Jonathan O'Brien
@jonobri.com
đ€ 611
đ„ 224
đ 261
Writer, software dev, lead organiser yimbymelbourne.org.au //
[email protected]
//
[email protected]
This new work from
@grattaninstitute.bsky.social
is nothing short of seminal. For too long we have let our cities be locked up by bad, unjustifiable land use and housing policy. But the tide is turning on bad policyâand that is for the better.
bsky.app/profile/grat...
5 days ago
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Why does Australia have so many live house auctions? On my recent trip around the US, I learned that the Saturday morning pastime of house auctions are mostly unique to Australia. So I set out to investigate.
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
Jonathan O'Brien
Howard Maclean
about 2 months ago
@jonobri.com
hits the grey elephant in the new city debate - that the vast majority of regional towns and small cities are determined to avoid growing any larger than they currently are.
add a skeleton here at some point
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Jonathan O'Brien
Andrew Donnellan
about 2 months ago
As a proud Canberran, and being regional New South Welsh by birth, I agree with this. It's taken a century to build Canberra - a city built to solve a specific problem, not for housing - into a real city. Let's not repeat that. We need to interrogate the mindset of large towns versus small cities.
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reposted by
Jonathan O'Brien
Bryn Davidson - Lanefab
about 2 months ago
The Connecticut news opted for a photo of the Vancouver guy and Melbourne guy when talking about
#Yimbytown2025
#NewHaven
@desegregatect.bsky.social
www.ctpublic.org/news/2025-09...
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The largest pro-housing conference in the US meets in New Haven
The YIMBYTown conference, which stands for âYes in my backyard,â runs from Sunday through Tuesday. More than 1,000 housing advocates, policy makers and state and local politicians gathered downtown to...
https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2025-09-15/the-largest-pro-housing-conference-in-the-us-meets-in-new-haven
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No, Australia does not need new cities. My new essay sets the record straight: we have a lot of cities, but we arenât using them as well as we could be. To make our cities more successful, we have to open up a lot more land for commercial uses to enable agglomeration.
about 2 months ago
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big things are happening
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
Jonathan O'Brien
Emily Hamilton
2 months ago
Great piece on the intersection of housing, demographics, and schools in Australian cities by Katie Roberts-Hull. What's worse for neighborhood incumbents than school crowding? School closures.
inflectionpoints.work/articles/the...
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A flagrant violation of what it means to live in a city.
2 months ago
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It is fantastic to see Clare OâNeil and the Federal Government increasingly on-message about the housing crisis. The Minns and Allen governments are undertaking some of the most meaningful and ambitious housing reforms in decades. Federal Government backing is crucialâ đ§”
2 months ago
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Today we
@yimby.melbourne
drop our new research note, demonstrating the bias of opt-in community consultation. It will shock no one whoâs paying attention, but our sample of 15 consults across six councils found a massive overrepresentation of homeowners and older folk.
2 months ago
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The conservative stalwarts over at Charter 29 have put out a new report on Victorian planning reform. It reveals a complete lack of understanding. They think the 'missing middle' is a set of suburbsâbut no, it's the medium density housing that they'd like to see remain banned.
4 months ago
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reposted by
Jonathan O'Brien
YIMBY Melbourne
4 months ago
We used to build 50 homes per planner annually, but now itâs less than 9. Alan Kohler covering our recent research note on planner productivity đ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iEh...
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Whatâs slowing down housing development? | Alan Kohler | ABC NEWS
YouTube video by ABC News (Australia)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iEhm-3RhOs
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Absolutely awesome to see my dear friend and collaborator Siang Lu take home the Miles Franklin Award for his excellent novel Ghost Cities. The devil works hard. Siang Lu works harder.
4 months ago
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The
@inflectionpoints.work
launch made an enormous splash. I could not be more proud of what we have already achieved. Our Melbourne launch event is next week, free, and getting booked out fast. Get yours at the link below!
4 months ago
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Yes, it is.
4 months ago
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reposted by
Jonathan O'Brien
Andrew Donnellan
4 months ago
This essay won't make the Planning Institute feel any warmer towards
@jonobri.com
, but the time is ripe for a discussion about the outcomes we expect from our land use planners, and how professional doctrine shapes not just the substance but also the framing of land use and housing debates.
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Jonathan O'Brien
Evan Roberts
4 months ago
Interesting article from Australia yesterday about the collapse in the productivity of urban planning: for every planner employed there are many fewer homes being produced
bsky.app/profile/jono...
add a skeleton here at some point
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Thank you to the Australian Financial Review for publishing an op-ed version of The Problem with Urban Planning. Always an honour to be an editor's choice!
bsky.app/profile/jono...
4 months ago
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reposted by
Jonathan O'Brien
Inflection Points
4 months ago
đšWeâre launching the FIRST issue of Inflection Points đš - Michael Brennan & Dan Andrews - Katie Roberts-Hull - Jonathan OâBrien - Andrew Leigh đ§”
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reposted by
Jonathan O'Brien
YIMBY Melbourne
4 months ago
Our lead organiser,
@jonobri.com
, writes for
@inflectionpoints.work
about "The Problem with Urban Planning" đ
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Jonathan O'Brien
gina rushton
4 months ago
Spoke to dozens of people for this piece on Australiaâs attempts to increase housing density, including the housing minister who says this is ânot because of a New York Times bestsellerâ. Have a read!
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...
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YIMBYs vs NIMBYs in the battle for your backyard
The Yes In My Backyard movement is lobbying for denser cities and more housing in places people want to work and live and YIMBYs want these homes built yesterday. But the NIMBYs haven't given up yet.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-13/yimby-nimby-housing-crisis-battle-for-your-backyard/105510984
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The Problem with Urban Planning: a professional silo is gatekeeping our nation's growth. My new essay w/
@inflectionpoints.work
The problem at the heart of planning is not politicalâit's professional. đ§”
4 months ago
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Soft launching this today. Hard launching this tomorrow.
