MF
@michael-fraser.bsky.social
Reposted by MF
US public transit advocates: Don't just envy Europe. Start by envying Canada.
Great piece on Montreal's remarkably cheap new rapid transit system.
macleans.ca/society/mont...
Great piece on Montreal's remarkably cheap new rapid transit system.
macleans.ca/society/mont...
Montreal's New Rail Line Is the Future - Macleans.ca
Canada has forgotten how to build fast, cheap transit. A new megaproject has the fix.
macleans.ca
November 30, 2025 at 9:02 PM
US public transit advocates: Don't just envy Europe. Start by envying Canada.
Great piece on Montreal's remarkably cheap new rapid transit system.
macleans.ca/society/mont...
Great piece on Montreal's remarkably cheap new rapid transit system.
macleans.ca/society/mont...
Reposted by MF
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 MF
Since October, Measure ULA advocates have been sharing this data showing a 60% increase in permitted units in Q3 2025 compared to Q3 2024. It's intended as evidence that the tax's impact on production, documented in our Taxing Tomorrow report, is transitory. A thread on why this is misleading. 🧵
November 26, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Since October, Measure ULA advocates have been sharing this data showing a 60% increase in permitted units in Q3 2025 compared to Q3 2024. It's intended as evidence that the tax's impact on production, documented in our Taxing Tomorrow report, is transitory. A thread on why this is misleading. 🧵
Reposted by MF
Almost half the Waymos on California streets are driving around empty. They're either waiting for the next customer or en route for a pickup.
If robotaxis scale, anything close to that level of deadheading would create crushing gridlock.
www.thedriverlessdigest.com/p/what-cpuc-...
If robotaxis scale, anything close to that level of deadheading would create crushing gridlock.
www.thedriverlessdigest.com/p/what-cpuc-...
November 19, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Almost half the Waymos on California streets are driving around empty. They're either waiting for the next customer or en route for a pickup.
If robotaxis scale, anything close to that level of deadheading would create crushing gridlock.
www.thedriverlessdigest.com/p/what-cpuc-...
If robotaxis scale, anything close to that level of deadheading would create crushing gridlock.
www.thedriverlessdigest.com/p/what-cpuc-...
Reposted by MF
A fun thing about single stair is that when you ask people defending the status quo on safety grounds to make a judgment call about whether the small buildings that would be allowed under the proposed reforms are more dangerous than the big ones we currently allow they get mad and refuse to answer.
A 100 unit per floor building at..let's say 800SF per unit = 80,000 NSF per floor
A 8 unit per floor at 800SF = 6,400 NSF per floor
Those are two fundamentally different building types, so I'm not sure they're apples to apples in any meaningful way
A 8 unit per floor at 800SF = 6,400 NSF per floor
Those are two fundamentally different building types, so I'm not sure they're apples to apples in any meaningful way
November 19, 2025 at 3:46 AM
A fun thing about single stair is that when you ask people defending the status quo on safety grounds to make a judgment call about whether the small buildings that would be allowed under the proposed reforms are more dangerous than the big ones we currently allow they get mad and refuse to answer.
Reposted by MF
Looks like the manufacturer-run astroturf nonprofit that pushes for firefighting air standpipe requirements in high-rise buildings is facing so pushback mailchi.mp/aircoalition...
Important Update: Firefighters' Critical Vote on Air Standpipe
mailchi.mp
November 18, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Looks like the manufacturer-run astroturf nonprofit that pushes for firefighting air standpipe requirements in high-rise buildings is facing so pushback mailchi.mp/aircoalition...
Reposted by MF
per SF Fire Data, since 2003 in pre-1976 high rises (not just condos), there's been
- 0 deaths
- 20 injuries
- ~15 million in property damage (not adjusted for inflation)
This ordinance would hit 9800 units and cost 2.7 billion.
@stephenjacobsmith.com
www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...
- 0 deaths
- 20 injuries
- ~15 million in property damage (not adjusted for inflation)
This ordinance would hit 9800 units and cost 2.7 billion.
@stephenjacobsmith.com
www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...
November 17, 2025 at 9:19 PM
per SF Fire Data, since 2003 in pre-1976 high rises (not just condos), there's been
- 0 deaths
- 20 injuries
- ~15 million in property damage (not adjusted for inflation)
This ordinance would hit 9800 units and cost 2.7 billion.
@stephenjacobsmith.com
www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...
- 0 deaths
- 20 injuries
- ~15 million in property damage (not adjusted for inflation)
This ordinance would hit 9800 units and cost 2.7 billion.
@stephenjacobsmith.com
www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...
Reposted by MF
Hot off the heels of Virginians electing new statewide leaders, we’re releasing Zoning Report: Virginia—the first-ever comprehensive look at zoning & its impact on housing across all 321 towns, cities, & counties in VA.
www.zoningatlas.org/zoning-repor...
