51% of MA renter households are cost burdened. Other highlights/lowlights...

I do try to stay out of the SE quadrant but otherwise I think I mix it up a fair bit, keeps it fresh

The MBTA bus fleet makes up 0.1% of statewide emissions. By contrast, 38% of emissions come from cars and trucks. Cutting service to go all-electric will mean an increase in emissions as more people drive - and that's the real problem.

For those contemplating the ballot question in Mass, this is about as tidy an explanation as you can get of the challenges this system would bring. It can benefit the party with fewer candidates, not more support.

Right now, attacks on the trans community are escalating. But when we come together, we are unstoppable. Join us next Sunday at 12 pm for a rally and canvass to celebrate the Trans Day of Visibility! RSVP: bit.ly/evan-tdov

106 affordable homes coming online next month thanks in large part to Just a Start, the Affordable Housing Overlay, and Cambridge's Affordable Housing Trust. Passing the AHO was a multi-year battle and it's fantastic to see it starting to deliver like this. www.cambridgeday.com/2026/03/18/n...

I am a huge Elizabeth Warren fan and I am so disappointed in my Senator for endorsing Platner. The standard in the Democratic party *has* to be no Nazi shit. It can't be no Nazi shit unless we like your policy platform, or unless you have a real shot at unseating Collins, or anything else.

This is an excellent thread. For what it’s worth, I think *funded* inclusionary zoning like they’re doing in the pacific northwest is great for integrating new housing construction without worsening housing scarcity. www.sightline.org/2026/03/05/o...

He's talking specifically about Cambridge's 20% inclusionary rate here, & he's right that inclusionary policies can't achieve broad housing affordability, which should be the ultimate goal. He's also right that they often backfire by killing housing production when set too high, worsening the crisis

oh look at that www.pew.org/en/research-...

🧮‼️ Be Counted! Return your census! Residents have 3 options for returning the 2026 Annual City Census: 📨 Mailing it in 📮 Place it in a drop-box 💻 Fill out the online form For more details ➡️ https://camb.ma/47HzKD9

This was such a fun, cool thing that happened in Cambridge. It sucks to lose it, but moving it is absolutely the right call. No one can assure foreign scientists and journalists they can visit the US safely now.

Oh & don't forget! You don't need to wait until we get a spare moment to ask for book recommendations. We actually have this whole thing set up for everyone

This morning in WBUR Today: Cambridge not only leaves X, but bans all city departments from using the platform Also: — Last night's election results in Mass. and beyond — Museums for All expands in Boston — Shrewsbury's record recycling grant www.wbur.org/news/2026/03... @wbur.org

There's been a lot of debate within the Democratic establishment about what rhetoric to use via ICE. Well, an incumbent doesn't lose by 48 percentage points very often—and her vote on collaborating with ICE was the defining issue here.

He's not wrong.

PO#4, snow corps, passes unanimously. On to #5, traffic enforcement cameras.

Are there any good policy reasons to keep an exemption for wealthy seniors? I can only think of political ones. (Low-income seniors would retain it.) $75/yr is tiny relative to the value of the space. Underpricing parking encourages overuse, reducing availability for those who need it most.

I’m introducing a policy order on sidewalk snow removal at our City Council meeting this Monday! Some cities like NYC and Boston have recently been exploring increased municipal sidewalk snow clearance. Cambridge can follow these cities’ leads and expand sidewalk snow clearance here as well!

This is good and I hope it passes. Separately, am I crazy or is the PO in a different font than usual? I find it really hard to read.

Also, it shouldn't matter, but I say all that as a 4th gen Bostonian & 15yr Cambridge renter. I love both cities & think more people should be able to live here. But even if I wanted to keep "transients" out, we know the alternative to growth is not stasis. It's existing renters getting priced out.

Lots to say about antirenter prejudice, how it serves to bundle & obscure deeper biases re race & class & age, and about the electoral assumptions required for a councilor of a majority renter city to take this stance, but the thing I keep coming back to is just: what an absolute dick thing to say

MA needs state senators who have a real sense of urgency around the housing and affordability crises, who will stand up for our rights against this federal admin, and who are skilled at translating our core values into tangible policy progress. @burhanazeem.bsky.social is the one for the job!