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
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We are also open to funding from Australian tech billionaires.
4 months ago
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Fringe groups have recently started to push a curious line about upzoning and planning reform: they call it "empirics without a theory". They state this line as if it is a gotcha, but forget one thing: empirics is much more important than theory.
bsky.app/profile/pros...
4 months ago
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This morning, Alan Kohler published an article based on claims from a single conservative legacy planner. Central to the piece is an assertion that Australia needs to develop 34 square kilometres of infill land each year. But it's based on some bizarre assumptions.đ§”
4 months ago
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reposted by
Jonathan O'Brien
ABC News Bot (unofficial)
5 months ago
Australia's YIMBY movement is relatively new, but it is making an impact and each member has their own housing struggle spurring them on.
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The deeply personal reasons Australians are calling themselves YIMBYs
Australia's YIMBY movement is relatively new, but it is making an impact and each member has their own housing struggle spurring them on.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-29/yimbys-housing-development-sydney-deeply-personal-reasons/105449038
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5 months ago
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The Auditor-General is right: Victorians should not be paying for the privilege of having our public sector deskilled. There are two reasons a department might rely on external consultants, and neither is particularly good. đ§”
5 months ago
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It's disappointing to see arbitrary protectionism continue to entrench itself within Australian governments. The primary role of government should be the efficient delivery of infrastructure and services. Mandating localised inputs will only raise costs and lengthen timelines.
5 months ago
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Over the weekend, various planners praised New South Wales' use of floor area ratio (FAR) as a planning tool. This is deeply troubling, because everything we care about should tell us that Sydneyâs planning system is far from a modelârather, it's a cautionary tale.
5 months ago
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reposted by
Jonathan O'Brien
Tom Cowie
5 months ago
Wrote about Japanese kei trucks, an increasingly common sight on Melbourneâs steeets as a smaller alternative to all those truckzillas
www.theage.com.au/national/vic...
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No monster utes, thanks: Compact Japanese trucks are more than oh-kei
With tiny engines and smaller price tags than monster utes, Japanese kei trucks are finding a devoted fan base in Australia.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/no-monster-utes-thanks-compact-japanese-trucks-are-more-than-oh-kei-20250604-p5m4uu.html
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reposted by
Jonathan O'Brien
YIMBY Melbourne
5 months ago
The mandate for building more is clear. Now it's time to do it. đïžđŹ
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The YIMBY vibeshift continues.
5 months ago
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Recently, a group of conservative planners called Charter 29 presented at the planning reform inquiry. The org proudly names themselves after the never-implemented Melbourne Plan of General Development (1929)âa plan that would have destroyed our city. đ§”
6 months ago
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Finally, an Australian localisation.
6 months ago
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12 homes will become 140 through emergent behaviour in the market thanks to planning reforms! Legacy planners claim that lot amalgamation is only possible through micromanagementâand time and time again we learn: that just isnât true!
6 months ago
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One underrated positive change in the new govt structure is the positioning of housing directly within Treasury, rather than Social Services. This makes sense: housing is fundamental economic infrastructure. đ§”
6 months ago
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A side effect of Australia's (positive) lack of litigation opportunities is that it means the main way to slow the development process isâby slowing the process itself. The most effective way to slow development in Australia is not to become a lawyerâit's to become a planner.
6 months ago
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Not enough trees Too many trees The wrong trees The right trees (but too many) The trees too big The trees not big enough The trees too native The trees not native enough The canopy being removed The canopy not being removed enough We have to stop taking NIMBYs seriously
6 months ago
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The undiscussed headline of last week: Victoria is the only state even close to achieving their housing target under the National Housing Accord. This is huge news for housing affordability in Melbourne and state-wide.
6 months ago
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The real story here is how detached house knockdown-rebuilds are exempt from many infrastructure charges also. That means that Melbourne's most high-end, expensive housing goes untaxedâletting wealthy homeowners get off without paying for their fair share of infrastructure.
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Build-to-rent âloopholeâ robs communities for new parks
Councils say the controversial loophole allows build-to-rent developers to escape a green space levy.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/build-to-rent-loophole-robs-communities-of-millions-for-new-parks-20250521-p5m14s.html
6 months ago
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Excited to announce I'm an Emergent Ventures recipient via Tyler Cowen, âȘ@marginalrev.blogsky.venki.devâŹ, & the Mercatus Center. I'll be working on expanding the capacity of the Australian movement for progress and abundance. Much more to announce come Julyâstay tuned!
6 months ago
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The new report from the National Housing Supply & Affordability Council is the first from them that I've seen take planning reform seriously. They celebrate the NSW and VIC reformsâand encourage those governments to go further. An enormous vibe shift from NHSAC.
6 months ago
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Unbelievable levels of public poasting
add a skeleton here at some point
6 months ago
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The future of energy security relies on my enormous big boy
6 months ago
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I like my reforms like I like my architecture: minimal setbacks.
6 months ago
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reposted by
Jonathan O'Brien
Kerstin Thompson
7 months ago
It should be easy to obtain a planning permit for a new house such as this, regardless of heritage overlay. When heritage drives the design of new buildings we risk poor patterns being replicated. Better to thoughtfully reconfigure to reflect todayâs living/amenity expectations.
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Some planners claim that lot amalgamation does not happen without direct government intervention. Time and time again we see this is untrue: all you need to do is change the incentives, and people will respond.
6 months ago
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