It's good to seek out expert opinions, but in this case, the person consulted doesn't appear to be familiar with the research. This statement is uninformed conjecture. Sports venues DO NOT increase the value of the tax base. At best, it's an intrajurisdictional reallocation.

A related problem: We've reduced transpo planning to making lists of things that transpo engineers will be doing. Induced demand is a PLANNING issue. We need real transportation plans, that seek to accomplish multiple societal goals, relate to land use, and aren't necessarily crafted by engineers.

DC's strict solar-rights laws have predictably been weaponized to prevent taller housing, e.g. the 9-story bldg proposed for this vacant lot. I'm developing a surface parking lot right now; it won't get a solar canopy b/c future ADUs above it would have a much greater carbon impact.

City of Industry: Portland, Oregon--Number one large metro in new manufacturing firms Portland leads the nation's metro areas in the growth of new local manufacturing firms Over the past five years, Portland has added 250 more new manufacturing...

1/9 🧵 The Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) project is hiding its toll revenue study. Why? Because the data likely shows tolls will have to be much higher while providing less revenue for this now $15 billion project. #Portland #Transportation cityobservatory.org/high_cost_of...

Manhattan's West Village is the poster child for how historically preserving the buildings in high-demand neighborhoods eventually displaces all but the richest people. Case in point: a mansion created from two adjacent Bank Street townhomes will sell for more than SEVENTY MILLION DOLLARS.

The S-trap shown in this public messaging banner is illegal in Canada. The requirements making it illegal are literally costing Vancouver alone millions in new construction!

How Should Portland Pay for Streets? www.strongtowns.org/journal/2026... via @strongtowns.org and @cityobservatory.bsky.social

It's weird that we're all having to pretend that any of this matters. The revenues are terrible, LLMs are yet to provide any truly measurable productivity improvements, and without selling software at a massive discount, AI would barely have any customers. www.wheresyoured.at/ai-is-really-weird/

quick reference.

Paris metropolis: Striking reductions in car use due to proactive efforts to encourage bike, walking, transit: —Less car ownership: From 0.5 cars/HH in Paris to 0.36, 1999–2022. Outside of Paris: 0.88➡️0.8 —35% less gas sold 2005–24 —15% fewer gas stations between 2019–24 www.apur.org/sites/defaul...

My challenge to the cottage industry of economic impact consultants. If you want me to take forward-looking economic impact projections seriously, provide at least *one* example of a forecast that projected correctly. I'm not aware of a single projection that turned out to be correct.

Ballparks hosting MLB-affiliated minor league franchises in 2025 have received ~$7 billion in public subsidies for construction and renovation. It's a problem because the ballparks do not generate sufficient economic returns to cover their costs.

The idea that there is some unsettled debate as to whether or not stadiums can be good public investments is idiotic. 50 years of research that confirms the theoretical reasons why no one should expect them to work has settled the question. Stop being obtuse. Enough.

Did OregonDOT submit the new $15 billion estimate of the cost of the Interstate Bridge Replacement Project via text message? That's what this message seems to be warning about:

“The new targets will actually drive diesel prices higher, according to the EPA’s own analysis…it will cost about $20 billion over the two years that it’s in effect…rather than having any environmental benefits, it will actually drive deforestation & increased emissions of heat-trapping CO2.”

this this this

Cracking down on single family rentals will exclude poor and working people from desirable neighborhoods. It is profoundly inequitable.

Never forget, for many years Uber insisted it would reduce traffic in cities. Instead, Uber drivers cruise without passengers 40% of the time. Uber & Lyft no longer claim they reduce traffic. They now admit they increase congestion. Now boosters lie about driverless cars. Don’t believe them either.

Massive win! Economic suicide!

NYT editorial board issues a full-throated endorsement of congestion pricing: "Over its first 14 months, the [NYC] congestion pricing system has exceeded even the high hopes of many supporters. It has reduced traffic, improved the quality of life and even provided a boost for businesses."

NBA Extortion: Somebody call a cop. The Trail Blazers' $600 Million Shakedown Has a Legal Name — Two of Them:  Sherman and RICO. Somebody call a cop Extortion is a crime, and the civic shakedown...

Welcoming our queer neighbors fleeing states that are criminalizing their existence requires housing affordability!

jealous. take note, america. bikes are climate action. inflation mitigation. a massive win for quality of life and public health. fossil fuels are the exact opposite.

Maybe I'm just reading this incorrectly. But it sounds like the democratic governor of Oregon is making an advisory committee for transportation headed up by a republican who owns a trucking company and someone who wants to widen I-5. www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...

Portland: The notion that Portland Clean Energy Fund money go to remodeling a sports arena is a good time to remember that @trimet.org will be making destructive service cuts next year unless there's some help to plug the funding gap. Like, maybe, from a fund tied to environmental goals?

