Kelly Jiang
@kellyjiang.bsky.social
Issaquah City Councilmember, housing / transit / energy nerd
Interesting bill this session to reduce regulatory hurdles for modular housing. Tl;dr: we should allow certified inspectors in other states to certify modular homes built in factories in that state, instead of requiring them to pay a special WA inspector to travel there to inspect. Seems reasonable!
It's prefiling season in Olympia. Not much big housing stuff filed yet, but some interesting technical fixes are trickling in. These aren't THE solution to the housing crisis, but they're still worth pushing. HB 2151 is an interesting case study in how regulatory friction stacks up. #waleg 🧵 1/8
December 18, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Interesting bill this session to reduce regulatory hurdles for modular housing. Tl;dr: we should allow certified inspectors in other states to certify modular homes built in factories in that state, instead of requiring them to pay a special WA inspector to travel there to inspect. Seems reasonable!
A couple months ago we had a long debate at city council about our tree code, which was (and still is, even after the updates) needlessly complicated. So, naturally I had to write a blog post about it.
All Trees Matter
How well-intended environmental policies go wrong. (For legal purposes, the title is a joke.)
cascadianabundance.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:39 AM
A couple months ago we had a long debate at city council about our tree code, which was (and still is, even after the updates) needlessly complicated. So, naturally I had to write a blog post about it.
A while back, I went down a rabbit hole in our land use code's requirements on "Design and Architectural Standards." It was so absurd that I had to write this article as a coping mechanism. I also dug into the history of where these standards came from (tl;dr: it was a reaction to this BRIGHT BLUE)
When City Governments Act Like HOAs
Death to "bright, vibrant, vivid hues of color"!
cascadianabundance.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:59 PM
A while back, I went down a rabbit hole in our land use code's requirements on "Design and Architectural Standards." It was so absurd that I had to write this article as a coping mechanism. I also dug into the history of where these standards came from (tl;dr: it was a reaction to this BRIGHT BLUE)
I started a new Substack about Cascadian Abundance! Shoutout to Prof. Steven Teles of the @niskanencenter.bsky.social for putting this term into the zeitgeist. Looking forward to lots of generative discussions & debates! cascadianabundance.substack.com/p/what-is-ca...
What is Cascadian Abundance?
Spoiler alert: It's about building a cleaner, greener world that works for everyone.
cascadianabundance.substack.com
September 11, 2025 at 12:30 AM
I started a new Substack about Cascadian Abundance! Shoutout to Prof. Steven Teles of the @niskanencenter.bsky.social for putting this term into the zeitgeist. Looking forward to lots of generative discussions & debates! cascadianabundance.substack.com/p/what-is-ca...