The Trump admin is systematically undermining enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, which was designed to prevent discrimination against people because of race, disability, and more. HUD’s Fair Housing office has gone from 22 to 6 lawyers since the administration took office.

“Some cities are ready to lead, and ready to pay, but instead they must laboriously build support from the hinterland before they can offer a service that city residents will always value most. This requirement makes no sense except as part of a culture war.”

This is also the case in DC for some reason. Buildings with four or more units have to pay for their own private trash collection.

Again Bouie from the top rope

“Why does transit seem to be in an endless emergency? Why is it so easy to assume that transit’s financial situation is hopeless? Because we have constructed our transportation funding streams to make transit’s costs visible, while the costs of car dependence are mostly concealed.”

Los Angeles' A Line light rail has been extended today further to the east, with the extension running from Azusa to Pomona, with stops in Glendora, San Dimas, & La Verne. The A line, from Long Beach to Pomona, is 57.6 miles long, the longest light rail line in the world, with a 2h11 trip time.

Trump is underwater on all issues except border security. He’s down 62–37 on the economy.

An investigation into road safety in the UK, which has some of the safest streets in the world ourworldindata.org/britain-safe... UK's successes stem from: —Implementation of roundabouts —Efforts to combat drunk driving —Safer cars & passenger safety devices —Stricter speed limits & traffic calming

New paper in the Journal of Politics uses data from Berlin to evaluate how renters feel about new development after the implementation of rent control. Researchers find that rent control results in renters being more willing to accept new construction in their neighborhood + more immigration.

This would radically reshape US transportation investment, requiring states & metros to reduce greenhouse gas emissions & fix it first before expanding roadways. It would be the reverse of what the Trump admin is doing, which is banning discussion of climate & actively promoting expanded roads.

If there's one piece of research that came out in the last year that I think all housers should read, it is probably this brief. *Affordable AND available* and the need for more income-restricted *deeply* affordable housing for those most vulnerable to housing instability, eviction, & homelessness.

Between 500,000 and 1 million people in France went out in the streets today to protest the government's proposed austerity measures and defend public services.

The US DOT cancelled $20 m in funding for Boston's Roxbury street improvement project, which was awarded in 2022. The project was likely targeted because it prioritized bus riders, pedestrians, and cyclists. The Trump administration has stated that its focus is expanding road capacity for cars.

New York City needs more housing, certainly. But where should that housing be located? In a new article in @vitalcitynyc.bsky.social, I argue that New York City—already the most transit-friendly city in the country—can do an even better job focusing its housing in areas near transit 🚇🏘️

Add to the growing list of those who thought it was fine when the regime came for others, but simply could not imagine it happening to them

There’s a simpler way to describe anti-anti-fascism.

We are ALL "antifa". Everyone who isn't a MAGA fascist and who opposes fascism in thoughts and deeds is "antifa". Every Democrat. Every opponent. Every non-American who decries the descent into US dictatorship. I'm "anti-fascist". You're probably "anti-fascist". Are we terrorists? Of course not.

Clean-technology projects “worth nearly $42 billion have been delayed, shrunk or canceled since Trump’s inauguration.” @bloomberg.com @liamdenning.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Far more dangerous than Trump, I think, is how quickly the last eight months have pulled back the curtain on America's elites and shown everyone how venal, how cowardly and how utterly mediocre the foundation of our society has been.

<infinite scream>

Turns out you can’t rely on the benevolence of billionaires to keep your free society alive, I guess

Transit-oriented housing sounds great in theory. @yonahfreemark.com of the Urban Institute gets practical about building at the right scale in the right places. www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/new...

New York City needs more housing, certainly. But where should that housing be located? In a new article in @vitalcitynyc.bsky.social, I argue that New York City—already the most transit-friendly city in the country—can do an even better job focusing its housing in areas near transit 🚇🏘️

Argument that we need to "shift to global solutions" for carbon emissions falls flat. China & EU—the other big emitters—invest far more than the US in renewable energy. Thanks to the 2025 GOP's reconciliation law, US will cut its renewable energy spending massively. But this is a non-US problem?

Monday's ridership of over 4 million continued this trend. Here's Hochul's press release on the sustained ridership peak. I expect this to continue through the fall. www.governor.ny.gov/news/governo...

