Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you! 🙏

Reposted by Ronda Kaysen

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 4d

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

140 1.8K 4.7K

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · 19d

For this program the homes are on public land that will be sold to the homebuyers, but the program is only 200 homes. It’s not clear what happens after that.

1 3

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · 19d

If they ever feel comfortable. There is often a huge resistance to any kind of affordable housing.

2

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · 19d

These are the single starter family homes — there was $50M in the state budget for this pilot program

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · 20d

These homes are built to HUD standards and are built using crossmod technology. They’re permanently affixed to a slab foundation. They’re not trailers.

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · 20d

These are trailer parks — they’re standalone homes that sell like regular real estate.

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · 20d

I think there is a concern about this — manufactured housing has a serious stigma. The idea behind this plan is that if communities see it, they might see manufactured housing differently

1 1

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · 20d

This is a standalone plan to just build these units. Unlike Barclays it’s not tied to any other development.

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · 20d

Trailers are manufactured homes, but these aren’t trailers. The one I saw was 3 bedrooms with a walk in closet and a kitchen with an island and pendant lights. It’s affixed to the foundation. It meets HUD standards to you can get a mortgage. But it’s still on a chassis and built in a factory.

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · 20d

Hochul, whose parents once lived in a single wide trailer, sees this kind of housing as a way to quickly build affordable starter homes.

1 4

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · 20d

The home I toured was built in 8 days and installed in a week and it has 3 bedrooms and a kitchen with an island

1 6

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · 20d

Gov Hochul announced a new plan to bring manufactured homes to rural and suburban New York. In my exclusive interview with her, she talked about the stigma of manufactured housing and how building more of it is the only way to convince people that it can work. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/r...

With New Plan, Hochul Fast-Tracks Housing Supply

www.nytimes.com

13 30 160

Reposted by Ronda Kaysen

Ben Casselman @bencasselman.bsky.social · Aug 3

President Trump didn't like the jobs numbers, so he fired the person responsible for producing them.
It's a move that has been tried before, by leaders of countries from Argentina to Greece to the Soviet Union. It rarely ends well.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/b... #EconSky

Trump Fired America’s Economic Data Collector. History Shows the Perils.

www.nytimes.com

26 250 810

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · Jul 31

Where is this alert from? Where are you? (Asking because I’m trying to get back to NJ before it gets too bad)

1 1

Reposted by Ronda Kaysen

The Upshot @upshot.nytimes.com · Jul 26

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/04/r...

Search activity for American listings plummeted in the wake of President Trump’s unpredictable trade war. Via @rondakaysen.bsky.social earlier this month.

Canadian Buyers Are Dropping Out of the U.S. Housing Market

www.nytimes.com

3 10 16

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · Jul 4

As Trump started rolling out tariff policies and calling for Canada to be a US state, Canadians stopped looking for houses to buy here. My story today www.nytimes.com/2025/07/04/r...

Canadian Buyers Are Dropping Out of the U.S. Housing Market

www.nytimes.com

3

Reposted by Ronda Kaysen

Eviction Lab @evictionlab.bsky.social · Jun 5

“There isn’t any urgency to buying right now — if anything it feels more risky to put a down payment into a home when you might not have a job six months from now.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/02/r...

By @nytimes.com’s @rondakaysen.bsky.social
#housing+ #urbanism+ #urbanism

The Housing Market Was Supposed to Recover This Year. What Happened?

www.nytimes.com

1 2

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · Jun 3

The US has not built enough housing in decades. It’s a big reason why home prices are high and why rents are high. Builders depend on steel to build apartment buildings.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · May 30

Trump makes a tariff announcement in Pennsylvania: "We are going to be imposing a 25% increase -- we're gonna bring it from 25% to 50%, the tariffs on steel into the US."

1

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · Jun 2

Perhaps most telling was my conversation with an Austin homeowner who's home has been sitting on the market since February. He lowered the price once, by $25,000, but he doesn't feel any urgency. His interest rate is 2.6%. Worst case, he says he'll rent it out.

1

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · Jun 2

One buyer who's all but given up, told me: "I feel like buying a home, owning a home, is becoming a privilege that only the truly wealthy can enjoy."

1 3

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · Jun 2

“They used to be content, thinking their jobs are going to be there, but it’s not the same anymore,” she said.

1 1

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · Jun 2

La’Keshia White, a real estate agent in Douglasville, Ga., said that some of her prospective buyers dropped out of the market after losing federal jobs. Others are nervous and scaling back their budgets to leave more cushion should their financial situation change.

1

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · Jun 2

Daryl Fairweather, Redfin's chief economist, told me: “There isn’t any urgency to buying right now — if anything it feels more risky to put a down payment into a home when you might not have a job six months from now."

1 3

Ronda Kaysen @rondakaysen.bsky.social · Jun 2

On April 2, President Trump rolled out his global trade tariffs, shocking the stock and bond markets and sparking fears of a recession. The extreme volatility threw cold water on a fragile market. Buyers bailed out.

1 3