Barbara Samuels
@bsamuels72.bsky.social
Unleashed, not retired. Fair Housing & Affordable Housing attorney. Orioles, Ravens true believer. WV mountains, Cape waters, but Baltimore is still home. Repost is not endorsement etc
Reposted by Barbara Samuels
This piece is as good as people say it is. A fierce critique of zoning, by the former executive director of the zoning office in Baltimore.
"Why I lost faith in zoning." tinyurl.com/5n8sh428 Baltimore’s former zoning board executive director, on why she supports @mayorbmscott.bsky.social bills to promote more density and multi-family housing in the city. [OP-ED]
Baltimore’s former zoning board director explains why she lost faith in zoning | Baltimore Brew
The mayor’s “Housing Options and Opportunity” legislation – including Bill 25-0066 – will go a long way toward fixing an unfair system. [OP-ED]
tinyurl.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:23 AM
This piece is as good as people say it is. A fierce critique of zoning, by the former executive director of the zoning office in Baltimore.
Reposted by Barbara Samuels
This article on public participation in land use/planning decision-making bears on the current Baltimore City debate about a broad-reaching residential zoning bill. In short, is more participation better than a clearer definition about the purpose of public participation?
@caseybanderson.bsky.social, a person who knows from public meetings, issues this treatise on why public meetings don't work and how they can work better
Opinion: The problem at public meetings isn't who shows up, but the roles that the people at public meetings are expected to play
November 24, 2025 at 11:41 PM
This article on public participation in land use/planning decision-making bears on the current Baltimore City debate about a broad-reaching residential zoning bill. In short, is more participation better than a clearer definition about the purpose of public participation?
Yes! Family sized housing must be about the families who are the backbone of cities, not just millenials as they mature.
‘Gov’t must change how they measure the success of publicly supported housing. Dont just focus on maximizing new units built—prioritize the # of bedrooms & people housed.’ 1/
‘Gov’t must change how they measure the success of publicly supported housing. Dont just focus on maximizing new units built—prioritize the # of bedrooms & people housed.’ 1/
November 24, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Yes! Family sized housing must be about the families who are the backbone of cities, not just millenials as they mature.
‘Gov’t must change how they measure the success of publicly supported housing. Dont just focus on maximizing new units built—prioritize the # of bedrooms & people housed.’ 1/
‘Gov’t must change how they measure the success of publicly supported housing. Dont just focus on maximizing new units built—prioritize the # of bedrooms & people housed.’ 1/
Residents of the older urban n-hoods of Baltimore Co subsidize the top 10% that live outside the URDL & the n-hoods inside the URDL zoned for low density.
Worse yet, because state law requires the City to provide water/sewer at cost to Baltimore Co, City customers subsidize suburban customers.
Worse yet, because state law requires the City to provide water/sewer at cost to Baltimore Co, City customers subsidize suburban customers.
WATCH: If you really STILL don’t understand how car-dependent suburbia is HEAVILY SUBSIDIZED by downtown & all the urban parts of your city, please watch this EXCELLENT video by #NotJustBikes helped by #UrbanThree & @StrongTowns.org. And then please SHARE it as much as possible. youtu.be/7Nw6qyyrTeI
November 22, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Residents of the older urban n-hoods of Baltimore Co subsidize the top 10% that live outside the URDL & the n-hoods inside the URDL zoned for low density.
Worse yet, because state law requires the City to provide water/sewer at cost to Baltimore Co, City customers subsidize suburban customers.
Worse yet, because state law requires the City to provide water/sewer at cost to Baltimore Co, City customers subsidize suburban customers.
