Advocates against free fare transit often point to the idea that it degrades the social view of transit by making it an object of welfare and not utility, and thus also subject to the whims of govt, susceptible to service cuts and bad service. Now ABQ Ride, a free service, is facing large cuts 🙃

But let's be honest: there's a large cadre that basically cheers on chasing off any lib/centrist/academic who's the punchbag of the day. There's a culture of saying "fuck off back to X, then". And the anti- bedtime leftists set too much of the culture.

I tend to get dogpiled every time I say this but: as someone *who likes bluesky and benefits from being here* we have a problem. The network is shrinking, not growing. It's shrinking a lot: only about 1.1m people a day even like a post. This time last year it was 1.6m.

"There are almost no newsrooms aimed primarily at an audience under 50. That seems unlikely to end well for anyone, least of all society itself." open.substack.com/pub/thenewwo...

📝 Today's daily dose of condo math comes from CA: Home deposit reform (AB 1406) + construction defect reform (AB 1903) = more home choices near amenities.

So-called “inclusionary zoning” is bad policy that worsens the problems it is supposed to address. If cities want new apartment buildings to include units set aside for poor people, they should pay for the necessary subsidies.

I hate this shit so much. My family rents, and we are also people! www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/b...

Yapping about the #abq nimbys, this one in particular Pete Dinelli, a former mayoral candidate and city councilor. open.substack.com/pub/abqurban...

Wrote a little bit about how #Albuquerque and #ABQRide are ready for late-night transit service. All we need is political will with good leadership and planning open.substack.com/pub/abqurban...

slopulism generator: Eliminate *spins wheel* Sales Tax *throws dart* for Teachers *draws card* on DoorDash

NEW VIDEO youtu.be/uiGIbdrQjbI?...

Albuquerque mentioned!!! Great nuanced video on free fares. Touches on a few issues, explores Albuquerque a bit, and how we have poor service (like, why in the world did Mamdani cite US as an example??). We need ABQ to put tons of attention into transit.

Good morning. Someone is always going to make money on housing. Personally, I think it is better for developers to make money building new homes for people to live in than for landlords and homeowners to continue getting rich off of artificial housing scarcity.

My latest blog entry is about Albuquerque's Neighborhood Association Recognition Ordinance and its unusually quirks that make NAs exceedingly powerful in abq, while having standing on issues that can have citywide implications open.substack.com/pub/abqurban...

The trend shift in adults per family household is so insane. its even more insane that every important policymaker and economist thought we were slowly soaking up a glut of homes even into the 2010s. And it’s even more insane that there are still supply-crisis skeptics today.

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

American planning in a nutshell: building apartments in a wealthy neighborhood? You need special permission and must rent 20% of them at a loss to poor people. Combining 10 apartments into a mansion for one extremely rich family? By-right process, no subsidized housing requirement, and a tax break.

If we don’t build housing to solve homelessness, we don’t really want to solve homelessness. #UrbanTruth

We’re now at 150% AMI for housing programs in New Mexico. In higher i come counties this is well into 6-figure incomes. It’s bonkers. The worst part is we’re already seeing funding pulled away from the lowest income/hardest to serve folks.

Didn't realize an individual making >$100k can now qualify for deed-restricted moderate income housing in SF. We should build a ton of market-rate housing so that we can spend our finite time and affordable housing subsidies on people who are genuinely low income. media.api.sf.gov/documents/20...

open.substack.com/pub/abqurban... Advocates that asked for home types to be legalized in Albuquerque were told to "learn from our elders" at City Council last week. Here's some of what I learned.

I think it's Portland too that is starting to actively fund IZ and showing that when a city goes that and actually takes responsibility for its needs, it can unlock a ton of potential, help, and development without unnecessarily burdening other renters. There's no free lunch but u can do big things!

So-called “inclusionary zoning” acts as a tax on new housing by requiring home builders to sell or rent a %age of the new homes at a loss. Without funding, IZ only “works” when the market price of new housing is significantly higher than construction costs. I am glad to see Oregon rolling it back.

In a sane timeline, this sentence alone would be the end of this guy’s career.

Council President Klarissa Peña being begged by councilor telles to make casitas easier to build, after sharing how she couldn't build one for her mom with dementia. Peña wouldn't look at her colleague. She voted against making Casitas easier to build in ABQ.

