I had a long-time assumption that it took extreme & violent means to overthrow an authoritarian and restore democracy. Likely because of how much we are taught about WWII history. But time and again, its elections. No bunker suicide required. Just ordinary people peacefully voting.

Transportation engineers please note the narrow street widths. Zoning reform can not make cute cities alone!

Why do we need to "Unlock" Middle Housing? Because it's naturally more affordable!

Would love to hear people in-the-know’s opinions on this. I’ve heard that Portland city council has interpreted public meetings law in a way that they are reliant on lobbyists for basic communication between offices. I assume this bill was the fix? Unclear. www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...

Yesterday, Kansas City, MO eliminated minimum parking requirements across much of the city, scrapping an outdated rule that stifled urban vitality, wasted valuable land, and made many of the City’s most beloved neighborhoods illegal to build today. @urbanlabkc.bsky.social

Anyone can declare a cease fire

The perfect time for this perspective from #Artemis2.

Claims we have no power to impact what happens are nevertheless an intervention in what will happen, by discouraging participation, by encouraging passivity, surrender, acquiescence. If you insist that a given outcome is inevitable, you are lobbying against resistance.

Come work with me!

Breaking News: Mortgage rates climbed for the fifth straight week as the war in Iran weighed on the U.S. housing market.

I’m trying not to think about the birthright citizenship case too much, but it’s impossible not to.

Please tell me this is an April Fools. The FROG?! www.wivb.com/news/nationa...

Not a joke unfortunately. I just bought myself a proper air filter for the upcoming fire season.

This is my favorite climate change chart. Japanese monks, aristocrats, and emperors kept meticulous records of cherry blossom festivals for 1,200 years and accidentally built the world's longest climate dataset.

Watch the documentary 'No Place to Grow Old' at Dear Portland this Thursday (March 26), hosted by @pnwelcome.bsky.social

At least 25 naturalization ceremonies, the final step in becoming a citizen, in Oregon and Washington have been canceled since December. Prospective citizens don't know when or if they'll be rescheduled.

This horrific story gets worse when you find out how this young woman originally came to the US: as a 17-year-old on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane

Attn tiny home fans: Join @citizen-cate.bsky.social and the Washington Tiny House Association in Bellingham this Thursday for a meetup and policy talk! Structures Brewing @ 5pm

What a year it’s been. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

WHY DO WE DO THIS?! We have 10,000 design standards but still end up with this nonsense.

What a waste. This is a freshly rebuilt street working as designed. Sends the entire block of storm water across the ADA ramp to reach the drain.

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...

Timely reading given this winter’s record snow drought. ⬇️

We are a few thousand subscribers away from being a bigger print newspaper than the Washington Post. We are a mere flurry away from humiliating one of the two Big Space Perverts. Ask not how a Space Pervert can dominate you. Ask how you can dominate a Space Pervert. Subscribe below.

Builders in South Texas have been raising the alarm more than anyone else about how ICE raids are impacting the construction industry. Now I understand why. TWICE as many arrests in Texas as any other state. 👀 www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

This 53 year old man who lived in my neighborhood w/no criminal record & who had been in the US for 30 years, was detained and thrown into a cold cell for days, caught pneumonia and COVID there and deported. He finally died. I am so angry. www.kptv.com/2026/02/21/n...

“Prison would actually be better, because if you’re in prison, you get a sentence – they tell you how long you are going to be there.”

In October 2024, the Georgia secretary of state’s office launched an investigation after receiving numerous reports from residents across several counties saying they’d received partially prefilled absentee ballot applications from Musk’s America PAC. trib.al/PHI428b

Checking out tiny houses at the Seattle Home & Garden show all afternoon today. Come say hi! 👋

Sad to say that WA's MDU bill died yesterday when it failed to get a House floor vote before cutoff. Dissappointing to see so many legislators unwilling to be bold on housing during a housing crisis. WA's ADU bill took 5 years, and all that delay did was make the housing shortage worse.

ICE impacts in TX: Tile, lumber companies seeing 40% losses on revenues. Others going completely bankrupt. riograndeguardian.com/stories/cuel...

This is what a society that believes in the rule of law would do.

Bills in the Washington legislature that are dead for 2026 include: -even year local elections -design review reform -passenger rail advisory commission -capping VMT in regional transpo plans -mobile dwelling units -frontage improvement reform -expired car tab pentalities -declaring 11/22 Kimchi Day

mayor wilson references the renter survey - received over 6,000 responses. this is only about 1.5% of renters in the city. the survey closes friday.

valentine's day isn't just for couples, it's also a day to celebrate love. for instance, i would love it if housing prices came down.

Once upon a time a wave of immigrants speaking another language moved to the US with arms full of babies to do low-wage, dangerous work that Americans wouldn't do. Conspiracy theories abounded. It was my great-great grandparents. Time is a circle. www.smithsonianmag.com/history/fren...

Once upon a time a wave of immigrants speaking another language moved to the US with arms full of babies to do low-wage, dangerous work that Americans wouldn't do. Conspiracy theories abounded. It was my great-great grandparents. Time is a circle. www.smithsonianmag.com/history/fren...

So @gallup.com is no longer a reputable source now, right? Same as @cbsnews.com.

KUOW story includes a quote that explains why @sightline.org has been working on HB 1443 to allow mobile dwellings on house lots: "It is absolutely by far the least expensive, the easiest, the cheapest, and the quickest form of housing possible in the United States." www.kuow.org/stories/prop...

"Think of it like a small backyard cottage but on wheels — and much cheaper." @joshuamcnichols.bsky.social @kuow.org

Loved getting to talk about the new messaging guidance on parking reform with these two expert communicators! Some toplines: 1️⃣ PSA: Problem-Solution-Action 2️⃣ Make trade-offs clear 3️⃣ Use local stories! They’re out there!

I've long had a daily google news alert for ICE + construction to track what's going on with homebuilders. Over the last few weeks it suddenly shifted to stories of warehouse purchases for concentration camps. It's bad and happening fast.

Habeas cases filed by immigrants claiming their detention is illegal have taken off to levels we have never seen before. Just look at that chart. www.propublica.org/article/habe...

Montana! Come see my book talk in Missoula next week! Feb 19 at Free Cycles Streetside Learning Center.

“The construction sector in South Texas has suffered a 30–35% economic downturn as a result of recent ICE raids.” www.constructionowners.com/news/south-t...

Disappointed to see Bad Bunny’s sugarcane fields whitewashed as “agricultural history” The history was slavery. Sugarcane is a brutal crop, and its rise to mass production in the Americas would simply not have been possible without the transatlantic slave trade. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

A reminder that Anne Frank was not killed in a gas chamber. She contracted an infectious disease at a concentration camp. www.kwtx.com/2026/02/08/t...

Castañeda Mondragón told the press that he was beaten repeatedly by ICE agents. When he pleaded with them to stop but they just "laughed at me and hit me again." abc7.com/post/alberto...

“A project that was taking maybe 4 to 5 months on an average starter-type home is now taking 8, 9, 10 months, just because of the delays,” said Efrain Gomez, the treasurer of the South Texas Builders Association. www.ksn.com/news/washing...

Journalism job opportunity with Borderless Magazine in Chicago 📍