Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Patrick Sisson @patrickcsisson.bsky.social · 11h

A few years ago, commercial real estate financiers expected a wave of rescue capital deals to sweep over the market — that’s not exactly what happened. For Commercial Observer I looked at how things are actually playing out commercialobserver.com/2025/10/resc...

Rescue Equity in Commercial Real Estate Plays by Some New Rules

For one thing, uncertainty over asset values can complicate negotiations.

commercialobserver.com

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Patrick Sisson @patrickcsisson.bsky.social · 1d

A fundraising surge, particularly among private sources of capital, will be a potent catalyst for a real estate recovery. My latest for Commercial Observer
commercialobserver.com/2025/10/priv...

Brisk Private Fundraising Is Altering Commercial Real Estate Landscape

Much of it is targeting deals for marquee single assets, but the major food groups like office are feeling the love too.

commercialobserver.com

Patrick Sisson @patrickcsisson.bsky.social · 1d

Contests have been embedded in U.S. architecture since the onset; as they turn more towards solutions & solving housing & urban design challenges, is there a better, fairer way to reward creativity & new talent. My latest for the @AIA
www.aia.org/aia-architec...

The new purpose of design contests

Can ideas contests for cities have concrete value for architects trying to break through and not go broke?

www.aia.org

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Emily White @emwhitenoise.bsky.social · 6d

College radio stations are seeing a surge in student interest.

Stations that once struggled to fill airtime are now overflowing with student DJs.

I spoke to 7 college radio stations across the U.S. to understand what is driving the revival:

emwhitenoise.substack.com/p/gen-zs-col...

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baldavenger.bsky.social @baldavenger.bsky.social · 5d

The dedication to visually representing each of the 4,304 deliveries in the background scroll is admirable and conveys the loss to food banks.

The personal interviews and portraits are concise but powerfully relate these cuts’ impact on peoples' lives.

Everyone’s’ “must read” today.

ProPublica @propublica.org · 5d

NEW: ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detail the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the Trump administration’s cuts to an aid program.

Trump Canceled 94 Million Pounds of Food Aid. Here’s What Never Arrived.

ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detail the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the administration’s cut...

projects.propublica.org

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◥◤Kriston Capps @kristoncapps.bsky.social · 5d

If Russ Vought gets a line-item veto over any federal spending in any jurisdiction with any Democratic executive how is the federal government supposed to ever reopen? What would be the point? www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Vought Suspends $2 Billion for Chicago Trains in Shutdown Gambit

White House Budget Director Russell Vought announced the withholding of more than $2 billion for transportation projects in Chicago, the latest move by the Trump administration to use the shutdown as ...

www.bloomberg.com

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Alexandra Lange @langealexandra.bsky.social · 5d

"At a time when families are leaving cities for the leafy suburbs, open streets show how kids can play, bike, and run around the city — particularly if we reduce car lanes."

Streetsblog USA @usa.streetsblog.org · 5d

“There are a number of reasons to think that we have a unique window of opportunity to make more pedestrian streets permanent right now,” writes Diana Lind. “We shouldn’t squander this moment.”

Can Pedestrian Pop-Ups Go Permanent in the U.S.? — Streetsblog USA

Can temporary pedestrian pop-ups spur permanent change?

buff.ly

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Christopher Mims @mims.bsky.social · 5d

I think the weak jobs numbers we are seeing now are just the beginning.

We are only just starting to see indirect effects of mass layoffs in government, tech, now entertainment. So many service jobs are downstream of these relatively stable, relatively high-wage ones.

www.wsj.com/business/med...

L.A.’s Entertainment Economy Is Looking Like a Disaster Movie

Work is evaporating, businesses are closing, longtime residents are leaving, and Los Angeles’s creative middle class is hanging on by a thread.

www.wsj.com

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Patrick Sisson @patrickcsisson.bsky.social · 6d

Was a pleasure to be on @marketplace.org today to talk about my @nytimes.com story on industrial outdoor storage. Here’s the clip, hopefully the old college radio DJ still has it www.marketplace.org/story/2025/1...

It's a great year for industrial outdoor storage

As spending on AI data centers booms, so does spending for industrial outdoor storage, where companies store tools, trailers, and other equipment.

www.marketplace.org

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Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 6d

“Venture capitalists in clean tech are starting to say out loud what they’ve suspected for a while: China’s dominance has left key sectors in the West uninvestable.”

China Road Trip Exposes List of Uninvestable Assets in the West

Venture capitalists in clean tech are starting to say out loud what they’ve suspected for a while: China’s dominance has left key sectors in the West uninvestable.

www.bloomberg.com

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Aarón Cantú @aaroncantu.bsky.social · 6d

NEW INVESTIGATION

California predicts data centers will consume as much power as adding another LA to grid by 2030

A utility anticipates additional emissions equal to 21 gas plants

Some environmentalists see reducing gas power as “a lot less likely” due to AI capitalandmain.com/the-insatiab...

The Insatiable Energy Demands of Data Centers Could Increase Fossil Fuel Emissions in California

By 2030, the centers could consume the equivalent of adding another city the size of L.A. to the state’s power grid.

capitalandmain.com

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Patrick Sisson @patrickcsisson.bsky.social · 6d

Amid headlines about landlords utilizing rental data, it’s amazing how much info cities *don’t* have about their local housing markets. For @bloomberg.com CityLab, I look at efforts to adopt rental registries, the red light cameras of housing enforcement
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

With Rental Registries, Cities Seek to Close Data Gap With Landlords

Cities like Pittsburgh, Oakland and Rochester have passed ordinances to track property ownership and mandate inspections for rental housing. But landlords often resist.

www.bloomberg.com

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Mike Eliason @holz-bau.bsky.social · 7d

when i noted this trend on the @designobserver.com podcast, a researcher reached out to note that the demographics and community bonds in this country were also altered and ma never be rebuilt.

losing 22k homes when CA only builds ~80k a year is significant

Liam Dillon @liamjdillon.com · 8d

We're living in the worst era of wildfire in California history. My colleagues and I found that an astounding 22,500 homes burned down in the five most destructive fires in the state from 2017 through 2020. Just 38% of them have been rebuilt. www.latimes.com/homeless-hou...