Reposted by Barbara Samuels
The new HUD guidelines are cruel; designed to support an agenda, & harm vulnerable people while creating a pathway for grift. Walking back evidence-based Housing First & harm reduction policies in favor of psuedo-moralistic grandstanding is appalling & in some cases likely illegal. #StandUpFightBack
November 22, 2025 at 3:31 PM
The new HUD guidelines are cruel; designed to support an agenda, & harm vulnerable people while creating a pathway for grift. Walking back evidence-based Housing First & harm reduction policies in favor of psuedo-moralistic grandstanding is appalling & in some cases likely illegal. #StandUpFightBack
Look you can buy your own 8000 ft castle on septic in western Ellicott City. This is rural life outside the PFA growth boundary at its Smart Growth best!
redf.in/dnWJps
redf.in/dnWJps
12400 Triadelphia Rd, Ellicott City, MD 21042 - 5 beds/5.5 baths
(BRIGHT MLS) For Sale: 5 beds, 5.5 baths ∙ 7961 sq. ft. ∙ 12400 Triadelphia Rd, Ellicott City, MD 21042 ∙ $1,695,000 ∙ MLS# MDHW2061938 ∙ Coming Soon: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THIS HOUSE BEFORE THANKSGIVING...
redf.in
November 22, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Look you can buy your own 8000 ft castle on septic in western Ellicott City. This is rural life outside the PFA growth boundary at its Smart Growth best!
redf.in/dnWJps
redf.in/dnWJps
Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Republican Congressman Don Bacon:
“This sounds like 1938 Munich.”
“This sounds like 1938 Munich.”
November 19, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Republican Congressman Don Bacon:
“This sounds like 1938 Munich.”
“This sounds like 1938 Munich.”
Reposted by Barbara Samuels
"What do we want? Affordable housing!"
Ok, here's some subsidized, below market rate affordable housing!
"No, wait, not like that!"
😵💫
Ok, here's some subsidized, below market rate affordable housing!
"No, wait, not like that!"
😵💫
November 21, 2025 at 4:21 PM
"What do we want? Affordable housing!"
Ok, here's some subsidized, below market rate affordable housing!
"No, wait, not like that!"
😵💫
Ok, here's some subsidized, below market rate affordable housing!
"No, wait, not like that!"
😵💫
Its hard enough to overcome NIMBY resistance. Affordable Housing is not the place for architectural innovation or self-expression.
Ensuring facades and proportions fit in with the surrounding area wont eliminate NIMBY resistance, but it may avoid debates about ‘ugly’ or ‘beautiful’ buildings.
Ensuring facades and proportions fit in with the surrounding area wont eliminate NIMBY resistance, but it may avoid debates about ‘ugly’ or ‘beautiful’ buildings.
IDEAL CITIES – Even Dwell Magazine, the bastion of millennial modernism that exists specifically to publish modern houses, has begun to accept that traditional construction might have a proper place in our world, and specifically for affordable housing.
www.dwell.com/article/the-...
www.dwell.com/article/the-...
The Case for Old-Looking, New Affordable Housing
To the delight of fans of vernacular architecture, in historic neighborhoods from New England to the U.K., projects are being designed to seem like they’ve been there all along.
www.dwell.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Its hard enough to overcome NIMBY resistance. Affordable Housing is not the place for architectural innovation or self-expression.
Ensuring facades and proportions fit in with the surrounding area wont eliminate NIMBY resistance, but it may avoid debates about ‘ugly’ or ‘beautiful’ buildings.
Ensuring facades and proportions fit in with the surrounding area wont eliminate NIMBY resistance, but it may avoid debates about ‘ugly’ or ‘beautiful’ buildings.
Growth boundaries, exclusionary zoning & lack of sewers don’t stop building in western 1/2 of Howard & northern 2/3 of Baltimore Co. They just ensure it will be enclaves of $1+ million McMansions sprawled out on large lots. Instead of the attainable climate friendly housing we need.
redf.in/YLkWzZ
redf.in/YLkWzZ
6620 Brown Oak Ln Unit DEVONSHIRE, Highland, MD - 4 beds/2.5 baths
(BRIGHT MLS) For Sale: 4 beds, 2.5 baths ∙ 4016 sq. ft. ∙ 6620 Brown Oak Ln Unit DEVONSHIRE, Highland, MD 20777 ∙ $1,689,838 ∙ MLS# MDHW2041148 ∙ Welcome to Clarksville Crossing, a distinguished commu...
