Payton Chung
@westnorth.com
Card-carrying urbanist since 1998; housing developer, author, museum docent, board member, single-issue #climate voter. Opine solely for myself. Ex-CHI, BOS, RDU 🚄🚋🚴♂️🌇🏗️🚰🏳️🌈
Words @ggwash.org @citybuilder.bsky.social
Words @ggwash.org @citybuilder.bsky.social
Pinned
Payton Chung
@westnorth.com
· Nov 22
www.fastcompany.com
👋 new followers! #GreatestHits from the Other Site to get acquainted.
A 3750 sq. ft. McMansion is legal just about everywhere in America. But the exact same lot, with the exact same number of residential square feet, divided into eight tiny houses? No!
www.fastcompany.com/90348777/thi...
A 3750 sq. ft. McMansion is legal just about everywhere in America. But the exact same lot, with the exact same number of residential square feet, divided into eight tiny houses? No!
www.fastcompany.com/90348777/thi...
Gentle reminder that ALL of the growth in single-person households since 2000 has been among seniors. Singles age 15-64 were 16.6% of US households in 2000, and 16.5% in 2020.
www.census.gov/library/stor...
www.census.gov/library/stor...
November 26, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Gentle reminder that ALL of the growth in single-person households since 2000 has been among seniors. Singles age 15-64 were 16.6% of US households in 2000, and 16.5% in 2020.
www.census.gov/library/stor...
www.census.gov/library/stor...
The federal government already has a columned ballroom that seats 1,000, decorated with the Presidential seal. But it doesn't belong to the executive; it was built into the Pension Building, accessory to offices that paid Union Army war widows, and it's open to the public.
nbm.org/pension-buil...
nbm.org/pension-buil...
November 26, 2025 at 6:24 PM
The federal government already has a columned ballroom that seats 1,000, decorated with the Presidential seal. But it doesn't belong to the executive; it was built into the Pension Building, accessory to offices that paid Union Army war widows, and it's open to the public.
nbm.org/pension-buil...
nbm.org/pension-buil...
Psst, a lot of data centers proposed in the current environment are never going to get built
www.bisnow.com/national/new...
"Eventually, they will be able to expand far more efficiently within these existing campuses"
www.bisnow.com/national/new...
"Eventually, they will be able to expand far more efficiently within these existing campuses"
www.bisnow.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Psst, a lot of data centers proposed in the current environment are never going to get built
www.bisnow.com/national/new...
"Eventually, they will be able to expand far more efficiently within these existing campuses"
www.bisnow.com/national/new...
"Eventually, they will be able to expand far more efficiently within these existing campuses"
LOL that now-defunct Sonder began in 2012 by discovering the same arbitrage that determined my 2005 summer vacation: McGill students' summer sublets are far cheaper per night than Montreal hotels.
(That they subsequently took on $1.7B in debt is entirely their fault.)
www.cnbc.com/2021/02/20/h...
(That they subsequently took on $1.7B in debt is entirely their fault.)
www.cnbc.com/2021/02/20/h...
This 28-year-old turned his college side hustle into a $1.3 billion start-up backed by Jeff Bezos
Francis Davidson rented out his college apartment over the summer for extra cash. Now Sonder is a $1.3 billion start-up that may be the next big hospitality brand.
www.cnbc.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:01 PM
LOL that now-defunct Sonder began in 2012 by discovering the same arbitrage that determined my 2005 summer vacation: McGill students' summer sublets are far cheaper per night than Montreal hotels.
(That they subsequently took on $1.7B in debt is entirely their fault.)
www.cnbc.com/2021/02/20/h...
(That they subsequently took on $1.7B in debt is entirely their fault.)
www.cnbc.com/2021/02/20/h...
Reposted by Payton Chung
The truly wild thing is this isn’t even true, a shit-ton of their oil reserves on paper are heavy tar sands and every US oil company will take one look at that at $80/bbl and walk away because it isn’t close to economically viable.
