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Mike English

@mocomikee.bsky.social

1.6K followers 1.2K following 4K posts

Downtown Silver Spring Maryland resident and housing advocate. Trans Rights. Liberal. YIMBY. Supply, Stability, Subsidy. Autistic and it’s fine, views my own. he/him

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Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · Nov 16

1/3 There will always be some tension between advocates that primarily focus on the need for more housing and those that focus on tenant protections. Still, as someone in both spaces, we could all benefit from remembering we’re all fighting for tenants to have more leverage

Reposted by Mike English

Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 13h

1. In a devastating new Pew Research Survey, only 3 in 10 transgender adults report being accepted by their parents.

And only 1 in 10 say they are accepted by their extended family.

This is the lowest number ever found in surveys asking similar questions.

Subscribe to support our journalism.

Pew Survey: Only 31% Of Trans People Report Being Accepted By Their Parents

The survey comes as transgender people experience a legal assault from the far-right in the United States.

www.erininthemorning.com

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 9h

Pretty much any of their savory baked stuff which isn’t really on the online menu. I forget the exact names but there is one with curry and another sorta flakey baked pork danish type thing that is amazing. I should have taken a picture of the tags, lol

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 9h

It’s so freaking good

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 9h

I have no idea but 🤞

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 10h

Pro tip (by that I mean they will tell you when you buy it) microwave the things for like 15 seconds

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 10h

Also please read this powerful piece by @justupthepike.bsky.social

I and others tend to focus on affordability and justifiably so, but one can still do that and call for common sense safety requirements (while still pushing for things like allowing single stair).

ggwash.org/view/88804/i...

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 10h

Once again credit to @cmkatestewart.bsky.social, @lcharkoudian.bsky.social, @justupthepike.bsky.social, Melanie Diaz’s family, and many others for their leadership on this www.wusa9.com/article/news...

New Maryland law requires high-rise buildings to have smoke detectors , family continues to fight for fire safety legislation after daughter's death

Melanie Diaz, 25, was killed in a high-rise apartment fire in February 2023.

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 10h

It’s at the corner of Georgia and Fenwick, in a retail space of the Arrive apartments btw. (I cannot alas recommend that apartment building and its terrible management and fire safety violation history nearly as much as I recommend this bakery, but law changes are helping force improvements)

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 10h

As I was just reminded by stopping there on the way to cat sitting for a friend, this place is amazing. They may well make the most delicious baked goods I have ever put into my body morning-my-day.square.site

Order Online | Morning My Day

morning-my-day.square.site

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 10h

I did not miss my calling in marketing

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 10h

As I was just reminded by stopping there on the way to cat sitting for a friend, this place is amazing. They may well make the most delicious baked goods I have ever put into my body morning-my-day.square.site

Order Online | Morning My Day

morning-my-day.square.site

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 14h

Again, we should stand by trans people even if doing so did cost us politically, but it doesn’t really even do that, so like, let’s learn that lesson and apply it please.

Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 1d

1. A new poll shows that Virginia voters prefer Democratic Governor candidate Abigail Spanberger's approach to trans issues over Republican Earle-Sears by a wide margin.

She's ahead 10 points in the race now, and voters prefer her 50-37 on trans issues.

Subscribe to support our journalism.

New Poll: Voters Prefer Spanberger For Virginia Governor On Transgender Issues By Wide Margin, Despite Anti-Trans Ads

The issue also ranked lowest among issues polled. The CNU poll is the second poll showing Spanberger pulling ahead.

www.erininthemorning.com

Reposted by Mike English

Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 1d

1. A new poll shows that Virginia voters prefer Democratic Governor candidate Abigail Spanberger's approach to trans issues over Republican Earle-Sears by a wide margin.

She's ahead 10 points in the race now, and voters prefer her 50-37 on trans issues.

Subscribe to support our journalism.

New Poll: Voters Prefer Spanberger For Virginia Governor On Transgender Issues By Wide Margin, Despite Anti-Trans Ads

The issue also ranked lowest among issues polled. The CNU poll is the second poll showing Spanberger pulling ahead.

www.erininthemorning.com

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 16h

And this is why allowing other types of homes is a huge part of the solution.

People just can’t afford houses anymore in a lot of places without tremendous good fortune.

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 18h

Too real

Reposted by Mike English

Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 18h

Three SCOTUS cases saw movement this week targeting LGBTQ+ people: A conversation therapy case, a shadow-docket case on trans passports, and a sports ban that will determine equal protection for trans people.

Writer S. Baum details all of them in our latest.

Subscribe to support our journalism.