redf.in
November 21, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Growth boundaries, exclusionary zoning & lack of sewers don’t stop building in western 1/2 of Howard & northern 2/3 of Baltimore Co. They just ensure it will be enclaves of $1+ million McMansions sprawled out on large lots. Instead of the attainable climate friendly housing we need.
redf.in/YLkWzZ
redf.in/YLkWzZ
Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Man, when they created privatized Medicare Advantage (“Medicare Part C”), they must have looked at the subprime mortgage industry and said, “yeah, let’s do it like that.” Scammy marketing, targeting vulnerable old folks, low “teaser” prices, complex and deceptive products, it’s all there.
November 20, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Man, when they created privatized Medicare Advantage (“Medicare Part C”), they must have looked at the subprime mortgage industry and said, “yeah, let’s do it like that.” Scammy marketing, targeting vulnerable old folks, low “teaser” prices, complex and deceptive products, it’s all there.
The separate & unequal failure to provide buses to school long predates school choice. But like so many problems due to Maryland’s ongoing legacy of segregation we lacked political will to fix a supposedly “intractable problem.” Thanks go the Banner for tearing off the veil. Now its up to the state…
NEW: Thousands of Baltimore students can’t get to school on time because of unreliable transit.
The city's school choice system complicates creating a yellow bus network for all.
A new plan proves it can be done.
w/ @lizbowie.bsky.social & @ajv.bsky.social
www.thebanner.com/education/k-...
The city's school choice system complicates creating a yellow bus network for all.
A new plan proves it can be done.
w/ @lizbowie.bsky.social & @ajv.bsky.social
www.thebanner.com/education/k-...
School buses for every Baltimore student seemed impossible — until now
School transportation company HopSkipDrive used AI and a Banner analysis to map how yellow buses, vans and cars could get Baltimore students to school safely and on time for less than 5% of the distri...
www.thebanner.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:45 PM
The separate & unequal failure to provide buses to school long predates school choice. But like so many problems due to Maryland’s ongoing legacy of segregation we lacked political will to fix a supposedly “intractable problem.” Thanks go the Banner for tearing off the veil. Now its up to the state…
The YIMBY movement usually focuses on need for zoning reform in booming high tech cities & suburbs. But to overcome population loss, repurpose abandoned buildings, support amenities & build quality Affordable Housing, post-industrial, low growth cities also need to remove artificial zoning barriers.
Baltimore City might be entering its YIMBY era
Baltimore might be entering its YIMBY era
A suite of zoning changes is garnering steam in Baltimore City Council, despite impassioned pushback.
buff.ly
November 20, 2025 at 6:28 PM
The YIMBY movement usually focuses on need for zoning reform in booming high tech cities & suburbs. But to overcome population loss, repurpose abandoned buildings, support amenities & build quality Affordable Housing, post-industrial, low growth cities also need to remove artificial zoning barriers.
Reposted by Barbara Samuels
I say again. Beloved holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life is about affordable housing.
"Is it too much to ask that [the poor live, work, die] in a decent house, with a decent roof, and a couple of decent rooms?" - George Bailey
"Is it too much to ask that [the poor live, work, die] in a decent house, with a decent roof, and a couple of decent rooms?" - George Bailey
November 19, 2025 at 5:16 PM
I say again. Beloved holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life is about affordable housing.
"Is it too much to ask that [the poor live, work, die] in a decent house, with a decent roof, and a couple of decent rooms?" - George Bailey
"Is it too much to ask that [the poor live, work, die] in a decent house, with a decent roof, and a couple of decent rooms?" - George Bailey
Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Me on Trump's 50-year-mortgage scheme and all the other things he's done to make housing even less affordable: www.ms.now/opinion/msnb...