Great new episode of UCLA Housing Voice podcast @shanedphillips.bsky.social, featuring @holz-bau.bsky.social on single-stairs & ecodistricts, and how they differ from TOD. Definitely worth the listen to learn more about these issues:

They never complete the sentence, ie "...educators and students must face ideas we find offensive, such as the claim that Black women lack the brain processing power to fly planes or serve on the Supreme Court or that gay people should be stoned to death." Pretty telling that they don't!

The answer is obviously D, right? Is there any debate whatsoever?

The federal government is killing federal transportation grants nationwide because the projects they would have funded are designed to help pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders—rather than drivers.

"Words are not violence, nor are they powerless. Burying the truth of the Confederacy... allowed for... the destruction of democracy... The import of this history has never been clearer than in this moment... If you would look away from the words of Charlie Kirk, from what else would you look away?"

BlueSky crowd-source request: Can folks think of state laws (in effect) that have specifically targeted transit-oriented development as something to be funded or required through local zoning change? I know of CA SB79; CA AB2011; CO HB24-1313; CT HB5278; HI HB1409; MA MBTA Act; UT HB462; UT SB217.

The free speech activist who built a list of professors he worked to get fired for their speech must be celebrated for his support of free speech, and anyone who quotes his speech accurately in context will be fired and/or face state punishment by the champions of free speech, do I have that right?

Boston's fed grant to improve safety at key intersections has been cancelled by USDOT because, according to the agency: "DOT's priorities presently include... preserving or increasing roadway capacity for motor vehicles... [the] project includes several elements that impede vehicle capacity & speed"

Really can't stress this enough: When a city has 1,000 self-driving cars, they might seem like fun, innocuous novelties. But at 100,000+ it's another story entirely.

"I don't care that he's dead." "He's not a hero." "He's a scumbag." "He shouldn't be celebrated." No, no. I'm not saying that about Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk said that about George Floyd. Just in case anyone's interested in what he thought was fair to say about someone who was killed on camera.

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty... The free speech crusade will continue until complete conformity and submission are achieved.

The Washington, DC metropolitan area is 24% Black. The city of Washington itself is 40% Black. Representation matters. Also, check out @51st.news !

Canada’s federal government has launched a new housing agency, Build Canada Homes, that is Initially tasked with building 4,000 modular homes in six cities and funded with $13 billion.

There’s a huge opportunity here for green social housing. Even with these zoning changes, new construction faces headwinds, especially for lower-income residents. But the state is now opening space—literally—for the subsidized construction of beautiful, climate-friendly, mixed-income homes.

I had a good time biking a bit around Chicago this week, including checking out the awesome RiverRun trail, which is an amazing piece of cycling infrastructure on the North Side. I will say, though, that bike infra on regular streets feels way behind DC in terms of safety—very little protection.

Just over a quarter of paid work days are done at home now, and that seems to be sort of settled for now. While people work from home far more now, they aren’t free agents to live anywhere, as hybrid schedules are most common. This has implications for housing choices and transit use, plus others.

Note that Congress is on the verge of killing DC's right-on-red ban, despite clear evidence that it works.

EV sales year to date one of these is not like the others... Global: 12.5 million, up 25% China: 7.6 million, up 25% Europe: 2.6 million, up 31% North America: 1.3 million, up 6% Rest of world: 1.0 million, up 44%

California’s legislature has approved a plan for its high-speed rail system to receive $1 billion a year from cap-and-trade revenues from 2030-2045. This substantially improves the project’s financial prospects and will enable it to seek private investment.

California's SB 79 has now passed the State Senate, after passing the State Assembly yesterday. It's now on to the governor's desk. It's a big change in zoning policy for California's cities that will encourage substantial additional housing in neighborhoods around the state's transit stations.

Boston's fed grant to improve safety at key intersections has been cancelled by USDOT because, according to the agency: "DOT's priorities presently include... preserving or increasing roadway capacity for motor vehicles... [the] project includes several elements that impede vehicle capacity & speed"

This report makes clear just how deep the hubris of Biden-era climate champions was in proclaiming the IRA various versions of "the largest climate action ever." The Biden administration never even considered anything on the scale of what China has been doing — both abroad and at home.

With no warning, HUD reopened a set of housing grants that were already awarded. This time, to be eligible, programs had to show they conform to Trump's views on immigration, gender and more. Not just the programs — the cities where they work have to show that too. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The US DOT is facing deadlines to obligate funds for projects that were already announced, and as a result, a number of projects are likely to simply go unfunded. At the same time, US DOT is cancelling funding for projects, like bike infra improvements www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-n...