Stephen Jacob Smith
@stephenjacobsmith.com
Executive director of the Center for Building in North America, [email protected]. Personal account. Brooklyn, NY.
It’s the world’s most confusing floor plan, but there are four units and the top two floors are two diagonally arranged bilevel units. The text of the current version of the UCC (PA’s building code) does not allow this, but I guess L&I just decided to be chill about it? Or the code used to allow it?
January 11, 2026 at 8:54 PM
It’s the world’s most confusing floor plan, but there are four units and the top two floors are two diagonally arranged bilevel units. The text of the current version of the UCC (PA’s building code) does not allow this, but I guess L&I just decided to be chill about it? Or the code used to allow it?
I know that Wikipedia is not exactly canonical, but also, it’s as close as I can get without getting into legal documents en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condomi...
January 11, 2026 at 5:46 PM
I know that Wikipedia is not exactly canonical, but also, it’s as close as I can get without getting into legal documents en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condomi...
Anybody know where I can find floor plans for 1211-1221 Noble St. in Philadelphia? I’m confused about how the architect met the second stair requirement for these buildings (or maybe the third and fourth floors are duplexed and the building department only required one stair as a result?)
January 11, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Anybody know where I can find floor plans for 1211-1221 Noble St. in Philadelphia? I’m confused about how the architect met the second stair requirement for these buildings (or maybe the third and fourth floors are duplexed and the building department only required one stair as a result?)
5% of working federal judges are in their 90s, including one who is 101 🥴
January 11, 2026 at 2:14 PM
5% of working federal judges are in their 90s, including one who is 101 🥴
Worrisome that city construction costs in NYC have gotten so out of hand that to get public toilet costs down to the low six figures each, we need to do away with running water and sewer connections www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/n...
January 11, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Worrisome that city construction costs in NYC have gotten so out of hand that to get public toilet costs down to the low six figures each, we need to do away with running water and sewer connections www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/n...
Based on the bathroom, what cuisine would you say this restaurant was serving?
January 11, 2026 at 12:22 AM
Based on the bathroom, what cuisine would you say this restaurant was serving?
There’s a page saying I should “plan to arrive” 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure, “even earlier” from a large or busy station. But no mention of this in any of the many emails or texts I got from Amtrak about the ticket, nor a link to this page www.amtrak.com/at-the-station
January 10, 2026 at 7:20 PM
There’s a page saying I should “plan to arrive” 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure, “even earlier” from a large or busy station. But no mention of this in any of the many emails or texts I got from Amtrak about the ticket, nor a link to this page www.amtrak.com/at-the-station
Phone agent said to be careful saying the train left “early,” since the website says I should arrive 30-40 mins before departure. Leaving aside how unrealistic that is – there’s nothing I can see in Terms and Conditions about leaving early, even in that exact section! www.amtrak.com/terms-and-co...
January 10, 2026 at 7:14 PM
Phone agent said to be careful saying the train left “early,” since the website says I should arrive 30-40 mins before departure. Leaving aside how unrealistic that is – there’s nothing I can see in Terms and Conditions about leaving early, even in that exact section! www.amtrak.com/terms-and-co...
Nothing on the MANY communications I got from Amtrak about how early I should arrive or how early they can leave without giving me a refund
January 10, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Nothing on the MANY communications I got from Amtrak about how early I should arrive or how early they can leave without giving me a refund
Trade barriers in elevators between the EU and South America pale compared to the barriers the US and Canada impose. Leaving aside rising tariffs, we have HUGE technical barriers to trade in our standard – something MERCOSUR didn’t even before the trade deal, since they already adopted EU standards
January 10, 2026 at 1:55 PM
Trade barriers in elevators between the EU and South America pale compared to the barriers the US and Canada impose. Leaving aside rising tariffs, we have HUGE technical barriers to trade in our standard – something MERCOSUR didn’t even before the trade deal, since they already adopted EU standards
There’s a cluster of apartment buildings there, and the station itself with SB 79 will trigger a big upzoning. But most importantly, there’s going to be a very expensive subway line running through it – they’re supposed to stop every mile, not every two!
January 10, 2026 at 1:37 PM
There’s a cluster of apartment buildings there, and the station itself with SB 79 will trigger a big upzoning. But most importantly, there’s going to be a very expensive subway line running through it – they’re supposed to stop every mile, not every two!
To the west of this building there is a lot of green space under the elevated highway that can likely handle a lot of discharge
January 9, 2026 at 5:39 PM
To the west of this building there is a lot of green space under the elevated highway that can likely handle a lot of discharge
In looking for it, I found another reporter using the population difference to explain why a weaker vaccination regime is fine in Denmark but not the US www.npr.org/2025/12/26/n...