🧵
www.zoningatlas.org/zoning-repor...
🧵
November 6, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Hot off the heels of Virginians electing new statewide leaders, we’re releasing Zoning Report: Virginia—the first-ever comprehensive look at zoning & its impact on housing across all 321 towns, cities, & counties in VA.
www.zoningatlas.org/zoning-repor...
🧵
www.zoningatlas.org/zoning-repor...
🧵
Reposted by MF
In France they’ve got automated meter maids now – Waymo-looking cars that fine you if you don’t feed the meter. This article says that while a human can check a few dozen cars per hour, these can check up to 1,500 in an hour leocare.eu/fr/blog/sulf...
November 17, 2025 at 2:28 AM
In France they’ve got automated meter maids now – Waymo-looking cars that fine you if you don’t feed the meter. This article says that while a human can check a few dozen cars per hour, these can check up to 1,500 in an hour leocare.eu/fr/blog/sulf...
Reposted by MF
Removing minimum parking mandates leads to smaller homes with lower rents, so the idea that you can become part of an “elite” club by removing them is absurd.
What happened when #Minneapolis reduced minimum parking mandates?
“…projects began offering rents below the market's established levels. New studio apartments, which typically went for $1,200 per month, were being offered for less than $1,000 per...
“…projects began offering rents below the market's established levels. New studio apartments, which typically went for $1,200 per month, were being offered for less than $1,000 per...
November 15, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Removing minimum parking mandates leads to smaller homes with lower rents, so the idea that you can become part of an “elite” club by removing them is absurd.
Reposted by MF
A really good column on housing and the Mamdani mayoralty by Alex Armlovich, who is on the Rent Board -- www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/a-h...
Vital City | A Housing Roadmap for New York’s Next Mayor
How Mayor-elect Mamdani can rise to the central challenge facing the city
www.vitalcitynyc.org
November 8, 2025 at 5:13 PM
A really good column on housing and the Mamdani mayoralty by Alex Armlovich, who is on the Rent Board -- www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/a-h...
Reposted by MF
Drivers stop at crosswalks in Poland now because they passed presumed liability, and they ran a public awareness campaign to promote it. The driver is presumed to be at fault if they hit a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
The zebra stripes in Poland have magical power that the ones in America don’t. Even on a fast divided highway, a pedestrian in the shadows, well back from the curb, can stop traffic.
November 12, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Drivers stop at crosswalks in Poland now because they passed presumed liability, and they ran a public awareness campaign to promote it. The driver is presumed to be at fault if they hit a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
Reposted by MF
"we should retire the word 'gentrification' altogether and speak plainly about what actually matters: affordability and displacement.... The better question, morally, isn’t how to bar newcomers but how to absorb them without harming those already there."
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
Is It Bad to Buy Into a Gentrified Neighborhood?
www.nytimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:20 PM
"we should retire the word 'gentrification' altogether and speak plainly about what actually matters: affordability and displacement.... The better question, morally, isn’t how to bar newcomers but how to absorb them without harming those already there."
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
Reposted by MF
Never forget, Texas is California 50 years ago
i think it's cool how Republicans are independently converging on neo-feudalism
November 12, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Never forget, Texas is California 50 years ago
Reposted by MF
"The environmental review process is still in the early stages, and may be done by 2027."
For a bike path. That voters approved in 2016.
This is malicious bureaucratic delay and agency capture by carbrains. This *never happens for highway or road-widening projects.*
www.sfgate.com/la/article/l...
For a bike path. That voters approved in 2016.
This is malicious bureaucratic delay and agency capture by carbrains. This *never happens for highway or road-widening projects.*
www.sfgate.com/la/article/l...
How a billion-dollar California bike path ended up in bureaucratic hell
The project closes a gap between existing paths along the Los Angeles River.
www.sfgate.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM
"The environmental review process is still in the early stages, and may be done by 2027."
For a bike path. That voters approved in 2016.
This is malicious bureaucratic delay and agency capture by carbrains. This *never happens for highway or road-widening projects.*
www.sfgate.com/la/article/l...
For a bike path. That voters approved in 2016.
This is malicious bureaucratic delay and agency capture by carbrains. This *never happens for highway or road-widening projects.*
www.sfgate.com/la/article/l...
Reposted by MF
BEFORE and AFTER. You are not going to believe me this time…but I swear…I absolutely swear this is the same fucking street.
June 24, 2025 at 7:05 PM
BEFORE and AFTER. You are not going to believe me this time…but I swear…I absolutely swear this is the same fucking street.
