Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Laura @3deckerlaura.bsky.social · 3h

Raised crosswalks everywhere when

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Laura @3deckerlaura.bsky.social · 2d

Newbury is PACKED today and what are we doing Boston, why isn’t the street closed every weekend March to November

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Laura @3deckerlaura.bsky.social · 5d

we gotta dream of climate leaders who actually get things like infill housing done

Mark Gongloff @markgongloff.bsky.social · 7d

Don't sleep on Michelle Wu, one of this country's most quietly effective climate leaders, cruising to a second term in Boston. It's telling that business interests tried and failed to stop her and are pouting about it now

Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Boston Mayor’s Blowout Victory Jilts CEOs Seeking New Direction

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is coasting to reelection after her main opponent quit the race, giving her a commanding mandate that’s putting city business leaders on edge.

www.bloomberg.com

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knizer @knizer.toot.boston.ap.brid.gy · 6d

!!! #MarthaWells is in #SomervilleMA - 10/6 (Monday night) talking about the sequel to #witchking, #demonqueen - just bought tickets, super excited! #somervillearmory #bostonweekend #murderbot #boston #bookstodon #fantasy #booktour cc @marthawells […]

Original post on toot.boston

toot.boston

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 6d

But also we’re terrified of the subway

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 6d

Stephen Miller: "All that bullshit is done, over, it's finished. The gangbangers you deal with- they think they're ruthless? They have no idea how ruthless we are. They think they're tough? They have no idea how tough we are. They think they're hardcore? We are so much more hardcore than they are"

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Laura @3deckerlaura.bsky.social · 8d

to be clear, this is both bad and stupid, but the way my brain is coping with These Times is by wanting to make jokes about the danger of architecture tours

(i did that exact tour, the one in the background of photo four there, when i was there in july and it was fantastic)

aaron adair @aaroninchicago.bsky.social · 10d

ICE boats trawling the Chicago River. This is the DUMBEST thing I've seen in my entire life. No exaggeration. What's next? Humvees loaded with armed, masked agents patrolling Disney's Main Street U.S.A.?

#Chicago

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Laura @3deckerlaura.bsky.social · 9d

In my observations, it’s some combination of
- don’t want to leave the familiar neighborhood
- emotional cost of admiring you’re old now
- emotional and logistical cost of the literal work to pare down one’s stuff

Change is hard! Cap gains taxes pale in comparison

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Laura @3deckerlaura.bsky.social · 9d

Do you think the reason people don’t downsize is because they don’t want to pay taxes

The Boston Globe @bostonglobe.com · 9d

Nudging empty-nesters out of the nest could ease the housing crunch. Today's Starting Point explains.

We need to nudge empty-nesters out of the nest. We could do it by cutting taxes on home sales. - The Boston Globe

One way to ease the housing logjam is to give seniors a financial incentive to sell their big houses to growing families.

trib.al

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Warren Wells, AICP @warrenjwells.bsky.social · 11d

In the US, everything that *makes cities work* costs 2-5x what it costs in Europe and Asia.

This includes, but is not limited to:
-Elevators
-Buses
-Subways

David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 12d

In the US, even a “cheap” transit bus costs 2-3x more than in Asia or Europe -- and one agency may pay twice as much as another for nearly identical vehicles.

In Bloomberg, I explored a ripe opportunity to improve transportation by applying Abundance-coded, supply-side reforms.

🧵

Why US Cities Pay Too Much for Transit Buses

A new paper argues that lack of competition, demand for custom features and “Buy America” rules have driven up costs for transit agencies in the US.

www.bloomberg.com

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 12d

In the US, even a “cheap” transit bus costs 2-3x more than in Asia or Europe -- and one agency may pay twice as much as another for nearly identical vehicles.

In Bloomberg, I explored a ripe opportunity to improve transportation by applying Abundance-coded, supply-side reforms.

🧵

Why US Cities Pay Too Much for Transit Buses

A new paper argues that lack of competition, demand for custom features and “Buy America” rules have driven up costs for transit agencies in the US.

www.bloomberg.com

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Laura @3deckerlaura.bsky.social · 14d

oh boy

City of Somerville @cityofsomerville.bsky.social · 14d

Community members are invited to a neighborhood meeting on October 6th to discuss public safety and homelessness in the broader Seven Hills/Davis Square area. 🧵

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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 15d

IT IS TIME.