Rep. Salazar on Venezuela: "We're about to go in ... we need to go in ... Venezuela for the American oil companies will be a field day"
November 24, 2025 at 9:26 PM
The truly wild thing is this isn’t even true, a shit-ton of their oil reserves on paper are heavy tar sands and every US oil company will take one look at that at $80/bbl and walk away because it isn’t close to economically viable.
The "scientifically 'safe' density level" is higher than anything that exists in the USA; life expectancy in Hong Kong is higher than in Marin County.
"we don’t set different air quality standards or fire codes based on neighborhood. If density restrictions actually protected public health, we could identify a scientifically 'safe' density level and apply it uniformly citywide, as we would with any other health-related regulation."
November 24, 2025 at 5:58 PM
The "scientifically 'safe' density level" is higher than anything that exists in the USA; life expectancy in Hong Kong is higher than in Marin County.
Reposted by Payton Chung
Engineers think of traffic as one particular liquid. Sewage.
You don't care how long it takes to get to its destination, but you do everything possible to make sure it doesn't back up.
Sanitary engineering was a hot new science when traffic engineering started in the 1920s.
You don't care how long it takes to get to its destination, but you do everything possible to make sure it doesn't back up.
Sanitary engineering was a hot new science when traffic engineering started in the 1920s.
Engineers think it’s a liquid but traffic is a gas. Give it space and it’ll fill it up. Take it away and it disperses
Every time
November 24, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Engineers think of traffic as one particular liquid. Sewage.
You don't care how long it takes to get to its destination, but you do everything possible to make sure it doesn't back up.
Sanitary engineering was a hot new science when traffic engineering started in the 1920s.
You don't care how long it takes to get to its destination, but you do everything possible to make sure it doesn't back up.
Sanitary engineering was a hot new science when traffic engineering started in the 1920s.
Reposted by Payton Chung
🏘️Dear town and city councils, allow our communities to build what they need. Make infill legal✅
🛍️ Our communities want more housing and more small businesses. It's that simple✨
Thank you Incremental Development Alliance for this amazing quote🙏
#infill #urbanism #smallbusiness #yimby
🛍️ Our communities want more housing and more small businesses. It's that simple✨
Thank you Incremental Development Alliance for this amazing quote🙏
#infill #urbanism #smallbusiness #yimby
November 24, 2025 at 5:05 PM
🏘️Dear town and city councils, allow our communities to build what they need. Make infill legal✅
🛍️ Our communities want more housing and more small businesses. It's that simple✨
Thank you Incremental Development Alliance for this amazing quote🙏
#infill #urbanism #smallbusiness #yimby
🛍️ Our communities want more housing and more small businesses. It's that simple✨
Thank you Incremental Development Alliance for this amazing quote🙏
#infill #urbanism #smallbusiness #yimby
Reposted by Payton Chung
Only Kelly Rowland gets to sext in Excel
November 24, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Only Kelly Rowland gets to sext in Excel
"We don’t have anything to learn." - an "advocate" after getting absolutely nothing, besides a by-right strip mall, out of an intensive community-led planning process
Once the first phase of the new project has begun, retrofitting things like affordable housing and green space will become much more challenging, says Brandon Williams, chair of the Northgate Mall Committee for the Walltown Community Association.
After Years of Neighborhood Advocacy, Developer Files “Underwhelming” Plans for Part of Northgate Site
A developer is planning to turn one-third of the Northgate Mall property into a shopping center. Community members hope they can still influence the future of the site.
indyweek.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:19 PM
"We don’t have anything to learn." - an "advocate" after getting absolutely nothing, besides a by-right strip mall, out of an intensive community-led planning process
"The density regulations roughly matched the existing density of each neighborhood, sort of, more or less. That was it. No science. No public health data. Just numbers written into a chart decades ago with the sole goal of preserving the status quo."
"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 24, 2025 at 4:00 PM
"The density regulations roughly matched the existing density of each neighborhood, sort of, more or less. That was it. No science. No public health data. Just numbers written into a chart decades ago with the sole goal of preserving the status quo."