Reposted by MF
A crazy statistic I read today: LADWP delays are responsible for an AVERAGE OF EIGHT MONTHS of additional construction time for apartment buildings requiring an underground installation
November 7, 2025 at 3:41 AM
A crazy statistic I read today: LADWP delays are responsible for an AVERAGE OF EIGHT MONTHS of additional construction time for apartment buildings requiring an underground installation
Reposted by MF
One way to reduce condo defect liability: stop forcing architects to design buildings that leak. HCD’s “objective design standards” guide *encourages* making building envelopes more complex, heightening leak and therefore defect lawsuit risk cao-94612.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/documents/Ap...
November 7, 2025 at 2:42 AM
One way to reduce condo defect liability: stop forcing architects to design buildings that leak. HCD’s “objective design standards” guide *encourages* making building envelopes more complex, heightening leak and therefore defect lawsuit risk cao-94612.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/documents/Ap...
Reposted by MF
There is truly nothing new under the sun.
Brendan Gill doing the “ I don’t even think anyone lives in these new apartments“ song and dance, 38 years ago
November 6, 2025 at 5:01 PM
There is truly nothing new under the sun.
Reposted by MF
I don't think there's anything wrong with talking about the state of the housing market as a "market failure" but if you are a skeptical of well functioning markets, as many of us are, here's an alternative: the housing market is working as designed, and we should design it to work differently
November 1, 2025 at 7:20 PM
I don't think there's anything wrong with talking about the state of the housing market as a "market failure" but if you are a skeptical of well functioning markets, as many of us are, here's an alternative: the housing market is working as designed, and we should design it to work differently
Reposted by MF
New Lewis Center at UCLA report by Paavo Monkkonen on French social housing.
Is the cost rental and financing model upstream of France’s ability to build large number of units without deep subsidies?
escholarship.org/content/qt8d...
Is the cost rental and financing model upstream of France’s ability to build large number of units without deep subsidies?
escholarship.org/content/qt8d...
October 29, 2025 at 3:59 AM
New Lewis Center at UCLA report by Paavo Monkkonen on French social housing.
Is the cost rental and financing model upstream of France’s ability to build large number of units without deep subsidies?
escholarship.org/content/qt8d...
Is the cost rental and financing model upstream of France’s ability to build large number of units without deep subsidies?
escholarship.org/content/qt8d...
Reposted by MF
I think we underestimate how appreciated the existence of non-car alternatives is for the layperson. The mayor of Deux-Montagnes says that he loves the REM, and recognizes that mobility has changed, that car- & bike-sharing are picking up even in his far-flung suburb.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCxW...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCxW...
Le tronçon Deux-Montagnes du REM devrait être mis en service le 17 novembre
YouTube video by Radio-Canada Info
www.youtube.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:37 PM
I think we underestimate how appreciated the existence of non-car alternatives is for the layperson. The mayor of Deux-Montagnes says that he loves the REM, and recognizes that mobility has changed, that car- & bike-sharing are picking up even in his far-flung suburb.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCxW...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCxW...
Reposted by MF
Climate disasters now consume 35% of all US GDP growth.
If the car industry gets its way, and we keep mandating carsprawl into climate disaster zones, I bet we can make the former U.S. one giant disaster fund.
Who wants to bet Confederate states get more funds? www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
If the car industry gets its way, and we keep mandating carsprawl into climate disaster zones, I bet we can make the former U.S. one giant disaster fund.
Who wants to bet Confederate states get more funds? www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
October 26, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Climate disasters now consume 35% of all US GDP growth.
If the car industry gets its way, and we keep mandating carsprawl into climate disaster zones, I bet we can make the former U.S. one giant disaster fund.
Who wants to bet Confederate states get more funds? www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
If the car industry gets its way, and we keep mandating carsprawl into climate disaster zones, I bet we can make the former U.S. one giant disaster fund.
Who wants to bet Confederate states get more funds? www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Reposted by MF
Palo Alto just released a financial feasibility analysis of development in its downtown. Key takeaways:
-Nothing is feasible under current market conditions
-Removing impact fees—which are over $100/square foot and ~15% of TOTAL cost for midrise housing—would have a huge impact
-Nothing is feasible under current market conditions
-Removing impact fees—which are over $100/square foot and ~15% of TOTAL cost for midrise housing—would have a huge impact
October 23, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Palo Alto just released a financial feasibility analysis of development in its downtown. Key takeaways:
-Nothing is feasible under current market conditions
-Removing impact fees—which are over $100/square foot and ~15% of TOTAL cost for midrise housing—would have a huge impact
-Nothing is feasible under current market conditions
-Removing impact fees—which are over $100/square foot and ~15% of TOTAL cost for midrise housing—would have a huge impact
Reposted by MF
Crazy table from this paper. If I'm reading this right, **22%** of the urban core and about 14% of the rest of Downtown Los Angeles is parking.
October 21, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Crazy table from this paper. If I'm reading this right, **22%** of the urban core and about 14% of the rest of Downtown Los Angeles is parking.