Trump's 50-year-mortgage proposal is just the start of his housing problems
Letting homebuyers opt for a longer mortgage won’t make any homes cheaper.
www.ms.now
November 19, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Me on Trump's 50-year-mortgage scheme and all the other things he's done to make housing even less affordable: www.ms.now/opinion/msnb...
Reposted by Barbara Samuels
The housing crisis gets framed as "NYC Mayor fails to build." But that's blaming the person with a leaky bucket when the neighbor is pouring out the rest of the water. Our suburban segregation doughnut suppresses supply to keep property values sky-high. That's the real villain.
November 17, 2025 at 10:41 PM
The housing crisis gets framed as "NYC Mayor fails to build." But that's blaming the person with a leaky bucket when the neighbor is pouring out the rest of the water. Our suburban segregation doughnut suppresses supply to keep property values sky-high. That's the real villain.
Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Harsh reality is SF homeownership in Black n-hoods of segregated, Rust Belt cities like Baltimore & Detroit do not built wealth. Just the opposite. As even City admits, many of these areas do not have “functioning housing market.” Baltimore is not high demand Brooklyn, SF, LA.
What happens…1/
What happens…1/
Baltimore residents, including Black residents, favor zoning that promotes home ownership as a way to build wealth and have a good quality of life. Why dismantle that with the @mayorbmscott.bsky.social administration's Bill 25-0066? [OP-ED] tinyurl.com/43psx9tb
Eroding the bedrock of single-family-zoned neighborhoods in Baltimore doesn’t make sense | Baltimore Brew
Residents, including Black residents, favor zoning that promotes home ownership as a way to build wealth and have a good quality of life. So why dismantle that with Bill 25-0066? [OP-ED]
tinyurl.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Harsh reality is SF homeownership in Black n-hoods of segregated, Rust Belt cities like Baltimore & Detroit do not built wealth. Just the opposite. As even City admits, many of these areas do not have “functioning housing market.” Baltimore is not high demand Brooklyn, SF, LA.
What happens…1/
What happens…1/
A pretty good state housing agenda to meet the urgency of the housing crisis! Housing has long been primary purview of feds & locals. But there is a lot we know states can do. Its a matter of political will.
Today, 158 orgs sent a letter to Gov.-Elect @mikiesherrill.bsky.social urging her to prioritize housing justice.
Amid soaring costs & devastating federal cuts, we need bold policies to protect tenants & expand affordable homes.
Learn more & read the letter: www.fairsharehousing.org/press-releas...
Amid soaring costs & devastating federal cuts, we need bold policies to protect tenants & expand affordable homes.
Learn more & read the letter: www.fairsharehousing.org/press-releas...
November 17, 2025 at 7:26 PM
A pretty good state housing agenda to meet the urgency of the housing crisis! Housing has long been primary purview of feds & locals. But there is a lot we know states can do. Its a matter of political will.
Not even one of the federal agencies mentioned by NYT: IRS law enforcement officers have been detailed to Memphis for Trump’s anti-crime “shadow” immigrant deportation surge. IRS usually investigates complex financial crimes e.g money laundering, drug trafficking, health care fraud, terrorism, etc
As DHS becomes the Dept of Deportation..
33% less time spent on child exploitation.
Focus diverted from its core mission in order to arrest undocumented people on parking lots.
Fmr DHS official:
"These distractions could have deadly consequences.”
(Gift article)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/u...
33% less time spent on child exploitation.
Focus diverted from its core mission in order to arrest undocumented people on parking lots.
Fmr DHS official:
"These distractions could have deadly consequences.”
(Gift article)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/u...
The Department of Deportation
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Not even one of the federal agencies mentioned by NYT: IRS law enforcement officers have been detailed to Memphis for Trump’s anti-crime “shadow” immigrant deportation surge. IRS usually investigates complex financial crimes e.g money laundering, drug trafficking, health care fraud, terrorism, etc
Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Listen.
NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
November 17, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Listen.