It’s Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers

First published on October 9, 2009, this classic by Colin Nissan is our most-read article of all time. We’re celebrating the 16th anniversary of th...

buff.ly

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Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · 16d

It's particularly the case among the Americans who are paid to decide which news is important, and who despite everything still can't bring themselves to accurately describe the fact that the president is serially murdering people and our systems are unable to stop him

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 16d

I've been trying to understand why this isn't generating as much fury as it should, and i think it's because there is a fundamental belief among many americans that the military can pretty much do whatever (which isn't entirely inaccurate.) that said, what the actual fuck.

Joshua Collins @murosinvisibles.bsky.social · 16d

A fourth boat bombed in international waters. Total death toll now 19

What I dont get is, if these boats are "carrying fentanyl" as Trump says (they absolutely arent. Even the DEA says VZ doesnt produce fentanyl), then why not seize one and show us?
www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...

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Chatham Harrison dba TRUMP DELENDUS EST @chathamharrison.bsky.social · 18d

They're racists & they're fascists but above all they are the pettiest two-bit criminals you've ever seen

Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 18d

Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion.

Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.

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Laura @3deckerlaura.bsky.social · 18d

I don’t know, pickleball can get real heated

Laura @3deckerlaura.bsky.social · 19d

....if this post is slightly incoherent, it's because my body is still convinced it's 2am

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Laura @3deckerlaura.bsky.social · 19d

my work business trips are testing my ability to make super short connections, and if this keeps up, i'm going to have to start doing sprints to prepare

(50 mins at AMS in May, 40 mins at ZHR yesterday, and yes I made both of them)

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Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈 @maxdubler.com · 20d

I would love if good architecture or one more meeting could satisfy NIMBYs and get them on board with new housing.

Unfortunately, addressing their stated objections is almost always a waste of time because they are fundamentally opposed to any physical neighborhood change.

Payton Chung @westnorth.com · 20d

So much of New Urbanist and adjacent (e.g., ST) discourse just takes NIMBYs at their word. "If only buildings were prettier!"
One key insight from YIMBYs (who have gotten much more infill done) is that NIMBYs are often just grasping at bad-faith straws and can be ignored or outmaneuvered.

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Laura @3deckerlaura.bsky.social · 20d

Cambridge is beating us again www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/18/m...

Block of Harvard Square will be permanently closed to traffic, European-style - The Boston Globe

Multiple restaurants will have back patio spaces on Lower Bow Street beginning in the spring.

www.bostonglobe.com

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Laura @3deckerlaura.bsky.social · 21d

Oh wow

Cambridge Day @cambridgeday.com · 21d

Wilson leads in Somerville’s mayoral preliminary, then Burnley, taking incumbent off the ballot

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, coming in third in Tuesday’s preliminary elections in Somerville, will be off the ballot in November, and councilor at-large Jake Wilson is now the frontrunner for the office.

dlvr.it

Reposted by Laura

Chris Walton ❌👑 @philocrites.bsky.social · 23d

New sculpture on the Freedom Trail by Harmonia Rosales commemorates 219 known people who, we now know, were enslaved by members and ministers of King's Chapel (founded 1686). Dedicated today on the corner of Tremont & School Streets. @universalhub.com

Photo: Large bronze and stone sculpture of a Black woman holding a large open birdcage in her lap; one freed bird stands on top of the cage, while two others stand on the statue's pedestal near her feet. The ornate facade of the Omni Parker House Hotel in visible in the background.

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Charles Sumner @charles-sumner.bsky.social · 24d

TL;DR all the wine moms here in Massachusetts spent the last six months going to protests and reading weird zines and are now ready to lie down in front of fucking tanks.

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Naomi Kritzer @naomikritzer.bsky.social · 24d

A lot of Minnesota has been thinking about this.

Karen K. Ho @karenho.bsky.social · 24d

I have written and deleted a lot of posts but I keep thinking about how the brutal assassination of Minnesota State senator Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark, and their beloved dog Gilbert in June did not prompt this same level of calls for empathy, sympathy, and flags at half-mast.

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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 29d

tends to demostrate that in a lot of places construction is a corrupt cartel that benefits from irrational and complex building rules, keeps down competition and hence boosts profits

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Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · Sep 7

I wrote up my thoughts about Abundance Conference publiccomment.blog/p/when-is-a-...

When is a tent too big?

Regarding Abundance Conference 2025

publiccomment.blog

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