Reposted by Payton Chung
Absolutely 🔥 piece from the former director of Baltimore's board of zoning appeals.
"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 24, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Absolutely 🔥 piece from the former director of Baltimore's board of zoning appeals.
Reposted by Payton Chung
This is such a good example of how different types of input give you different impressions:
- one in-person speaker
- a majority of written comments opposed
- 87% of 1,842 survey respondents supported making the closure permanent, with 12 of 16 businesses on the block backing the proposal
- one in-person speaker
- a majority of written comments opposed
- 87% of 1,842 survey respondents supported making the closure permanent, with 12 of 16 businesses on the block backing the proposal
Alexandria City Council approves permanent closure of 200 block of King Street
www.alxnow.com/2025/09/13/a...
www.alxnow.com/2025/09/13/a...
Alexandria City Council approves permanent closure of 200 block of King Street | ALXnow
The Alexandria City Council unanimously voted Saturday to permanently close the 200 block of King Street to vehicular traffic, extending the city's pedestrian zone after a successful pilot program. The...
www.alxnow.com
September 15, 2025 at 3:01 PM
This is such a good example of how different types of input give you different impressions:
- one in-person speaker
- a majority of written comments opposed
- 87% of 1,842 survey respondents supported making the closure permanent, with 12 of 16 businesses on the block backing the proposal
- one in-person speaker
- a majority of written comments opposed
- 87% of 1,842 survey respondents supported making the closure permanent, with 12 of 16 businesses on the block backing the proposal
Reposted by Payton Chung
Anti-solar NIMBYs aren't beating the accusations of being pretty dim bulbs. "Extracting from the sky" is a good one
November 23, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Anti-solar NIMBYs aren't beating the accusations of being pretty dim bulbs. "Extracting from the sky" is a good one
Reposted by Payton Chung
The Scooby Doo Theory of Housing states that we can arrest housing price inflation if we only some clever kids are able to unmask the evil villain responsible for making rent go up.
I think this is mostly San Francisco finally shrugging off the pandemic, but it is *really* funny that rent prices in San Francisco shot up *immediately* after the city banned RealPage and other algorithmic price setting software.
My pre trends are incredible!
My pre trends are incredible!
November 22, 2025 at 7:15 PM
The Scooby Doo Theory of Housing states that we can arrest housing price inflation if we only some clever kids are able to unmask the evil villain responsible for making rent go up.
Weird to not mention that not only was there a coal power plant, but that its hot water discharge was famously used for decades as a wintertime recreation amenity
wamu.org/story/25/11/...
wamu.org/story/25/11/...
Proposed Montgomery County data center would use Potomac River water for cooling
The data center would be located at the old Dickerson coal-fired power plant site. Residents, state officials, and local environmental groups are weighing what it will mean for the area.
wamu.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Weird to not mention that not only was there a coal power plant, but that its hot water discharge was famously used for decades as a wintertime recreation amenity
wamu.org/story/25/11/...
wamu.org/story/25/11/...
Reposted by Payton Chung
The administration should never try to force our servicemembers to carry out an illegal order. Calling for the execution of senators and Congressmembers for reminding our troops of that is chilling behavior. Every one of my Republican colleagues needs to stand up and swiftly condemn this.
November 20, 2025 at 3:41 PM
The administration should never try to force our servicemembers to carry out an illegal order. Calling for the execution of senators and Congressmembers for reminding our troops of that is chilling behavior. Every one of my Republican colleagues needs to stand up and swiftly condemn this.
It turns out that NJ redefined "building" in IRC to allow attached duplexes / stacked townhouses; see c.2.vi here:
www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/...
www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/...
November 20, 2025 at 5:38 PM
It turns out that NJ redefined "building" in IRC to allow attached duplexes / stacked townhouses; see c.2.vi here:
www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/...
www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/...