“An admission in all the rhetoric about children having to go without toys & insisting that a bright future is the masses happily working in a factory for their entire lives: We know our policies will make you poorer & make life harder for millions of working people in America. We just don’t care.
Maga wants to keep Americans poor, in debt. His wealthy friends own the businesses Americans depend on, many are monopolies geared to force you to buy only from them. Many have bought up housing leaving Americans out of the housing market.
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
The Trump Administration Thinks You Should Be OK With Being Poor
As the country's economic outlook bleakens, Trump officials are trying to convince us that actually, being poor is a good thing.
www.huffpost.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:33 PM
“An admission in all the rhetoric about children having to go without toys & insisting that a bright future is the masses happily working in a factory for their entire lives: We know our policies will make you poorer & make life harder for millions of working people in America. We just don’t care.
On NIMBYism:
“I understand hometown nostalgia and I understand the impulse to keep familiar things the same. But trying to translate these human feelings into housing policy is how we got into this mess.”
“I understand hometown nostalgia and I understand the impulse to keep familiar things the same. But trying to translate these human feelings into housing policy is how we got into this mess.”
What I’m doing here is (hopefully!) articulating the worldview or the web of unspoken assumptions behind the things that NIMBY-sympathetic people say, because I suspect that a lot of them have never really thought through this stuff very much. thedeletedscenes.substack.com/p/hi-its-the...
Hi, It's "They," We're The Problem
Living in a place does not require that you gatekeep it
thedeletedscenes.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:44 PM
On NIMBYism:
“I understand hometown nostalgia and I understand the impulse to keep familiar things the same. But trying to translate these human feelings into housing policy is how we got into this mess.”
“I understand hometown nostalgia and I understand the impulse to keep familiar things the same. But trying to translate these human feelings into housing policy is how we got into this mess.”
Reposted by Barbara Samuels
What does it really mean to increase racial equity in housing?
Shelterforce outlines 3 frameworks—inclusive, transformative, and reparative—and why knowing the difference matters.
📰 buff.ly/98k4ZjR
#HousingJustice #Equity
Shelterforce outlines 3 frameworks—inclusive, transformative, and reparative—and why knowing the difference matters.
📰 buff.ly/98k4ZjR
#HousingJustice #Equity
November 16, 2025 at 5:02 PM
What does it really mean to increase racial equity in housing?
Shelterforce outlines 3 frameworks—inclusive, transformative, and reparative—and why knowing the difference matters.
📰 buff.ly/98k4ZjR
#HousingJustice #Equity
Shelterforce outlines 3 frameworks—inclusive, transformative, and reparative—and why knowing the difference matters.
📰 buff.ly/98k4ZjR
#HousingJustice #Equity
Mostly ignored by both YIMBYs & NIMBYs:
‘All poor children face many disadvantages, but where children grow up determines access to good schools, parks, and after-school programs.
Growing up in low-income, segregated n-hoods has a profoundly negative effect independent of family income or race.’
‘All poor children face many disadvantages, but where children grow up determines access to good schools, parks, and after-school programs.
Growing up in low-income, segregated n-hoods has a profoundly negative effect independent of family income or race.’
“Christian love and hospitality are responses to God’s generosity. We are often exceptionally good at showing hospitality in our private homes, but we may not have considered how we and our spaces might be unhospitable on a greater, bureaucratic level.”
www.christianitytoday.com/2025/11/hosp...
www.christianitytoday.com/2025/11/hosp...
Charity Begins with Zoning Reforms - Christianity Today
Stewarding our neighborhoods is part of Christian hospitality.
www.christianitytoday.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Mostly ignored by both YIMBYs & NIMBYs:
‘All poor children face many disadvantages, but where children grow up determines access to good schools, parks, and after-school programs.
Growing up in low-income, segregated n-hoods has a profoundly negative effect independent of family income or race.’
‘All poor children face many disadvantages, but where children grow up determines access to good schools, parks, and after-school programs.
Growing up in low-income, segregated n-hoods has a profoundly negative effect independent of family income or race.’