Today's NYT says Portland is back. It's worth remembering that our city really turned around when it tore out a freeway. "Portland, Ore.: Weird, but Life Is Good Beyond its quirkiness and activism, the city offers a high quality of life with easy access to nature." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/r...

How should Portland pay for streets? Let's not tax houses to subsidize cars, OK? A gas tax, and better yet, a comprehensive system of charging for parking everywhere in the city is a much smarter...

I have had the honour of working alongside Anne Hidalgo for many years on the transformation of Paris. Emmanuel Grégoire’s landslide victory is a tribute to her incredible dedication. Emmanuel will be a truly great mayor. I’m delighted to be experiencing such unique moments as a committed scientist

To flourish, I think, a mall needs to not just be luxury, but also be in an autocentric environment. Look at the Friendship Heights Galleria, anchored by Nieman-Marcus, which was torn down & replaced by an apartment house with ground-floor retail. Or the closed mall on Market St in San Francisco.

Portland's economic health is strong. Newly released data from the authoritative Brookings Institution shows the metro economy ranks in the top ten for prosperity, the top third for inclusion, and the top half for growth over the past decade. cityobservatory.org/portland-eco...

It’s a profoundly regressive policy—middle class renters shoulder the entire burden for providing affordable housing while actual rich people, who overwhelmingly live in single family homes they own, pay nothing—that worsens the problem it’s supposedly intended to solve.

In the first year of congestion pricing, New York City's subway system saw 90 million additional rides 🤯 Few things better than when public policy works as designed.

Utterly phony claims that sports "adds" $1.7 billion to the economy. This is mostly Oregonians spending their money going to Oregon events. Counting every trip of more than 50 miles as "non-local" is nonsense. www.oregonlive.com/business/202... Hagiometry: cityobservatory.org/hagiometry-f...

Transit ridership in the Paris region is now 5% higher than it was in the pre-Covid period, as car traffic along the Paris ring highway & within the center city is 15 to 20% lower than pre-Covid. www.institutparisregion.fr/mobilite-et-...

I keep thinking rental affordability couldn't possibly be any worse in London, but the data shows it was somehow much worse from 2014 to 2020

shoutout to @nerd4cities.bsky.social for making the land use connection to this in a video from a while back: local theaters were a staple of streetcar suburb neighborhoods, and pdx kept ours alive with mixed use zoning + residential density youtu.be/W6uy6Sw3P3o?...

The IBR Boondoggle Blunders Ahead The IBR released new cost estimates confirming that the cost of the project will more than double, from a previous estimate of $6 billion, to an estimated $14.4 billion. ...

The Interstate Bridge Project has a lie in the very first paragraph of its press release, claiming "more than 143,000 vehicles" use the I-5 bridges daily. ODOT data shows traffic is 127,000 vehicles--less than 20 years ago. Tolls will drive those numbers lower. cityobservatory.org/denial-and-d...

WA Governor Bob Ferguson: Signing a blank check for whatever the Interstate Bridge Project costs. We'll "take it in phases as we go forward"--This means starting construction of the so-called "core" portions of the project necessitates the entire $15 billion project.

The Interstate Bridge Project is channelling their inner Robert Moses: Say anything, promise anything to get the project started. They'say $7.5 Billion for "Phase 1," but their design means they'll be back and insist you pay for Phases 2/3. Start construction and you're on the hook for $15 billion

What a perfect way to celebrate the spike in oil prices: Committing to paying as much as $15 billion to expand freeway capacity. And Oregon and Washington will force future generations to pay for this automobile infrastructure, that will mostly go unused because of high tolls.

IBR finally fesses up after delaying the new cost estimate for more than two years: Interstate Bridge Replacement cost has doubled more than doubled, from $6 billion to $14.4 billion. Nearly $10 billion is unfunded, yet Governors Kotek & Ferguson are going to blunder ahead;

Data centers tend to use the most water for cooling during hot summer months when drought is more likely. In the Washington D.C. area, data centers’ peak water consumption is projected to skyrocket – potentially straining water resources. frontiergroup.org/articles/doe...

“This car is the bane of my existence. Probably the worst decision I’ve ever made, financially speaking.” In comments, the NY-based reporter talks of "what life looks like when a car is a requirement rather than an option." But nothing in article. Did editor cut that? www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/b...

Boy if only the Bezos Post had some example in the real world, like a major American city, of congestion pricing working just fine. @postopinions.bsky.social

Click through to send your letter to the decisionmakers who matter. It's fast and easy. #PAUSEI94

“With the right adjustments, [outdoor dining] can remain a defining feature of the city’s streetscape — helping small businesses flourish while creating vibrant public spaces that bring neighbors together.” - NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn www.nydailynews.com/2026/03/15/i...

Wait the smaller truck is even more effective at the job? WTAF. And this is why we can’t have safe streets?

Another way to make this point: Every time an American decides to ride Amtrak instead of drive a car, the US transportation network gets a little safer. NHTSA never says this, but they should.