• We should allow “single-stack” plumbing, optimized for multifamily buildings by putting the vent at the top instead of in redundant vent pipes on every floor. Cuts those costs 40%. Oregon is already a national leader on this, but we haven’t allowed it by right www.iccsafe.org/building-saf...

I've created an interactive precinct-level map of Oregon's contested state legislative races in the 2024 election cycle. It compares legislative margins to the presidential race, as well as vote drop off from presidential to downballot. Enjoy! andrewdamitio.github.io/portland-spl...

Consistent with a theme I've noticed in progressive policymaking, where advocates/policymakers assume that the only acceptable policy intervention is one that carries no possible tradeoffs, and that there are surely no tradeoffs associated with leaving a horrendous status quo in place.

this is a dramatic expansion of apartment zoning in vancouver, in line with pre-wwii zoning codes that allowed apartments on a large portion of residential lots

New blog post from me: The state of Oregon owns a consolidated tract of 230k acres of sagebrush in eastern Oregon, receiving pennies per acre per year in grazing fees. Why doesn't the state develop massive solar farms on the land? I explore why. open.substack.com/pub/andrewda...

15 years later, the failure of Solyndra continues to be brought up by both solar opponents and industrial policy opponents. But its failure was industrial policy working as intended. My latest blog post: open.substack.com/pub/andrewda...

It's amazing what the Residential Infill Project did for affordability of new construction in Portland. Here are the single-unit properties for sale in the city completed this year; these price points were rare prior to RIP.

"German utilities expressed many of the same concerns nearly a decade ago when plug-in solar started to become popular in Germany. But with more than a million systems installed, no safety incidents have been reported for customers who used the panels as instructed"

The limits on data center growth are the same limits that new manufacturing faces. The only difference being that manufacturing has far worse externalities. If the US can't bring ourselves to build data centers, we sure as heck won't be able to compete with China in industrial production.

New blog post. Growing up in rural Oregon, I was surrounded by Civilian Conservation Corps roads, trails, and campgrounds. Given the program's overwhelming success and popularity, why was it never revived? open.substack.com/pub/andrewda...

SOE, with a professionally appointed CEO. No elected positions or board. The state or relevant subnational entity funding it exerts control through the budget: if there is a dedicated source of funds, like the Ile-de-France payroll tax, then it is broad and can be changed by the elected government.

An underrated factor in "why don't people in wealthy societies have more kids" is changing societal norms that now expect even older kids to be chaperoned by an adult any time they are in public, and to be chauffeured by a parent as their only means of transportation

this is why I think publications that focus almost solely on culture war issues are so empty. The genuine economic, health, welfare etc impacts of policy are much more important than Ivy League coursework discourse but become sideshows to these people.

Can any of you connect me with housing policy analysts/developers based in Canada? I have questions for them regarding Canadan condo construction financing.

what drives me insane about “centers and corridors” in US urban planning is that seemingly no professionals in the field have stopped and realized that this “best practice” has not worked anywhere it’s been tried

People love blaming parking minimums as to why the US doesn't build like this. It's more complicated. The lot couldn't be utilized corner-to-corner due to setbacks. The project wouldn't pencil due to space lost for the large elevator, dual stairwells, and wide hallway to meet building codes.

I keep going back to this slide shown to the Sound Transit board this month, showing how "capacity building" means consulting firms, more consulting firms, and more subcontractors.

take out the marquam and you can unwind the entire east side waterfront freeway. such a huge part of our post-freeway future

Oregon's community colleges are a great example of government quietly working well, without any headlines. They're modern facilities funded by stable property tax district revenue that teach ~200k students/yr, creating new tradesmen across the state and providing opportunity for the working class.

In America, residential solar costs $10K-$50K. In Europe, plug & play solar kits are sold for a few hundred dollars, DIY installed & plugged directly into wall outlets, defraying home energy use without export. No IX agreement or professional install needed. But plug & play is illegal in the US.

A recent report showed that the destruction of just one USAID program, the anti-AIDS PEPFAR initiative, would lead to the deaths of one million people *every year* www.vox.com/future-perfe...

The Sightline Institute documented this in 2017, comparing 1970 data to 2010 data. Many entirely single family zoned neighborhoods in Seattle lost population even as Seattle's population grew, as kids left the nest and only the aging parents remained. www.sightline.org/2017/05/04/s...

There's a monument in Portland to a tree planting happening without an Environmental Impact Statement, design review, or public comment taking place.

What flexposts say: "We could use steel bollards but a bollard might scratch a car and that would be a tragedy. So, we're going to use these instead — things literally designed to be run over — because protecting even one car from a scratch is worth thousands of pedestrian deaths every year."

The reason leaded gas was phased out so rapidly was because the US mandated auto air pollution cuts, forcing the mass adoption of catalytic converters. Lead breaks catalytic converters, forcing cars with them to only buy unleaded gas. NAAQS criteria pollutant rules unintentionally phased out lead.

PROBLEM: State capacity has diminished; the government just provides insurance and facilitates transfer payments instead of solving real problems; voters are angry and confused R SOLUTION: Get rid of the remaining state capacity D SOLUTION: More transfer payments

Along the same vein, American transit agencies should learn from their East Asian peers and function as land developers, buying land adjacent to upcoming transit stops and using the funds from developing said land to finance transit expansion through value capture.

This project -- a simple 5-mile extension of an elevated line along an existing right of way -- is now twice as expensive as it was a few years ago. In Copenhagen they build 25 miles *underground* for the same price. Why should we pay 5x - 10x?

It is hard for physical scientists to understand the drive to remove CO2 from a gas that is 0.04% CO2, when there are many power-plant flue gasses available that are over 10% CO2. Shows the importance of socio-political factors. It is not all physical science and least-cost engineering.