Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

the babahuck @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social · 1d

In 2004, Parisian police were conducting a training exercise in the french catacombs and found, after moving past a desk and a tape playing audio of snarling dogs, a fully functional movie theater and bar. When they returned 3 days later, the equipment was gone, with a note: “Do not try to find us.”

Members of the force's sports squad, responsible
- among other tasks - for policing the 170 miles of tunnels, caves, galleries and catacombs that underlie large parts of Paris, stumbled on the complex while on a training exercise beneath the Palais de Chaillot, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.
After entering the network through a drain next to the Trocadero, the officers came across a tarpaulin marked: Building site, No access.
Behind that, a tunnel held a desk and a closed-circuit TV camera set to automatically record images of anyone passing. The mechanism also triggered a tape of dogs barking, "clearly designed to frighten people off," the spokesman said.
Further along, the tunnel opened into a vast 400 sq metre cave some 18m underground, "like an underground amphitheatre, with terraces cut into the rock and chairs".

There the police found a full-sized cinema screen, projection equipment, and tapes of a wide variety of films, including 1950s film noir classics and more recent thrillers. None of the films were banned or even offensive, the spokesman said.
A smaller cave next door had been turned into an informal restaurant and bar. "There were bottles of whisky and other spirits behind a bar, tables and chairs, a pressure-cooker for making couscous," the spokesman said.
"The whole thing ran off a professionally installed electricity system and there were at least three phone lines down there."
Three days later, when the police returned accompanied by experts from the French electricity board to see where the power was coming from, the phone and electricity lines had been cut and a note was lying in the middle of the floor: "Do not," it said, "try to find us."

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · 4d

looks familiar, probably in the Confluence? pretty sure I see the Pont Raymond-Barre in the background

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Tero Kuittinen @teroterotero.bsky.social · 4d

Ice breaker specialist Mikko Suominen (!!) warns about the crucial importance of continuing intense ice breaker R&D efforts to maintain Finland’s leadership in ice breaker technology.

www.is.fi/taloussanoma...

Asiantuntijalta varoitus Suomen jättidiilistä

Meritekniikan asiantuntija muistuttaa jatkuvan tutkimuksen tärkeydestä.

www.is.fi

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · 7d

Did someone say social housing? If you're in LA, I'll be talking about my research on French social housing on Oct 29th. I'll present early results from a project with Florence Goffette-Nagot & Romain Durand on why some landlords build so much more than others...

www.lewis.ucla.edu/event/learni...

Learning From Social Housing Production in France - UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies

www.lewis.ucla.edu

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · 9d

someone should make a Luskin law tracker

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · 27d

best birthday message #sncf #grandvoyageur #chemindefer #garedelyon

Shane Phillips @shanedphillips.bsky.social · Sep 10

New episode, new mini-series! For this first entry in our Incentives Series, we invited @holz-bau.bsky.social to discuss his recent book, Building for People. Yes, that means we're talking single-stair reform. www.lewis.ucla.edu/2025/09/10/9...

Episode 97: Single-Stair Buildings and Eco-Districts with Michael Eliason (Incentives Series, pt. 1) - UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies

We discuss Michael's recent book, Building for People, with a focus on single-stair building code reform and eco-district redevelopment.

www.lewis.ucla.edu

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Sep 5

why are setbacks so deeply engrained? Wood construction (bad noise insulation) has got to be a factor.

Mike Eliason @holz-bau.bsky.social · Sep 5

the distance between the homes is... wider than the homes?

there are basically no windows on 3 sides?

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Mike Eliason @holz-bau.bsky.social · Sep 5

the distance between the homes is... wider than the homes?

there are basically no windows on 3 sides?

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Aug 28

turns out a large majority of Angelenos want more apartments - even on single-family streets

www.lewis.ucla.edu/research/a-l...

A Large Majority of Angelenos Want More Apartments — Even on Single-Family Streets

This brief aims to shed light on the preferences of L.A. residents regarding building affordable multifamily housing. Mayor Bass has constantly scaled down ED1 due to 'pushback' but has yet to take a ...

www.lewis.ucla.edu

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Aug 17

the old ugly wall is still there

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Aug 15

this is totally true but somehow not part of fair housing law

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Aug 15

the European mind cannot comprehend

Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Aug 15

sitting in traffic and feeling so free

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Aug 13

Yes indeed, too often there are no trees where there is multifamily, and then no multifamily where there are trees

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Aug 12

another AFFH in California paper is out!

In this one, we provide evidence of serious flaws in the role of public participation in developing local AFFH programs. Comments welcome! (it’s open access)

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Jul 28

très loin du Rhone…

Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Jul 28

merci !

Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Jul 27

Good morning!

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Jun 23

Paris had the buildings but needed the trees, LA has the trees just needs the buildings

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Jun 6

I was proud when they mentioned they had to get the Finns to run it… and another fun fact is the heat comes from an Amazon data center 😂

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Jun 6

Tallaght, South Dublin. New cost rental project by the local authority

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Jun 6

Just saw a complicated version of this - district heating system requires very little space for machinery but code mandated a large plant room (there was a lot of space behind me)

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · Jun 2

there are several issues but especially the total income variable doesn’t make sense, would the housing market impact of one new billionaire be the same as that of 1,000 millionaires? @salimfurth.bsky.social has a smart (and generous) response papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Response to "Supply Constraints do not Explain House Price and Quantity Growth Across U.S. Cities" by Louie, Mondragon, and Wieland

<p>Louie, Mondragon, and Wieland (2025) use total income to measure demand for housing. But total income is mostly determined by population growth, which is co-

papers.ssrn.com

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · May 23

Not good

Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · May 23

This is a good question worth studying!

Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · May 23

Property taxes are good, taxing (housing) production not so much. Read our paper’s summary on the UAR blog!

Rolf Pendall @rpplan.bsky.social · May 23

1/ Property taxes are the best value-capture mechanism, per Aurora Echevarria & @elpaavo.bsky.social based on intensive study of Mexico City. Excellent summary of their arguments on @urbanaffairsreview.bsky.social blog: www.urbanaffairsreview.com/uar-archive/...

Challenges to Equitable and Effective Land Value Capture: Lessons from Mexico City — Urban Affairs Review

Scholars and practitioners argue that local governments should capture rising land values to fund services and infrastructure, especially when the value results from public and collective action. Yet ...

www.urbanaffairsreview.com

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · May 23

no savage parking ! on est civilisé

Rolf Pendall @rpplan.bsky.social · May 23

1/ Property taxes are the best value-capture mechanism, per Aurora Echevarria & @elpaavo.bsky.social based on intensive study of Mexico City. Excellent summary of their arguments on @urbanaffairsreview.bsky.social blog: www.urbanaffairsreview.com/uar-archive/...

Challenges to Equitable and Effective Land Value Capture: Lessons from Mexico City — Urban Affairs Review

Scholars and practitioners argue that local governments should capture rising land values to fund services and infrastructure, especially when the value results from public and collective action. Yet ...

www.urbanaffairsreview.com

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Paavo Monkkonen @elpaavo.bsky.social · May 19

news from Suomi

Trenvista in English (formerly Rail News Vista) @trenvistaen.bsky.social · May 19

The Finnish government announces the migration of its rail network from Russian gauge (1,524 mm) to international gauge (1,435 mm) from 2032. The change aims to improve military mobility and regional security. #RNHS

Finland announces migration of its rail network to international gauge

The Finnish government announces the migration of its rail network from Russian gauge (1,524 mm) to international gauge (1,435 mm) from 2032. The change aims to improve military mobility and regional security.

www.trenvista.net

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