Ed Mendoza
@edmendoza.bsky.social
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Senior Research Associate at
@cayimby.bsky.social
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Ed Mendoza
NBA
22 days ago
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Los Angeles really canāt help itself.
30 days ago
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Stan Oklobdzija
about 1 month ago
Why are we shooting ourselves in the foot to bail out Republicans for losing a stupid war of choice?
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Jacob Wasserman
about 1 month ago
"LA is not gettingā¦economies of scale that other parts of the world, like Asia, are hitting. Even European countries, which have strong unions & environmental protectionsā¦do it cheaper because they build transit regularly and haveā¦agenciesā¦do it, as opposed to contracting and subcontracting it out."
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Why it took 65 years for L.A. to build its most important rail line
If a subway would work anywhere in modern Los Angeles, conventional wisdom said, it was along Wilshire Boulevard.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-07/los-angeles-metro-d-line-extension
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M. Nolan Gray š„
about 1 month ago
Wow! Unanimous support for AB 1903, which aims to end the onslaught of frivolous litigation that makes it impossible to build condos in Californiaākey to reviving homeownership. Still a ways to go, but
@buffywicks.bsky.social
has a way of making the impossible seem inevitable.
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M. Nolan Gray š„
about 1 month ago
California YIMBY (
@cayimby.bsky.social
) is proud to be a co-sponsor alongside a great coalitionālearn more about the bill here:
cayimby.org/legislation/...
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AB 1903: Housing Construction Defect Reform
AB 1903 will reduce housing costs and increase opportunities for homeownership by rewarding high-quality construction, and allowing builders to fix problems in newly-constructed homes before triggerin...
https://cayimby.org/legislation/ab-1903/
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Oh The Urbanity!
about 1 month ago
Spending time in France and Switzerland, itās clear that the āmissing middleā in North America isnāt townhouses and duplexes. Itās mid-rises. Especially mid-rise neighbourhoods. Our denser urban fabric (Montreal, Chicago, etc.) is still mostly 2-3 storeys, not 4-8 like is so common here.
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Brent Toderian
about 2 months ago
āSomeone with a 1-hr car commute needs to earn 40% more to be as happy as someone with a short walk to work. On the other hand, if someone shifts from a long commute to a walk, their happiness increases as much as if theyād fallen in love.ā
#CityMakingMath
50 reasons for more walkable streets.
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50 Reasons Why Everyone Should Want More Walkable Streets
From making you live longer to making cities more resilient: If you want a reason to make your city more walkable, it's in here.
https://www.fastcompany.com/3062989/50-reasons-why-everyone-should-want-more-walkable-streets
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Brent Toderian
about 2 months ago
This is REALLY important. The main thing that makes it hard to achieve integrated nature/green in cities ISNāT the density of buildings or the density of people ā it's the density of CARS. And the better designed your density of people and buildings is, the fewer cars you need or want.
#UrbanTruth
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Sightline Institute
about 2 months ago
#WALeg
legalized scissor stairs this year! The efficient design conserves square footage and helps buildings fit onto smaller lots.
@markusja.bsky.social
www.sightline.org/2026/05/13/w...
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Futurewise
about 2 months ago
(4/5) Unlike townhomes, which have a stairwell in each unit, stacked flats have a single central stair. This means less stairs to get around your home, in addition to the ground-floor accessible units. š©āš¦½šØāš¦Æ
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Philip Oldfield
about 2 months ago
19 social housing apartments in Paris with a stone facade, and timber structure Budget ā¬2.6m (though I doubt this includes everything!) By CQFD Architecture
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California YIMBY
about 2 months ago
The median single-family detached house in Los Angeles is over $940,000. The median condo? $650,000. Thatās nearly $300,000 less, so why arenāt we building them? Builders have walked away because a broken process made condos too risky to be worth it. AB 1903 (Wicks) is the fix.