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone Wednesday evening at Aeronaut Brewing to discuss the 2025 Cambridge election! 🚲 🗳️

As the guy who wrote the book on zoning abolition, I'd like to go on record as saying: if you can use zoning to stop the concentration camps, fucking go for it.

My mom taught me that nice is what to be if you want others to like you, and kind is what to be if you want to like yourself. All else equal, it's better to be nice than not. Getting along with others is usually good! But at times when they're in conflict, it's better to be kind than nice.

Anyone have recs for shoveling services in Roslindale? Trying to find someone to do 2 houses - sidewalks, front walkway and stairs for each, one driveway and ideally shoveling out one car.

Given the authoritarian propensity for paranoia, this actually might be doable

“Right now we settle for managing problems instead of solving them.” 🚨Massachusetts most effective pro-housing local official is running to become Massachusetts most effective pro-housing state official. Burhan Azeem for State Senate!

New local paper! Run by Marc Levy, formerly of Cambridge Day.

Screaming in Boston

Most housing policy has focused on zoning reform. Less attention has been paid to building codes. Allowing single-stair design could unlock more housing overall, including more missing middle housing types that fit comfortably within existing neighborhoods. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/12/b...

Conversely, this is a huge opportunity for MA progressives who want to establish real credibility on the issue of housing affordability. It's one of the most important issues to MA voters, and support for pro-housing policies is growing on the left (see: Mamdani.) Show us you're serious!

The rent control ballot question is bad policy, and several progressive electeds who publicly support it *know* it's bad policy and have said as much in private. They're under a lot of pressure to support it despite their misgivings about the merits. 1/2

This is a good idea. There is no longer any justification for the city to be on X, and many reasons for it to leave. Give people a heads up, some time to figure out which alternatives they like best for getting official city info. Not everyone will move here and that's fine. But yes, leave.

Time for @massgovernor.bsky.social to terminate the contract.

GM: Charisma check. Mamdani: [rolls natural 20] GM: that’s a d6 how did you Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊

Neither adopting nor rejecting, but a secret, third thing.

This is huge. Massachusetts is home to tens of thousands of hardworking Haitian TPS recipients who enrich the culture of our state, contribute to our economy, and help ensure we meet the needs of elders and patients in our health care and elder care industries - this victory belongs to them.

A kind soul just dropped off a bunch of free whistles with LUCE's phone number. In Cambridge, at the registers.

No one asked — but if you have premium transit (American version thereof) in your town, you have something that’s very scarce. If you don’t allow growth around it, you are hoarding that scarce asset. If you can’t minimally comply with the super-permissive MBTA Communities reqs, you should be sued.

The people of Minnesota have executed one of the most impressive civil resistance campaigns I can remember: - Organized a city wide general strike - Maintained nonviolent discipline amidst violence - Mobilized 10,000s in subzero temps to protest and watch ICE - Flipped public opinion against ICE

no matter what else is happening, if feasible, please share photos of your dogs playing in the snow tomorrow

I hope every blue city mayor is paying close attention to how this shakes out & developing concrete plans to ensure ICE can’t muscle its way into investigating itself when they kill people in that jurisdiction

it’s really easy to be cynical about this stuff, particularly when you’re watching it one 300 character post at a time from halfway across the country, but what i am asking is that maybe we can lose some of the cynicism

i am generally a little eye rolly about “general strike” calls, because, like, this shit is a lot more complicated than just saying the words on social media, but what’s going on in minneapolis looks — at least from the outside — like a really impressive act of solidarity

if you don’t think you can campaign on abolishing this agency and prosecuting the people involved - if you don’t think you’re able to make that case using this video and other like it - get the fuck out of politics

You could say this is a brief about "Abundance." But I eschew the abundance label here because I want to focus on the policy content, and not the culture war/meta-political fights that have taken over abundance discourse. YIMBYism is a more useful frame. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

Only 3% of land in Massachusetts allows a single-family home on a 10,000 sq ft lot or smaller. ...56% requires at least an acre (43,000 sq ft).

Was just chatting with a friend who is exposed to too much online fatalism. I mean, we all are, but not everyone has automatic exposure to counterinfluences. One counter is just talking to people who do activism irl. Any kind of positive activism works, doesn't have to be extreme or edgy.