You know how inside corner units are just the worst? They don't have to be, when every inside corner is also an outside corner -- the magic of not having a corridor cut every unit off.
this one is really clever. the slipped rotation allows both bedrooms to have windows in the apartment, and some level of cross ventilation pre-AC.
also note: bathrooms and kitchens have bedrooms. can't say that about most new development
also note: bathrooms and kitchens have bedrooms. can't say that about most new development
November 20, 2025 at 3:42 PM
You know how inside corner units are just the worst? They don't have to be, when every inside corner is also an outside corner -- the magic of not having a corridor cut every unit off.
Reposted by Payton Chung
Dismissing climate change as a “hoax,” while home insurance rates are soaring and property values are sinking in the most affected areas, is just another part of Trump’s economic denialism. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Rising Home Insurance Premiums Are Eating Into Home Values in Disaster-Prone Areas
Changes in the insurance market have started to affect home prices in the most disaster-prone areas, new research finds, pushing some homeowners’ finances to the breaking point.
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Dismissing climate change as a “hoax,” while home insurance rates are soaring and property values are sinking in the most affected areas, is just another part of Trump’s economic denialism. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Payton Chung
Yearly deaths caused by cars and trucks striking pedestrians rose 70 percent between 2010 and 2023, an examination of federal data and other public records by The Post shows.
The deadliest roads in America
The number of pedestrians killed by vehicles has increased in the U.S., with road infrastructure and inadequate safety measures among key contributing factors.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Yearly deaths caused by cars and trucks striking pedestrians rose 70 percent between 2010 and 2023, an examination of federal data and other public records by The Post shows.
Reposted by Payton Chung
Smells like car bloat:
"More than 3,800 people were killed almost immediately when they were struck in 2023, an indication that high speeds and larger vehicles are making impacts more violent. The rate at which pedestrians are declared dead at the scene of the crash has more than doubled."
"More than 3,800 people were killed almost immediately when they were struck in 2023, an indication that high speeds and larger vehicles are making impacts more violent. The rate at which pedestrians are declared dead at the scene of the crash has more than doubled."
The deadliest roads in America
The number of pedestrians killed by vehicles has increased in the U.S., with road infrastructure and inadequate safety measures among key contributing factors.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Smells like car bloat:
"More than 3,800 people were killed almost immediately when they were struck in 2023, an indication that high speeds and larger vehicles are making impacts more violent. The rate at which pedestrians are declared dead at the scene of the crash has more than doubled."
"More than 3,800 people were killed almost immediately when they were struck in 2023, an indication that high speeds and larger vehicles are making impacts more violent. The rate at which pedestrians are declared dead at the scene of the crash has more than doubled."
Reposted by Payton Chung
This is a 52-pound 9000+ page accordion-bound artist’s book of Donald Trump’s lies, conceived, printed, and bound by Jill and Ray Nichols of @leadgraffiti.bsky.social in Delaware. Each of the 9000 pages has the text (per the Washington Post) of one or more of Trump’s lies; none are repeated.
November 15, 2025 at 7:09 PM
This is a 52-pound 9000+ page accordion-bound artist’s book of Donald Trump’s lies, conceived, printed, and bound by Jill and Ray Nichols of @leadgraffiti.bsky.social in Delaware. Each of the 9000 pages has the text (per the Washington Post) of one or more of Trump’s lies; none are repeated.
$5B to rebuild a bridge that carried 30,000 AADT, and has three Interstate alternative routes, doesn't seem like a wise investment.
LUNCH LINKS 11/18/25 (thanks Cloudflare): Baltimore Key Bridge rebuild likely to cost more than double initial estimates. Mold among issues residents experience in Alexandria public housing. Key endorsements secured for WMATA funding plan.
Lunch links: Estimated costs balloon for Baltimore Key Bridge
View this post on ggwash.org
ggwash.org
November 18, 2025 at 4:30 PM
$5B to rebuild a bridge that carried 30,000 AADT, and has three Interstate alternative routes, doesn't seem like a wise investment.