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Parking Reform Network
over 1 year ago
āThe right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar, in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle, is actually the right to destroy the city.ā - Lewis Mumford
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Stephen Jacob Smith
2 months ago
The Big Four is becoming the Big Three, with Kone buying TKE. Oligopoly is converging on monopoly. The only way to reverse this is to harmonize with global standards to open our market up to mid-sized European and Asian players.
www.kone.com/en/news-and-...
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Inside information: KONE and TKE to combine, creating a world-class company in the elevator and escalator industry
Inside information: KONE and TKE to combine, creating a world-class company in the elevator and escalator industry
https://www.kone.com/en/news-and-insights/releases/inside-information--kone-and-tke-to-combine--creating-a-world-class-company-in-the-elevator-and-escalator-industry-2026-04-29.aspx
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California YIMBY
3 months ago
A Boston University study of 10,000 elected officials found 89% of city council members own property vs 51% of their constituents. Renters aren't less likely to win when they run; they're just less likely to run at all.
cayimby.org/blog/the-nee...
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The Need for More Renters in our Representers - California YIMBY
Itās no secret that homeowners are dramatically overrepresented at all levels of elected government, with profound consequences for political culture and public policy. A recent paper from Bostonā¦
https://cayimby.org/blog/the-need-for-more-renters-in-our-representers/
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Please support Nithya. All of her stances are incredibly strong and they come from a place of listening and analysis.
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3 months ago
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Nithya Raman
3 months ago
Los Angelesā housing crisis is self-inflicted.Ā For decades, city leaders have taken deliberate actions to limit new housing. Today, we announced our plan to fix this and triple housing production.
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Nick Andert
3 months ago
Not only does this video detail Jackie Dupont-Walker's *extreme* conflict of interest that is driving this whole crisis, but I've also obtained Bass's motion, which she claims will 'not delay,' but which - fun fact! - will cause a huge delay. Full-on doublespeak territory.
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Mike Eliason
3 months ago
oh hey single stair in the CNU's public square :)
www.cnu.org/publicsquare...
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Why single-stair reform leads to more livable, adaptable infill
Allowing more single-stair buildings in the US will positively affect quality of life, public health, infill flexibility, family-friendly units, costs, and even climate adaptation.
https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2026/03/23/why-single-stair-reform-leads-more-livable-adaptable-infill
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Saad Asad
3 months ago
Cities that block housing near transit shouldn't get federal transit money. Workers are paying twice ā once in rent, again in commute time. Congress can fix this. Reward cities that build, not ones that don't.
thehill.com/opinion/cong...
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Transportation policy is incomplete without housing
Congress has a rare opportunity to address both the housing and transportation crises by updating transportation funding formulas to reward housing growth, prioritizing projects that increase accesā¦
https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/5738417-build-housing-near-transit/
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Patrick Siegman
3 months ago
How does
#Switzerland
, where the average annual wage is HIGHER than in the US, manage to build apartments for just $300K per gross sq. ft.? Is it by cutting corners on fire safety? Nope. Americaās fire death rate is five times higher than Switzerlandās.
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kyle tear down that highway lucas š³ļøāš
3 months ago
ICE as TSA again making the case for high-speed rail. Transportation is not a niche issue, and the left needs to start taking it seriously. So many transportation systems we have set up are foundational to the division, suppression, and collapse that we are witnessing.
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Sean Jursnick
3 months ago
Great single stair article on Fast Company today highlighting Seattle and the broader movement around the country to change building codes
www.fastcompany.com/91513043/the...
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The building code rule that lets Seattle turn forgotten lots into housing
Rethinking the building code to allow single-stairwell buildings brought more small-lot, mid-rise apartments to the cityāand sparked a wider reform movement.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91513043/the-building-code-rule-that-lets-seattle-turn-forgotten-lots-into-housing
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Sam
3 months ago
I love when NIMBYs accuse me of having ādone no researchā on housing as if I didnāt literally work in the senate on housing policy and write extensively on this exact topic
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Patrick Siegman
3 months ago
California has TWO building codes. One is very strict, but the other? Not so much. The very strict one applies to commercial & multifamily (except duplexes). The lax one applies to single-family houses & duplexes only. Thatās why we build light wood frame houses in extreme fire hazard zones!
