Not King Tides?

The car alarms ringing alerted me to the King Tides today. It's the highest I've ever seen them. This is salt water - not so good for cars. We are trapped in our homes when this happens - there's no way to drive or bike out.

Every single report to shareholders from a large REIT includes something about how it's great that market-rate multifamily housing isn't getting built in high-cost coastal cities because the shortage is what allows them to rent gouge.

Yesterday, I helped a woman who had fallen on her bike. It was no wonder she fell. She had piles of bags and boxes bungied to the front and back of her bike. She's a professional pet sitter - she had just finished a gig in Ventura and is now doing a gig in Larkspur. Apparently no permanent address.

Finally rode my bike on the Richmond Bridge. Getting to the bridge from San Rafael requires crossing Sir Francis Drake with no light or even a crosswalk. There is no signage anywhere on how to reach the bridge, and apparently, you must share the road with cars.

This is a very cute mushroom.

1) Distracted driving is getting worse. 2) Why do we need an EIR to remove toll booths that have been empty since 2013? 3) We need better Marin-SF transit options. www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...

The San Rafael PC approved two housing projects - a 8 story and a 13 story building. These are the tallest buildings in San Rafael. The NIMBYs came out, but there were supporters too - both residents and business owners. The planning commissioners stressed the benefits of housing. Marin is changing.

It makes me so happy that my favorite hometown band is relentlessly pushing to expose these creeps.

Actual public comment received for a hearing on a badly needed residential project in San Rafael

Marin may have a NIMBY rep, but most folks support more housing. Our election results show it. Despite fear mongering, efforts to recall councilmembers for following state law failed. Ordinances to rezone for more housing passed.

I've done a lot of housing advocacy in Marin. We have 9,000 units in the pipeline. We'd have nothing without the state-level reforms.

One too many persons lamented to me that we couldn't build housing in Marin because we were too "full." So I did what any normal person would do and built 3D population density maps so people could see how "full" we are. The black beads represent our workforce commuting in.

A friend of mine once explained South Korean business drinking culture to me. Getting stupid drunk (+ bad behavior) was required so everyone had dirt on everyone else. No one would dare renege if they could lose everything.

Pretty hard for Connolly to argue he supports housing when he opposes measures to make it easier to build. Every approved housing project in Marin is making use of various state laws. SB 70 doesn't even apply to Marin, and he still opposes it. www.marinij.com/2025/10/27/c...

A little frustrated at how easy it is to widen highways for "equity" purposes when it is so difficult to fund transit.

Really happy to see the Marin IJ increase its coverage of the protests. On the front page, where it should be. (Last No Kings- with a similar crowd at the Civic Center - only warranted a paragraph on an inside page)

Apparently, Sausalito is outlawing camping. It is no longer legal to pack a sleeping bag in your car. www.marinij.com/2025/10/13/s...

Happy Saturday night email. I guess he's OK if we close our schools, police departments and fire departments?

Once again, Marin Lately is right on the nose. Although, it's way too optimistic with "several million". Tourist visits are not that high.

And of course, have to provide the evergreen reminder that 66K commuters come into Marin because we've pushed our workforce out. That traffic would be better if we allowed workers to live here. And if had SB 79.

So, Fairfax has finally come to their senses, thanks to Yimby Law and HCD. Ihttps://www.marinij.com/2025/09/11/fairfax-switch-massive-housing-plan-will-get-streamlined-review/

Marin County Supervisor just said in public meeting that 'we sure don't want the growth of Silicon Valley, but we want the innovation and transit.' This is the fundamental Marin falacy. You don't get the benefits of urbanism without have some urbanism. You need people.

First SB9 lot split home built in Belvedere. For sale for $4,250,000. thearknewspaper-ca.newsmemory.com?selDate=2025...

I have spent most of my life within 100 miles of this place and had no idea it existed. Shortly after Burtynsky took this picture in 1999, a lightening strike ignited a fire that burned 30 days. There were over 6,000,000 tires then.

"the threat of homelessness is most acute not in the poorest regions of the country, but in the richest, fastest-growing ones. In places like these, a low-wage job is homelessness waiting to happen." There's no housing in Marin for those who earn less than $65K, which is more than most workers earn.