Three Supreme Court Cases Targeting LGBTQ+ People See Movement This Week

From sports to passports, these cases may determine the vitality of trans rights in the U.S. for generations to come.

www.erininthemorning.com

Reposted by Mike English

Jane Natoli 🥑🚲🍍 @wafoli.bsky.social · 1d

Another evening of “this is why your city has a housing shortage”

Another room full of (mostly) older attendees for a public meeting about the Family Zoning Plan

Reposted by Mike English

Brad Ewing @bradleyewing.bsky.social · 1d

why do the anti-housing crowds always look the same regardless of jurisdiction

Jane Natoli 🥑🚲🍍 @wafoli.bsky.social · 1d

Another evening of “this is why your city has a housing shortage”

Another room full of (mostly) older attendees for a public meeting about the Family Zoning Plan

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 1d

It probably says something about my priorities when my first thought was “is there a spot for Drizzy?!” Huh?

Reposted by Mike English

dan, crisp & juicy enjoyer 🦀🏳️‍🌈👋🏾 @justupthepike.bsky.social · 1d

big news from navy yard this week as @ggwash.org moved into a bigger office and for the first time in years we can all fit inside it, as shown here
ggwash.org/view/101098/...

Moving day at the GGWash office, again

GGWash has moved into a bigger office space, and we now have more room to hang flyers, photos, memes, and mementos from the past 17 years.

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 1d

Weak

LGBTQ Nation @lgbtqnation.com · 1d

Gavin Newsom vetoes gender education bill, declines to sign other trans protections - buff.ly/MTUAV85

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 1d

It’s gonna be a long stressful race

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 1d

Always nice to escape the hustle and bustle of big city Downtown Silver Spring and hit up the zoo in the suburbs.

Cleveland/Woodley Park area outside the national zoo, with some tall buildings (for DC)

National zoo entrance

Some meerkats standing on a box I have questions about (which reads “mob boss” with an angry meerkat and flames) I think they are hierarchical and it’s probably something boring like that but hey

Sleepy, sleepy lion

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 1d

I still think it makes (most of) them people with a frustrating blindspot, not “bad”, but the inability of so many older homeowners who won the space-time lottery on housing costs to recognize that good fortune played a role in their housing story, along with their hard work, is exhausting.

Nextdoor post from me reading the same as the quoted post below “More important now than ever to remember that the most progressive place in the world can't protect people who can't afford to live in it, and can't welcome people it refuses to make room for.”

Response to my post reading

Jamie MM 1d • Greater Chevy Chase
I do not understand the issue you are making. Many of my colleagues even myself work in a location we can't afford living, so we "commute". I, like many others, have been doing this for years. If you can't afford living in Montgomery county, I'm sure there are other counties that you can afford living.

Mike English 7h • Acorn Park
Jamie and it's harder to live as close as we do than ever.
Could you afford to buy your home if you had to today (obviously without using proceeds from its sale?)
My guess is that it's quite a bit more expensive than when you bought, even accounting for inflation, so someone doing the same thing as you did would still be priced out.
Anyway, my point is that if we claim to be a welcoming place, we need to do more to make it more affordable for more people to live in it, both by providing more direct affordable housing funding, and allowing more homes of more types to be built, including at market rate, to provide more price points for more varied needs.

If you disagree that’s fine, but that is the issue I am raising

Continued response from me reading:

Anyway, my point is that if we claim to be a welcoming place, we need to do more to make it more affordable for more people to live in it, both by providing more direct affordable housing funding, and allowing more homes of more types to be built, including at market rate, to provide more price points for more varied needs.

If you disagree that’s fine, but that is the issue I am raising.

Response from Jamie

Jamie MM 1h • Greater Chevy Chase
Mike, this is called home appreciation (regardless of all the reasons behind it) as a homeowner, and as many other, they hope their home to go in value. It's the biggest financial investment one can make. I'm not sure if you are already a homeowner, but if yes, I hope your home value is up and do you can sell it and afford another house in a more affordable location. If you are not a homeowner, then maybe you can start in an affordable location and grow from there like many did.
In the interim, commute like many millions of us

My response

Mike English 14m • Acorn Park
Jamie I own my home and commute, I could afford it because it's in one of the few places in the county that allow something other than detached houses, so it's a small condo. I'll be fine, probably, and I don't begrudge anyone their home appreciation, but the flip side of it is that it's, as you've just confirmed, more expensive than it used to be and harder for people now to do what you did before (and it sounds like you couldn't buy your own home now if you had to) so telling others to bootstrap harder only goes so far, especially when part of the reason for the cost going up so dramatically is many fortunate homeowners fighting tooth and nail to prevent all change. (edited)

Mike English @mocomikee.bsky.social · 2d

I assume you meant trains, but that first one is also good!