Jacob Oppenheim
@curcuas.bsky.social
Venture Partner at RAVen, data/ml for bio
Board VP
@AbundantHomesMA
Longer thoughts on data + ml x bio:
http://medium.com/@jnoppenheim
Board VP
@AbundantHomesMA
Longer thoughts on data + ml x bio:
http://medium.com/@jnoppenheim
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
Wow – real asking rents in Jersey City are completely flat since 2017 www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/n... (🎁🔗)
January 8, 2026 at 1:41 PM
Wow – real asking rents in Jersey City are completely flat since 2017 www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/n... (🎁🔗)
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
In the topsy-turvy world of California housing policy, building six townhouses instead of a single McMansion will result in hundreds of thousands of "impact" fees that have nothing to do with impacts and "affordability" mandates that guarantee housing unaffordability.
January 7, 2026 at 6:57 AM
In the topsy-turvy world of California housing policy, building six townhouses instead of a single McMansion will result in hundreds of thousands of "impact" fees that have nothing to do with impacts and "affordability" mandates that guarantee housing unaffordability.
Between this and the recent dealer stabbing, it's clear that the horrendous management that led to BMC turning its front lawn into a drug market in spring of '25 was not an isolated incident. We deserve better.
Woman lying in Boston Medical Center ER, paralyzed on one side of her body, was raped by man in for a psych stay who was supposed to be supervised, but wasn't, DA says
www.universalhub.com/crime/2026/w...
#crime
www.universalhub.com/crime/2026/w...
#crime
January 5, 2026 at 11:20 PM
Between this and the recent dealer stabbing, it's clear that the horrendous management that led to BMC turning its front lawn into a drug market in spring of '25 was not an isolated incident. We deserve better.
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
Public engagement the way most places do it is a kind of performative dance. Everyone plays their socially designated roles and there's very little content to it, because all the planners are allowed to say is "thank you for your comment, we'll take it into consideration."
December 18, 2025 at 4:24 AM
Public engagement the way most places do it is a kind of performative dance. Everyone plays their socially designated roles and there's very little content to it, because all the planners are allowed to say is "thank you for your comment, we'll take it into consideration."
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
People stay stuff because it's socially approved, and then they start to believe it, and elected officials probably don't know better than to accept it, and civil servants generally don't have political cover to push back, so stuff that "everybody knows" becomes conventional wisdom.
December 18, 2025 at 4:17 AM
People stay stuff because it's socially approved, and then they start to believe it, and elected officials probably don't know better than to accept it, and civil servants generally don't have political cover to push back, so stuff that "everybody knows" becomes conventional wisdom.
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
A *huge* part of discourse is that there are certain objections to change that are coded as socially acceptable, even when they're the opposite of reality and standing in for the true agenda (plain old NIMBYism). School stuff is one of those items (others include affordability and trees).
These people are living in retirement communities and don’t even know it. It’s incredible. Student enrollment has fallen off a cliff all over coastal communities. Marin county’s median age is as old as Japan!
December 18, 2025 at 4:16 AM
A *huge* part of discourse is that there are certain objections to change that are coded as socially acceptable, even when they're the opposite of reality and standing in for the true agenda (plain old NIMBYism). School stuff is one of those items (others include affordability and trees).
A major theme of conversations at NeurIPS this year: Protein binder design is powerful, but ~no one believes the strongest claims about its efficacy.
Innovators + academics want to support one another, but whom does it benefit when we claim clearly overfit zero shot results?
1/
Innovators + academics want to support one another, but whom does it benefit when we claim clearly overfit zero shot results?
1/
December 16, 2025 at 3:51 PM
A major theme of conversations at NeurIPS this year: Protein binder design is powerful, but ~no one believes the strongest claims about its efficacy.
Innovators + academics want to support one another, but whom does it benefit when we claim clearly overfit zero shot results?
1/
Innovators + academics want to support one another, but whom does it benefit when we claim clearly overfit zero shot results?
1/
This is what happens when you let NIMBYs block cleaner, cheaper, and much less polluting natural gas.
We're not getting enough nuclear or offshore wind immediately; the failure to build gas infra is impoverishing, sickening, and damaging us all in New England.
We're not getting enough nuclear or offshore wind immediately; the failure to build gas infra is impoverishing, sickening, and damaging us all in New England.
Heating fuels in the USA. Bizarrely, liberal states in the NE USA prefer the most polluting choice, fuel oil, which also emits the most carbon dioxide.
December 11, 2025 at 2:23 AM
This is what happens when you let NIMBYs block cleaner, cheaper, and much less polluting natural gas.
We're not getting enough nuclear or offshore wind immediately; the failure to build gas infra is impoverishing, sickening, and damaging us all in New England.
We're not getting enough nuclear or offshore wind immediately; the failure to build gas infra is impoverishing, sickening, and damaging us all in New England.