22,500 homes lost. Over five years later, only 38% rebuilt: What California fire survivors face

Just 38% of the 22,500 homes burned down in California's five most destructive wildfires from 2017 to 2020 have been rebuilt, The Times found.

www.latimes.com

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Patrick Sisson @patrickcsisson.bsky.social · 7d

For @bisnow I looked at the evolving nature of the Trump Gold Card, how it might cannibalize a key program for international investment in U.S. real estate, and how immigration policy for exceptional talent is being altered www.bisnow.com/national/new...

Trump Drops $1M Gold Card, Raising The Heat On EB-5 Investment

The White House's new $1M gold card promises residency without tying capital to projects — a direct threat to EB-5’s $2B CRE funding pipeline.

www.bisnow.com

Patrick Sisson @patrickcsisson.bsky.social · 7d

If you do read my story, here’s the comedy sketch I open the story with www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T9_...

www.youtube.com

Patrick Sisson @patrickcsisson.bsky.social · 7d

For The Real Deal I wrote about Seattle icon Martin Selig, a fixture of the city’s real estate & tech booms. I hope I was able to capture some of his character, energy & enthusiasm and how someone rightfully nicknamed Houdini was so hard hit by the recent downturn
therealdeal.com/magazine/oct....

How Seattle developer Martin Selig’s empire crumbled

Real estate mogul Martin Selig faces financial distress as Seattle offices, once symbols of the tech boom, remain largely vacant post-Covid.

therealdeal.com

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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 7d

Here's the DOT press release on its effort to pause funding for the Second Ave Subway & Hudson Tunnel. DOT claims problem is disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) program, which DOT claims is constitutional.

The problem is: Congress authorized DBE! www.transportation.gov/civil-rights...

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Patrick Sisson @patrickcsisson.bsky.social · 8d

Happy to announce I’ll be part of the Soak It Up Conference in LA on Dec. 5 exploring important issues around urban water management. Check it out and come by—-> www.tclf.org/soak-it-los-...

Soak it Up: Los Angeles, CA | TCLF

Register Now - Daylong conference on Dec. 5 with international leaders about urban water management challenges and innovative solutions. Mobile workshops, too - Early Bird Rate through Oct. 15.

www.tclf.org

Patrick Sisson @patrickcsisson.bsky.social · 9d

Native American architects, leaders, builders, and designers are working to upgrade & update their housing stock after decades of disinvestment and broken US government processes. I look at some unique programs and visions for @dwell.bsky.social www.dwell.com/article/hemp...

How the Lower Sioux Is Harnessing Hemp to Build Sustainable Homes on Their Terms

The tribe has established a farm, a factory, and construction system to build new houses and revitalize old ones.

www.dwell.com

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Patrick Sisson @patrickcsisson.bsky.social · 9d

For @fastcompany.com I looked at the roll out of credit card-thin high efficiency, made—in-the-US windows, their rapid commercialization, and why it may be as much of a design story as a energy efficiency gain www.fastcompany.com/91411247/cor...

These windows are credit-card thin. They’re about to revolutionize the way we design buildings

The company behind the iPhone's gorilla glass is now making ultra-thin, extra sustainable windows.

www.fastcompany.com

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Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 12d

This rules so hard. It's been a longstanding conviction of mine that the best way to convince people to replace car trips with ebike trips is by letting them try out an ebike for free.

Love the Oakland Public Library. oaklandside.org/2025/09/25/o...

Oakland launches an e-bike lending library

There are now 50 electric bikes available for rent at the Fruitvale BART. It just takes a deposit and a modest fee.

oaklandside.org

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 12d

In the US, even a “cheap” transit bus costs 2-3x more than in Asia or Europe -- and one agency may pay twice as much as another for nearly identical vehicles.

In Bloomberg, I explored a ripe opportunity to improve transportation by applying Abundance-coded, supply-side reforms.

🧵

Why US Cities Pay Too Much for Transit Buses

A new paper argues that lack of competition, demand for custom features and “Buy America” rules have driven up costs for transit agencies in the US.

www.bloomberg.com

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The Xylom @thexylom.com · 13d

EXCLUSIVE: A new analysis by The Xylom's @alexip718.com shows for the first time just how much America’s top research institutions have grown to depend on H-1B skilled workers — and how this delicate balance might be disrupted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on legal immigration.

The Most Detailed Maps of H-1B Visa Holders Joining America's Top Research Institutions

A new analysis by The Xylom shows for the first time just how much America’s top research institutions have grown to depend on the specialized knowledge of H-1B skilled workers — and how this…

www.thexylom.com

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Patrick Sisson @patrickcsisson.bsky.social · 14d

Hey pros in architecture, engineering, construction — does your industry/company depend on H1-B visas? Trying to gauge how important this program and those like it are to these industries for a Bisnow story —any and all insight would be much appreciated.

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Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 16d

www.404media.co/were-suing-i...

We’re Suing ICE for Its $2 Million Spyware Contract

404 Media has filed a lawsuit against ICE for access to its contract with Paragon, a company that sells powerful spyware for breaking into phones and accessing encrypted messaging apps.

www.404media.co

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