A city councilor called me "the youth" at the city council tonight????

🚨 TONIGHT: City Council votes on pro-homes IDO amendments (O-26-2). Duplexes. Townhomes. Casitas. Safe Outdoor Spaces. More neighbors, more opportunity. Your voice matters — sign up to speak by 4pm 👇 www.cabq.gov/council/find... Show up. Bring a friend. Let’s build a stronger ABQ. #ABQ

Five reasons to support the pro-homes IDO amendments (O-26-2): 🏡 Middle housing 💸 Affordability 🤝 Tools to address homelessness 🌎 Sustainability 📍 Supporting local builders & families City Council needs to hear from you — sign up to speak 👇 www.cabq.gov/council/find... #ABQ #Albuquerque #Housing

Lots of reasons free-fare works or doesn't work for cities, or reasons for cities to adopt it or move away from it. None of those reasons or substantial debate would ever come from this white house.

A beloved workers' rights organizer in Minnesota, known for *successfully* fighting against wage theft and labor trafficking, has been detained by federal immigration agents and is now locked up in New Mexico. His family is calling for his urgent release. inthesetimes.com/article/work...

Wrote another blog post open.substack.com/pub/abqurban...

The status quo isn't just unaffordable, it's boring. Restrictive zoning blocks the charm and variety that makes houses feel more like homes. 🌹

I'll be there! Commenting is easy and less anxiety-inducing than you think. Ask me about it if you'd like! And let's tell the world ABQ actually wants to fix its issues, be a welcoming place for everyone, and be a more sustainable steward of our land ♥️

Albuquerque showed up. At the first LUPZ hearing on the pro-homes IDO amendments, 38 people spoke in support, more than double the opposition. A broad, citywide coalition made the case for practical, incremental housing reform. More to come. #abq #albuquerque #strongtowns #yimby #nmtrue

“Face a la menace des États-Unis…”

Showing up matters. Join our Public Comment Workshop to feel confident sharing your housing story at City Council and supporting homes Albuquerquers can afford. 🛠️ Jan 11 | 2–3 PM | Virtual | meet.google.com/xug-mxzf-dcg 📅 Public hearings: Jan 14 & Jan 28 (5 PM) #abq #albuquerque #legalizehousing

The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.

We can't talk about Americans' empty wallets without talking about our empty buses and sidewalks.

It's been interesting to say the least what advocating for basic housing and zoning reforms provokes in some members of the community. Fear of change, racism, exclusion, gatekeeping in many forms, classism, open hatred, misinformation, ad-hominem attacks. All over duplexes. But they aren't "nimbys"

Which project should get the $360,000 impact fee? The $875,000 townhome or the $5.3 million dollar mansion? Why are planners like this?

If you live in ABQ and want to see the city become more vibrant and livable, please speak in favor of reducing parking mandates and increasing support for incremental community-led development!

A Washington Post article suggests that, beyond a certain threshold, larger homes don't make people happier. Instead, well-being is correlated with affordable housing in walkable neighborhoods where they feel socially connected. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Before Las Cruces passed zoning reform, residents voiced concerns about traffic, taxes, and neighborhood change — many similar to debates in Albuquerque today. Part 2 of our conversation digs into what people feared and what actually happened. #abq #albuquerque www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4yG...

Extremely weird in Albuquerque to see some folk use anti-colonial language to defend the zoning code of the 1970s, especially since the proposed changes would make it possible to recreate the dense, walkable, and community-focused housing options previously common and currently illegal to build.

As Albuquerque debates zoning reform, we went to Las Cruces to learn from a city that’s already done it. Why did they change their zoning—and what actually happened afterward? Watch the part 1 of the conversation ⬇️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g0Q...

Zohran is going to kill the “YIMBYs and leftists are mortal enemies” idea and that alone will make the internet 23% less annoying to me personally. Big accomplishment.

Corridors are great but it can't be all we do! open.substack.com/pub/abqurban...

“Survey after survey has shown that business owners overestimate how many customers drive to their stores vs walking or biking. In a 2012 Los Angeles study, more than half of the store owners on the bike-laned part of the boulevard thought most of their customers drove. The actual number was 15%.”

Downtown Burque ❤️

@strongtownsabq.bsky.social the city has a survey due 12/31 about traffic safety on Lead and Coal. Please complete it and share! www.cabq.gov/municipaldev...