January 8, 2026 at 9:27 PM
In looking for it, I found another reporter using the population difference to explain why a weaker vaccination regime is fine in Denmark but not the US www.npr.org/2025/12/26/n...
Mamdani and Weaver are playing a dangerous legal game with this argument. The bid is just $88,000 per apartment, so the admin is arguing that, due to its own rent regulation, the value is below that. So why shouldn't the Supreme Court find that rent stabilization is an unconstitutional taking?
January 8, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Mamdani and Weaver are playing a dangerous legal game with this argument. The bid is just $88,000 per apartment, so the admin is arguing that, due to its own rent regulation, the value is below that. So why shouldn't the Supreme Court find that rent stabilization is an unconstitutional taking?
I love how to be a French politician, you have to have an absolutely deranged love life. The two romantic partners listed on this Paris mayoral candidate’s Wikipedia page were born in 1997 and 1958, respectively. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_K...
January 8, 2026 at 2:26 PM
I love how to be a French politician, you have to have an absolutely deranged love life. The two romantic partners listed on this Paris mayoral candidate’s Wikipedia page were born in 1997 and 1958, respectively. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_K...
The article answers this question: the median household income in Jersey City is $95,000
January 8, 2026 at 1:58 PM
The article answers this question: the median household income in Jersey City is $95,000
This paragraph leaves the impression that most of Jersey City’s population growth has been in white people, but that is far from the truth. The Asian, Latino, multiracial, and other populations are up by over 26,000! The city is now almost evenly split between white, black, Latino, and Asian
January 8, 2026 at 1:51 PM
This paragraph leaves the impression that most of Jersey City’s population growth has been in white people, but that is far from the truth. The Asian, Latino, multiracial, and other populations are up by over 26,000! The city is now almost evenly split between white, black, Latino, and Asian
Since this article is about comparing Jersey City to NYC, I should point out that almost no housing development in NYC over the past decade or more has been built union. Some trades, but when people say “union,” they mean a fully union worksite, and that barely exists anymore even east of the Hudson
January 8, 2026 at 1:45 PM
Since this article is about comparing Jersey City to NYC, I should point out that almost no housing development in NYC over the past decade or more has been built union. Some trades, but when people say “union,” they mean a fully union worksite, and that barely exists anymore even east of the Hudson
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... (🎁🔗)
The MTA also does this…every few weeks you learn of a new few weekends the G will be down. No real advanced planning that’s legible to the rider (I assume because their own work productivity is so variable and they themselves don’t know)
January 7, 2026 at 10:21 PM
The MTA also does this…every few weeks you learn of a new few weekends the G will be down. No real advanced planning that’s legible to the rider (I assume because their own work productivity is so variable and they themselves don’t know)
It's hard to say how safe any particular building is, but in general, the French approach to fire yields good results – they report 60% fewer fire deaths per capita than the United States does www.ctif.org/sites/defaul...
January 7, 2026 at 6:19 PM
It's hard to say how safe any particular building is, but in general, the French approach to fire yields good results – they report 60% fewer fire deaths per capita than the United States does www.ctif.org/sites/defaul...
Interesting floor plan that shows what mitigations are possible that are not a second stair or sprinklers (neither of which are common in new apartment buildings in France). The lower floors have a short double-loaded corridor with five units of up to 4BR, which I... divisare.com/projects/548...
January 7, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Interesting floor plan that shows what mitigations are possible that are not a second stair or sprinklers (neither of which are common in new apartment buildings in France). The lower floors have a short double-loaded corridor with five units of up to 4BR, which I... divisare.com/projects/548...
“I went back to my statistical analysis of building violation data, and saw distinct patterns: areas with greater numbers of owner-occupied properties receive fewer violations per 311 request than those with more rental properties.“
January 7, 2026 at 4:47 PM
“I went back to my statistical analysis of building violation data, and saw distinct patterns: areas with greater numbers of owner-occupied properties receive fewer violations per 311 request than those with more rental properties.“
ICC being profitable is wrong – it’s a nonprofit, and while the exec salaries are high (CEO makes $1.3M+/year), they’re not out of line with nonprofits with $100M+ in revenue. What is odd to me is that it’s organized as a 501(c)(6), so a “business league.” But what businesses is it a league of? 🤔
January 7, 2026 at 3:06 PM
ICC being profitable is wrong – it’s a nonprofit, and while the exec salaries are high (CEO makes $1.3M+/year), they’re not out of line with nonprofits with $100M+ in revenue. What is odd to me is that it’s organized as a 501(c)(6), so a “business league.” But what businesses is it a league of? 🤔