Marin BOS meeting on emergency housing for displaced ranch workers. First commenter states that there has been no community outreach, after mentioning 7 community meetings and a meeting with the Community Development Director. Apparently, it's only community outreach if you get the answer you want.

I'm hearing that SB 79 is going to destroy Marin's neighborhoods by forcing large apartment towers in the middle of our single family neighborhoods. So I mad a map showing where SB79 might allow more density. Hint: it's not in our neighborhoods. It's less than 1% of Marin's land.

Not sure what to make of these streaming recommendations... Who knew that the Marin Board of Supervisors Meetings were so predictive... Somehow, Severance feels appropriate...

Hard to believe that we were giving Belvedere homeowners big property tax breaks for designating their homes as historic - historic meaning the homes met 3 of 9 criteria. thearknewspaper-ca.newsmemory.com?publink=21e2...

Sausalito has its issues, but it also has some of the best bus stops anywhere. More of these please! I'd love to know the history.

Great article on Fairfax's refusal to follow state housing law. Newsom made some strong statements about removing barriers to building housing in his budget. Will he follow through and enforce these laws? davisvanguard.org/2025/07/cali...

Marin is the "leader" of this pack, with an average age of 48. The impact on a town is much worse than struggling bars. Finding employees is a huge problem when most of your population is over 60. We've struggled to recruit teachers and health care aids for years. Now we struggle to hire doctors.

This 100% affordable housing project in Marin is being attacked for being "ugly". It's hard to understand how this will degrade the neighborhood aesthetics.

It's not really a "key" requirement, if it only produced one affordable housing unit. This is rare example of Sausalito doing the right thing. www.sfgate.com/local/articl...

Tam District hired two consultants to support black students after a series of ugly racist events. They were highly effective. Yet, the district refused to renew the contracts, citing bogus budget concerns. Parents offered to raise the $$. The Trustees still refused. www.marinij.com/2025/07/07/t...

This thread encapsulates why I'm such a nut about housing. An affordable cost of housing enables an affordable cost of living which enables people to do cool, arcane stuff they love which makes life fundamentally more interesting.

This is a test of Newsom's HCD. If he wants to show the country that he can get things built, HCD will intervene here.

What a way to frame a driver killing a cyclist. Four similar crashes have happened at this insection since 2023. The City of San Rafael should have fixed this intersection long ago. enewspaper.marinij.com/infinity/art...

The Good News - Sausalito approved a second housing project - 19 units, with 4 affordable. The bad news - it took 7 years, and the project was scaled back in a town desparate for housing. www.marinij.com/2025/06/26/s...

Apparently, the issue behind renewing the Black Student Success Team consultants was not due to the cost after all. This program was the first program that worked in addressing the needs of Black students, and the board refuses to continue it. www.marinij.com/2025/06/25/t...

How the Marin IJ covers the Planning Commission bringing in the younger generation to Marin land use decisions. www.marinij.com/2025/06/23/m...

My periodic posting of the Sausalito machine shop. There was a proposal to develop the site. It was put on the national historic register instead. Now there is no economically viable way to use it. So it rots on some of the most valuable real estate in the country.

Only 366 people live in Stinson beach. Marin has fought any additional development here for decades. This is over $3M/person. It's hard to see how this makes sense. www.marinij.com/2025/06/20/s...

Marin County housing is way out of line with resident's income. There is no housing affordable to people who make $65K or less. Low income residents who lose their housing must leave Marin.

These trustees need to go back to school. Public backlash and a statement from the Marin Schools Superintendent is not "lobbying". The program they cut had great results. It was already the budget. They made a bad decision. www.marinij.com/2025/06/12/m...

Here's more on this. abc7news.com/post/outrage...

They say everyone is a hero in their own stories. I am trying to imagine some of these stories, and I just can't.

My heart is about to break. I'm listening to Tam High Board Meeting. Last year, Tam High hired two ed professionals from Marin City to support the Black Student body. They had amazing results - they reduced F grades by 50%, increased belonging from 31% to 87%. Unbelievable results.