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
Incredible we built a society where tens of thousands of people are forced to live in this misery just because the wealthiest people in America want more parking and because left-NIMBY cranks still won't let go of their housing Lysenkoism which insists that new housing causes gentrification.
In L.A., $750 a Month to Live in a Backyard Storage Unit
www.nytimes.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Incredible we built a society where tens of thousands of people are forced to live in this misery just because the wealthiest people in America want more parking and because left-NIMBY cranks still won't let go of their housing Lysenkoism which insists that new housing causes gentrification.
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
“Pioneer New England Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit in state Land Court against the City of Cambridge on behalf of developer Columbia St, LLC, challenging the City’s inclusionary zoning ordinance.” pioneerlegal.org/pioneer-new-...
Pioneer New England Legal Foundation Files Lawsuit Challenging Cambridge Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance - Pioneer New England Legal Foundation
Pioneer New England Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit in state Land Court against the City of Cambridge on behalf of developer Columbia St, LLC, challenging the City’s inclusionary zoning ordinance. Th...
pioneerlegal.org
December 5, 2025 at 2:51 AM
“Pioneer New England Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit in state Land Court against the City of Cambridge on behalf of developer Columbia St, LLC, challenging the City’s inclusionary zoning ordinance.” pioneerlegal.org/pioneer-new-...
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
Still thinking about this article. It’s always been a sore spot in YIMBY circles that so many progressive foundations pour money into NIMBYism, and I’m glad it’s finally being aired in public. Keep talking about it. www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/philant...
Philanthropy Needs to Pick a Side on the Housing Construction Debate
Despite California’s severe housing shortage, foundations are still funding on the wrong side of the housing fight there, guest author Ned Resnikoff writes.
www.insidephilanthropy.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Still thinking about this article. It’s always been a sore spot in YIMBY circles that so many progressive foundations pour money into NIMBYism, and I’m glad it’s finally being aired in public. Keep talking about it. www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/philant...
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
Straight from the horse's mouth:
“These models somehow just generalize dramatically worse than people. It's a very fundamental thing.”
“These models somehow just generalize dramatically worse than people. It's a very fundamental thing.”
November 25, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Straight from the horse's mouth:
“These models somehow just generalize dramatically worse than people. It's a very fundamental thing.”
“These models somehow just generalize dramatically worse than people. It's a very fundamental thing.”
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
"per square foot, affordable housing cost more 1.5 times as much to build in California as market-rate housing"
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
Opinion | America’s Housing Crisis, in One Chart
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:23 PM
"per square foot, affordable housing cost more 1.5 times as much to build in California as market-rate housing"
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
The problem isn't his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. It's that he plotted to abuse his position as the mentor of a grad student by conditioning his support for her work on "romance/sex."
Every report that fails to mention the true offense is failing (again) the student who endured this.
Every report that fails to mention the true offense is failing (again) the student who endured this.
“Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers will immediately leave his role as an instructor at Harvard while the University investigates his ties to child sex trafficker Jeffrey E. Epstein,” The Harvard Crimson reports.
Summers Will Not Finish Semester of Teaching as Harvard Investigates Epstein Ties | News | The Harvard Crimson
Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers will immediately leave his role as an instructor at Harvard while the University investigates his ties to child sex trafficker Jeffrey E. Epstein.
www.thecrimson.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:52 PM
The problem isn't his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. It's that he plotted to abuse his position as the mentor of a grad student by conditioning his support for her work on "romance/sex."
Every report that fails to mention the true offense is failing (again) the student who endured this.
Every report that fails to mention the true offense is failing (again) the student who endured this.
Wonder why we have a housing crisis? Just look at how long it took to get infill on empty lots approved: 20 years and a king's ransom in fees, wasted time, and financing costs.
Two proposed apartment buildings behind Mission Church first approved in 2005 win new approval
www.universalhub.com/2025/two-pro...
#Boston #MissionHill #housing
www.universalhub.com/2025/two-pro...
#Boston #MissionHill #housing
November 18, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Wonder why we have a housing crisis? Just look at how long it took to get infill on empty lots approved: 20 years and a king's ransom in fees, wasted time, and financing costs.
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
Over on the Gelman blog, there's a post about this histogram of z-scores in published papers. I'm always baffled by the discourse around it. Why is this plot a symptom of a problem? Under what model would we expect this to be a bell curve?
November 15, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Over on the Gelman blog, there's a post about this histogram of z-scores in published papers. I'm always baffled by the discourse around it. Why is this plot a symptom of a problem? Under what model would we expect this to be a bell curve?
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
🏡 Help us get more housing on the 2026 ballot!
