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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 5h

Interesting take on the "missing massive" development in New Rochelle.

The release valve metaphor feels ever relevant. Missing massive development is partially a product of development being illegal almost everywhere else.

Blair Lorenzo / The Fox and the City @thefoxandthecity.com · 6h

I will say, the streetscapes it create can be a touch odd, going from single-family homes to towers with no in-between, but perhaps that's the price of years of suppressed development.

While it takes a moment, it works very well on the ground, IMO.

Besides, cities need not grow "rationally."

Low density smashes into high density in New Rochelle, and it works just fine.

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Jeffrey Tumlin 🏳️‍🌈 🌁 @jeffreytumlin.bsky.social · 23h

@benschneider.bsky.social wrote the book I wanted to write and did a better job than I could have. Journalism skills are more important now than ever. Ask the right questions. Delve deeper. Rope your audience in. Then give them tools to resist populist policymakers and authoritarians.

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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 9h

Very kind words about "The Unfinished Metropolis" from one of the leading transit professionals in the US.

Thank you, Jeff!

Jeffrey Tumlin 🏳️‍🌈 🌁 @jeffreytumlin.bsky.social · 23h

Book review: As a journalist, @benschneider.bsky.social uses everyday language to unpack the complex, nerdy worlds of housing, transportation and other urban policy. He shows why American cities failed to serve today’s needs – and how to catch up. Perfect as a main text in an Intro to Urbanism class

Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · Jun 10

American cities have stagnated. Residential neighborhoods, transportation systems, and commercial districts have changed little in 50+ years.

My new book, "The Unfinished Metropolis," explores how that happened — and how to fix it.

Preorder now: shorturl.at/PInVb

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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 1d

I'll be co-hosting a book launch party for "The Unfinished Metropolis" with @abundanceny.bsky.social in Brooklyn on October 21st!

RSVP here: luma.com/r9fvqd8k

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abundanceny.bsky.social @abundanceny.bsky.social · 2d

Areas on top of subways should be dense, vibrant, mixed-use neighborhoods 🏘️🚇🚶🙌

Great piece from @benschneider.bsky.social about how we’re not just “missing middle” housing—we’re “missing massive” in the places that matter most: transit hubs.

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Jeffrey Tumlin 🏳️‍🌈 🌁 @jeffreytumlin.bsky.social · 5d

Sabbatical pleasure #27: Reading.
Sabbatical pleasure #28: When new books by @benschneider.bsky.social and @carterlavin.bsky.social arrive on the same day! @islandpress.bsky.social
islandpress.org/books/unfini...
islandpress.org/books/if-you...

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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 5d

Thanks so much! Hope you enjoy.

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schmangee.bsky.social @schmangee.bsky.social · 5d

Just unboxed! Looks beautiful! Congrats @benschneider.bsky.social

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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 5d

Very cool! Missing mid rise sounds like a good way to distinguish DC's new urbanism from the tower-oriented missing massive development in Jersey City.

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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 5d

Missing middle housing is great, but in certain places cities should think bigger.

Missing massive development, to use @aarmlovi.bsky.social's coinage, is commensurate with a severe housing shortage and complimentary to high-capacity transit.

benjaminschneider.substack.com/p/missing-ma...

We need to talk about ‘missing massive’ housing

In most neighborhoods, missing middle housing will do the trick. But right on top of subway stations, missing massive is a worthy goal.

benjaminschneider.substack.com

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Blair Lorenzo / The Fox and the City @thefoxandthecity.com · 9d

Really good stuff, as always from @benschneider.bsky.social. The fiscal cliffs are hard.

The NY region has been one of the few to actually plug many of the holes.

I'd add that a pivot to different types of trips in a remote work world is a good strategy.

But it's a hard situation.

So what is working?

Despite these challenges, some transit agencies have found a way through.

The dense urban centers of the northeast stand out. New York State addressed the MTA’s fiscal cliff largely by increasing its transit payroll tax for large businesses, the revenue from which is expected to grow 3.7 percent annually. While New York City’s congestion pricing revenues are earmarked for capital projects, rather than operations, they also helped bolster the agency’s financial outlook.

New Jersey used a similar mechanism to fund NJ Transit, raising corporate taxes. In the Washington, DC area, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia each increased their contribution to WMATA, mostly by moving gas tax revenues and other existing funding sources.

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City Nolan @ndhapple.bsky.social · 9d

Important detail in this very good story: The draft rule would allow public housing operators and housing departments to *opt in* to these new regulations.

Jesse Coburn @jessecoburn.bsky.social · 9d

The rules from the Department of Housing and Urban Development would allow major changes to public housing and Section 8 vouchers:

- full-time work requirements
- 2-year time limits
- stripping aid from whole families if one member is in the country illegally

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Millions Could Lose Housing Aid Under Trump Plan

Drafts of unpublished rules obtained by ProPublica detail plans that would open the door to full-time work requirements, two-year limits on living in federally supported housing and stripping aid from...

www.propublica.org

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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 9d

As with all things transit, Canada could show a better way for addressing 'fiscal cliffs.'