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Modern Multifamily Buildings Provide the Most Fire Protection
A large body of research has demonstrated that apartment buildings and other types of multifamily housing can provide many benefits to a community, especially when built in high-demand areas where hou...
https://www.pew.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2025/09/modern-multifamily-buildings-provide-the-most-fire-protection
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Mike Eliason
3 months ago
every one of these homes is a 3-bedroom. served by a single stair. with daylight on opposite sides. no windowless bedrooms no dozens of units on the same floor more privacy not looking into homes 10-15' away and 100% illegal in ever city in the US our building codes are *trash*
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Max Dubler š³ļøāš
3 months ago
Mary Fong Lau, the 80 year old woman who killed four people including a baby and a toddler after crashing into a bus stop going 75mph the wrong way down a 25mph street, has been sentenced to probation and will not permanently lose her drivers' license. This is a despicable miscarriage of justice.
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West Portal crash: S.F. judge says driver who killed family of 4 will get probation
Mary Fong Lau, 80, will face no jail time according to remarks from San Francisco Superior Court Judge Bruce Chan. She must complete 200 hours of community service and undergo probation.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/mary-fong-lau-west-portal-family-crash-sentence-22080184.php
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Max Dubler š³ļøāš
4 months ago
Everyone who owned the first Velvet Underground record started a band. Everyone who read Stephen Smith's Elevators report is running legislation on it.
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Patrick Siegman
4 months ago
āFirst of all, American engineers receive almost no academic training about traffic, and even less training about safety. A student can graduate college with a civil engineering degree and pass a licensure exam while having taken no courses related to transportation (p. 307).ā
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Book Review: Killed By A Traffic Engineer
In a new book, engineering professor Wes Marshall explains why American roads are so unsafe.
https://www.planetizen.com/features/130964-book-review-killed-traffic-engineer
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Liam Dillon
4 months ago
From the weekend: Why it makes sense that housing is where Trump and Mamdani can find common cause and how Mamdani and LA's Nithya Raman and seeking to upend a half century of urban housing politics and a decade-long fight on the left.
www.politico.com/news/2026/03...
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The leftās housing civil war is ending
For a decade, progressives argued over whether greedy landlords or blocked construction caused the housing crisis. Zohran Mamdani and Nithya Raman say the answer is both.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/07/mamdani-nithya-raman-housing-socialism-abundance-00817314
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Matt Hutchins AIA
4 months ago
If youāre pushing housing in lowrise nāhoods, eliminating useless sideyards is the unlock for the urban design everybody says they want. In exchange for sideyards that no one uses, you get better units, lush interior courtyards, space for trees and play, higher density and lower energy use.
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Aaron šļøš²š²š
4 months ago
loved this quote from Senator Pham: āI believe in inclusionary zoning as a mechanism to economically integrate neighborhoods, not as a tax on all new housing.ā
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Michael Andersen
4 months ago
Yesterday, Oregon's legislature voted to ban underfunded inclusionary zoning from the Portland metro area. It's a big turnaround, and I hope a path forward for other states too.
www.sightline.org/2026/03/05/o...
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Oregonās New Path to Inclusionary Housing: Fully Funded and Flexible | Sightline Institute
An environmental justice champion led the push to end counterproductive, unfunded mandates.
https://www.sightline.org/2026/03/05/oregons-new-path-to-inclusionary-housing-fully-funded-and-flexible/
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Anna Fahey
4 months ago
R U
#elevator
pilled yet? Cecelia Black: "I have navigated the housing market from a wheelchair...in 15 yrs as a renter, I never found an accessible apt in a bldg w/ fewer than 6 stories" It's no oincidence; itās a design failure of WAās codes" Attn:
#WAleg
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/miss...