Join AHMA, Cambridge City Councilor Burhan Azeem, and the Legalize Starter Homes Ballot Initiative for a Day of Action this weekend!
tinyurl.com/2sk34xt9
Join AHMA, Cambridge City Councilor Burhan Azeem, and the Legalize Starter Homes Ballot Initiative for a Day of Action this weekend!
tinyurl.com/2sk34xt9
Legalize Starter Homes Day of Action
Cambridge City Councillor Burhan Azeem, Abundant Housing Massachusetts, and the Legalize Starter Homes Ballot Campaign are organizing a coordinated Day of Action to rally support for legalizing…
tinyurl.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:43 AM
🏡 Help us get more housing on the 2026 ballot!
Join AHMA, Cambridge City Councilor Burhan Azeem, and the Legalize Starter Homes Ballot Initiative for a Day of Action this weekend!
tinyurl.com/2sk34xt9
Join AHMA, Cambridge City Councilor Burhan Azeem, and the Legalize Starter Homes Ballot Initiative for a Day of Action this weekend!
tinyurl.com/2sk34xt9
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
This is what's so aggravating — yes, it was not working in extracting a policy concession but it was working in *driving down trump's numbers and provoking GOP infighting* which is what's important if you take Dem rhetoric about the perils of MAGA remotely seriously.
weirdly honest messaging from the breakaway mod/institutionalist leaders who blew up the party strategy
they're explicitly giving up. "It wasn't working so we quit" that's the message
they're explicitly giving up. "It wasn't working so we quit" that's the message
November 10, 2025 at 2:06 PM
This is what's so aggravating — yes, it was not working in extracting a policy concession but it was working in *driving down trump's numbers and provoking GOP infighting* which is what's important if you take Dem rhetoric about the perils of MAGA remotely seriously.
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
New working paper studying project permitting in Seattle estimates that design review as part of the development process increased review time by 4 to 5 months. Author's model estimates that design review was associated with a 3% decline in the number of units permitted.
static1.squarespace.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:19 PM
New working paper studying project permitting in Seattle estimates that design review as part of the development process increased review time by 4 to 5 months. Author's model estimates that design review was associated with a 3% decline in the number of units permitted.
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
The fact that Parks and Rec's depiction of public meetings is 1,000% accurate really undermines a lot of dogma and that breaks brains
November 5, 2025 at 10:45 PM
The fact that Parks and Rec's depiction of public meetings is 1,000% accurate really undermines a lot of dogma and that breaks brains
Beggar-thy-neighbor politics do not work + erode public finance, Somerville edition:
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/23/b...
Between the epidemic of zoning brownfields for commercial only, the collapse in office values, and tax shifts in Boston + Cambridge, the Commonwealth may have to step in.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/23/b...
Between the epidemic of zoning brownfields for commercial only, the collapse in office values, and tax shifts in Boston + Cambridge, the Commonwealth may have to step in.
Somerville poised to offer $18m property tax break to lure life science company - The Boston Globe
Somerville poised to issue $18 million in property tax breaks to bring in un-named life science company
www.bostonglobe.com
October 23, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Beggar-thy-neighbor politics do not work + erode public finance, Somerville edition:
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/23/b...
Between the epidemic of zoning brownfields for commercial only, the collapse in office values, and tax shifts in Boston + Cambridge, the Commonwealth may have to step in.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/23/b...
Between the epidemic of zoning brownfields for commercial only, the collapse in office values, and tax shifts in Boston + Cambridge, the Commonwealth may have to step in.
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
This reads like the guy naming the dishes went left to right and had a stroke halfway through.
October 21, 2025 at 3:51 AM
This reads like the guy naming the dishes went left to right and had a stroke halfway through.
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
“As one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation.”
October 18, 2025 at 10:34 PM
“As one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation.”
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
Abundant Housing Massachusetts is thrilled to invite you to our Celebration of Abundance! This event will honor the the great work happening across the state to make housing accessible.
🗓️ Oct 23| 5:30pm - 8:30pm
🏠 Broken Records Beer Hall - Brighton
🎟️ tinyurl.com/5a332mn7
🗓️ Oct 23| 5:30pm - 8:30pm
🏠 Broken Records Beer Hall - Brighton
🎟️ tinyurl.com/5a332mn7
Celebration of Abundance
www.abundanthousingma.org
October 16, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Abundant Housing Massachusetts is thrilled to invite you to our Celebration of Abundance! This event will honor the the great work happening across the state to make housing accessible.
🗓️ Oct 23| 5:30pm - 8:30pm
🏠 Broken Records Beer Hall - Brighton
🎟️ tinyurl.com/5a332mn7
🗓️ Oct 23| 5:30pm - 8:30pm
🏠 Broken Records Beer Hall - Brighton
🎟️ tinyurl.com/5a332mn7
Reposted by Jacob Oppenheim
The Groypers are on a long march through the institutions and right-wing Jews are way too complacent about the idea that it’ll be fine because these people also hate Muslims.
October 15, 2025 at 11:14 PM
The Groypers are on a long march through the institutions and right-wing Jews are way too complacent about the idea that it’ll be fine because these people also hate Muslims.