Vancouver's Translink is mandated to spread costs across all the beneficiaries of a great transit system: riders, drivers, land owners, and the broader economy.

www.planetizen.com/features/136...

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Jesse Coburn @jessecoburn.bsky.social · 9d

New: four million people could be forced to leave public housing and other federally assisted housing under new plans from the Trump administration, according to experts who reviewed drafts of two unpublished rules obtained by @propublica.org.

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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 9d

Across the US, transit agencies are staring down huge 'fiscal cliffs.' The popular explanation is Covid and inflation.

But experts say there are other, longer-term forces in play, from declining gas tax revenues to 'Baumol's cost disease.'

www.planetizen.com/features/136...

The Wave of Transit ‘Fiscal Cliffs,’ Explained

Covid and inflation played a role. But for many agencies, the crisis goes much deeper.

www.planetizen.com

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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 19d

CA high-speed rail is at a crossroads after securing the biggest funding commitment in the project's history.

My take on where things stand now:

benjaminschneider.substack.com/p/can-califo...

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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 15d

Talking Mike Davis' "infinite game," stadium subsidies, and why sports rivalries started with trains.

defector.com/this-buildin...

This Building Is A Bucket, With Ben Schneider | Defector

Since the website’s inception, one of Defector’s core beats has been the warped dynamics of stadium construction. Perhaps no other genre of story collects and unites so many distinct strains of malfea...

defector.com

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Alfred Twu @alfredtwu.com · 15d

Lots of transit news from BART director Victor Flores - including that the BART board has voted to use standard gauge for the 2nd set of transbay tubes.

This will open up the option for Caltrain, High Speed Rail, and Amtrak to cross between downtown San Francisco and the East Bay in the future.

Victor Flores @victorfloresbart.bsky.social · 16d

It's been a while since my last BART newsletter. Between my last job, BART, and studying for the LSAT, time has been limited, but that's no excuse!

Grab your cup of coffee or tea and catch up with me!
victorfloresforbart.com/p/all-aboard...

All Aboard - Closing Out Transit Month 2025

What happened to the budget and our service disruptions

victorfloresforbart.com

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petey @peteypayless.bsky.social · 15d

the US if Tylenol actually caused autism

A map titled United States High Speed Rail System showing a theoretical high speed rail system in the United States. Some lines also connect north to Vancouver or the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, or south to Tijuana or Monterrey. The map is credited to First Cultural Industries AKA Alfred Twu, dated from February 2013, and is downloadable at www.californiarailmap.com

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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 16d

A century ago, Edith Elmer Wood put forward a version of the "homelessness is a housing problem" thesis.

She predicted that ever more "restrictive" tenement laws — which were going way beyond health and safety — would eventually create a "house famine."

www.planetizen.com/features/136...

106 Years Ago She Predicted Today’s Housing Crisis. What if we’d Listened?

In 1919, Edith Elmer Wood drew the connection between ratcheting minimum housing standards and an inevitable crisis of homelessness. Her predictions have proved eerily accurate.

www.planetizen.com

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Jedwin Mok @jedwinmok.com · 21d

“The time [REM] went from ‘doesn’t exist’ to [revenue service] is mind blowing...”

A masterpiece from @hudsonyuen.bsky.social featuring @chittimarco.bsky.social & @englishrail.bsky.social. So proud to have played a small part.

MUST WATCH for planners who believe the status quo is inevitable

How Montreal’s miracle metro could change everything

YouTube video by The Flying Moose

youtu.be

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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 19d

CA high-speed rail is at a crossroads after securing the biggest funding commitment in the project's history.

My take on where things stand now:

benjaminschneider.substack.com/p/can-califo...

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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 21d

Jersey City is one of the few American cities to have embraced "missing massive" housing — super high-density towers right on top of transit.

And it has done so with inclusionary zoning and rent control. But there have also been growing pains...

www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/lea...

Vital City | Learning from Jersey City

This small city is picking up the slack for the rest of the New York metro area, but its growth spurt is not without growing pains.

www.vitalcitynyc.org

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Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 27d

In the cultural imagination, self-driving cars are much more just “cars, but with better technology.” They’re potent symbols, both for those who subscribe to the traditional ideals of car culture, and for those who fear the growing power of big tech.

benjaminschneider.substack.com/p/the-freudi...

The Freudian underbelly of self-driving cars

Cars have traditionally represented autonomy for humans. What happens when that autonomy is transferred to the vehicle?

benjaminschneider.substack.com

Benjamin Schneider @benschneider.bsky.social · 29d

New video from me and @planetizen.bsky.social on what's really going on with California High-Speed Rail.

I discuss the project's challenges, the new CEO's change in plans, the Brightline comparison, and how media coverage shapes perceptions.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA01...

California High Speed Rail Isn't Dead Yet...

YouTube video by Planetizen

www.youtube.com

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