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Missing in the middle of WA's middle housing: Elevators
A bill still in play in the Washington Legislature would make elevators easier and less expensive to install in "middle housing" developments.
https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/missing-in-the-middle-of-was-middle-housing-elevators/
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Henry Grabar
4 months ago
new from me: a story about VACANCY CHAINS, the idea that underlies the argument that more housing is good even if you can't afford it
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
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High-End Construction Really Does Help Everyone
A new rung at the top of the housing ladder permits people lower down to climb up.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/housing-crisis-rich-poor-building/686086/
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Fietser
6 months ago
How to identify American fascists as stated by our own US government in March of 1945.
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John Lansing
6 months ago
Operation Breakthrough, a HUD project in the 1960s, produced some significant advances in prefabricated building construction methods and also exposed the need for building code reform.
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How an American Dream of Housing Became a Reality in Sweden (Published 2024)
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/08/headway/how-an-american-dream-of-housing-became-a-reality-in-sweden.html
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Ed Mendoza
6 months ago
Wow - again, if you build separated, protected bike lanes, people will use them. The better and more connected the routes are, the more ridership increases.
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Alex Baumhardt
6 months ago
A friend in Minneapolis just sent me this video. Looks like thousands have come together for a vigil after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. This was my neighborhood for several years before coming to Portland.
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Jordan Grimes
6 months ago
Just an annoying reminder that the unquenchable American thirst for oil, and the conquest and subjugation of other nations in futile attempts to satiate it, is brought to you in large part by our land-use patterns
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Michael Andersen
6 months ago
The Americas see about 3% of global elevator installations as of 2020. The U.S. & Canada: even less. But we've stuck with our own unique set of elevator codes, as if elevator companies still have no choice but to beat a path to our door. Nope! "Everywhere else" is a bigger common market now.
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Terrible Maps
6 months ago
Countries that have adopted the International Building Code
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Patrick Siegman
6 months ago
In many advanced nations that have better fire safety records than the United States and Canada, construction costs per square foot do NOT increase as density increases. If US planners want to make housing more affordable, they should fix our mediocre building codes.
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Max Dubler š³ļøāš
6 months ago
*staring directly into the camera*
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Shane Phillips
7 months ago
This week UCLA Housing Voice is joined by
@muhammadspeaks.bsky.social
to talk about construction defect liability, a consumer protection law that can create big barriers to condo development, taking one of the most affordable ownership options off the market.
www.lewis.ucla.edu/2025/12/17/1...
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Episode 104: Why We Don't Build Condos with Muhammad Alameldin (Incentives Series pt. 7) - UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Why do many U.S. states build so few condos? Muhammad Alameldin explains the role of construction defect liability laws ā and how to fix them.
https://www.lewis.ucla.edu/2025/12/17/104-why-we-dont-build-condos-with-muhammad-alameldin-incentives-series-pt-7/
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Mike Eliason
7 months ago
the compactness of point access blocks means that even on tiny sites, you can fit affordable family-sized homes with daylight on multiple sides and ability to cross ventilate.
www.espazium.ch/de/aktuelles...
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Ein Neubau nach altem Muster | Espazium
Das Wohnhaus «deux chevaux» von kollektive architekt im Basler Lysbüchel-Quartier beschränkt sich auf das Wesentliche: Kompakte Wohnungen, vielseitiges Raumprogramm und gemeinschaftliche Flächen schaf...
https://www.espazium.ch/de/aktuelles/basel-lysbuechel-volta-kollektive-architekt-deux-chevaux
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Parker āAustin Needs Approval Votingā Welch
7 months ago
You can look at all the finalists for the National Single-Stair Competition's Austin Award here:
drive.google.com/drive/folder...
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Austin Award 45x135' - Google Drive
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UaJa-rmy44QQxsMde-9KYaJg2WXeBsGT?usp=drive_link
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Tara Goddard
7 months ago
I'm so fucking tired of so many people being killed in traffic crashes. I'm so fucking tired but I'm also so, so fucking angry. I use obscene language because what is obscene is over 40,000 people/year dying in preventable crashes in the US, 7,000 or so who are merely walking, and society just š¤·š»āāļø
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Stephen Jacob Smith
7 months ago
āIn medical research, thereās a practice of ending a study early when the results are too striking to ignoreā¦When an intervention works this clearly, you change what you do.ā
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/o...
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