accent, telling a White founding stock American with 400+ years of ancestry here he's not a native. The brown chutzpah LARP from Medhi Hasan here is incredible.
Member deference is not a sacred institution. It's an accidental byproduct of ward-based charters. Every ward-based city has it w/different names: Philly: councilmanic prerogative Chicago: aldermanic privilege Baltimore: councilmanic courtesy But no at-large council has it!
The Charter Commission’s Final Report significantly weakens the City Council’s role in land use decisions. This shift toward executive control undermines democratic oversight and meaningful public engagement. I stand with my colleagues who are fighting back. Our statement below:
This is what climate change denial looks like on the micro scale.
It doesn't help that so many Californians living in fire country refuse to take measures to reduce risk. I have no idea how you're supposed to solve this. We built millions of homes in fire zones. And the people living there like it! But this is insane. sfchronicle.com/california/art…
When we levy high taxes on new housing, we get fewer new homes and housing gets less affordable. This remains true when the taxes are intended to fund income restricted affordable housing.
Not a single apartment complex broke ground in San Jose in 2024. Then the city began cutting impact fees & "inclusionary zoning" requirements on a per-project basis. Literally weeks after this happened to a project near the light rail, construction began. It's not rocket science!
It's actually much funnier than this: The urban planner world is awash with a conspiracy that a convoluted system of laws has mandated sprawl and banned apartments near transit, and the people directly responsible for those laws are...urban planners
The urban planner world is awash with people who believe in a conspiracy theory wherein a convoluted system of laws pushed by the auto industry has made us car dependent while also impeding the adoption of mass transit. It never occurs to them that many people just prefer cars.
Ever wonder why housing is so expensive? LA Cold Storage wanted to redevelop their old facility into 1500 homes. Their project was compared to Manzanar by the local progressive group.
Adaptive reuse is so cool. The Kansas City Cold Storage Company Building was originally constructed in 1922 and served for over 80 years as a major cold storage and food distribution hub. This beauty is now home to over 200 lofts in the River Market in KC.
Decentralization of land use authority is *the most significant driver* of NYC's affordable housing crisis. A strong state that can make clear, rational decisions with input from the community needs to eliminate hyperlocal governance veto points like this. This is how good…
The Charter Commission’s Final Report significantly weakens the City Council’s role in land use decisions. This shift toward executive control undermines democratic oversight and meaningful public engagement. I stand with my colleagues who are fighting back. Our statement below:
To be clear, the charter revisions reduce power for individual council members. It takes honesty and integrity to admit that a comprehensive citywide process is better for affordability. Big respect to @OsseChi @ebottcher @ShaunAbreu @PiSanchezNYC for not signing onto the letter.
In case you didn’t know, Baran Studio offers a back yard mini-ramp add-on for ADUs. The fee is unlimited future sessions.