For 45 years, Berkeley built virtually no new housing. By the mid-2010s, it was one of the most expensive college towns in America. Around that time, YIMBYs took over and kicked off a building boom. Today, rents are below 2018 levels in nominal terms—a remarkable case of progress on affordability.

People think that car companies intentionally destroyed Southern California's streetcar system, but in reality, cars monopolize roadway space and make all other transportation modes impossible -- just as they do today.

My bike commute.

She never (always) misses

Today’s jubilant D Line opening really showed the promise of positive urbanism. People are starving for community and human-scale cities. The lawns of LACMA across the street were packed with people picnicking and listening to the jazz band, the neighborhoods were popping, people seeing our D line

T.O.D Transit Oriented Donuts. The Fairfax station is really incredible with all the museums right there. Then a a quick bus ride to the Farmer's Market. I hadn't been there in at least a decade. What a moment for LA. Glad we could make it... a day later.

I just think about the housing debate last night and how all the yimby lobbyist really deserve a bow. Look what you did! They were all talking about housing like professors last night. The Overton window has moved so much thanks to all your work.

Nazarian submitted a banger motion to tax country clubs in LA extra to make up for Prop 13 and spend the funds on street infrastructure + other stuff quick math this would raise about $300m for the City and triple property taxes for most private golf courses cityclerk.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2...

That was a very substantive housing conversation. Porter, Mahan, Steyer, probably in that order, clearly understood what they're talking about. Villaraigosa sounded like he prepped for a debate. Becerra, especially early on, sounded like he released his housing plan yesterday

Love that Becerra’s housing platform calls this out so directly: www.xavierbecerra2026.com/priorities/h... > I will also work with the Legislature to end the use of impossibly high affordable housing mandates as a backdoor to kill housing.

Oh wait, I think this is it. It just seems to be starting late: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HET...

I called it!

I've been really worried that Becerra won't take on LA, especially if Bass is in. But he does seem to really like "the rule of law" and suing. And it's really good he has this on "paper". I feel much better about him getting in there now. Steyer is still better but I'm OK with this second choice.

I don’t know who needs to hear this but go ride a bike the next chance you get

It’s still a big red flag to me that he made it this far without a serious housing platform. We just cannot afford another 4 or 8 years of minimal progress in the housing front, it makes so many other challenges harder to solve

Wow DSA LA’s straw poll of its membership showed Raman had a plurality just shy of a majority.

DSA has a sense of humor? Solid Mom jokes. Well played.

Susan Orlean is selling her Schindler home, the Kallis-Sharlin Residence. It's spectacular. www.redfin.com/CA/Los-Angel...

This Patrick Kennedy project is putting 6 1500 sq.ft. 3bd townhouses, for sale, on the site of dilapidated 1930s gas station. This was ministerially approved under Middle Housing reforms to the R-2 rules and SB 684. Before those reforms this would have been impossible.

Bass has an entire page on her website dedicated to attacking Raman. The last point is Nithya Raman supports the law giving Sacramento politicians control over our local zoning, which will result in large buildings in single family neighborhoods across the city...

I like Steyer's housing plan a lot, but this idea that NIMBY jurisdictions are rejecting new residents because of "health and education costs" is silly. On education in particular, a lot of school districts are in crisis because they don't have *enough* new students!

Rae Huang’s new social media post about housing is “trickle down economics is a fallacy”. 👎👎👎👊

lol, no, they will not welcome housing if we just reform prop 13. But hey if this gets split roll passed go for it! But the idea that cities are blocking housing because they can't afford the costs is wrong. The new housing creates much more revenue that whatever it's replacing.

I don't know much about health care policy. Is it really possible one state could deliver single payer? This seems far fetched to me, but what do I know? Anyone out there in Bluesky land have strong understanding on this?

I have many objections to slopulism, but chief among them is the amount of contempt it shows for voters. This woman wants to be the governor of America's cultural and technological engine by jangling keys in front of us like we're tiny babies.

Ah, residents are simply concerned about an illegal demolition permit. It's good to see people who just want basic permitting rules followed...oh wait... “Imagine 111 units, five stories, with 150, 200 additional cars in this area with no parking. It’s kind of outrageous."

Auckland’s zoning reform accelerated social housing by replacing restrictive rules with "as-of-right" density. Research by Greenaway-McGrevy shows that by removing neighborhood vetoes, Auckland’s share of NZ’s social housing permits surged to 70%.

Where exactly is the social housing going to get built if it's illegal to build it because of zoning?

Lots of people love to hate on IPAs, but the craft beer movement gave us craft Pilsners, which is the biggest improvement in beer in my lifetime. And then there's the breakthroughs in brussel sprouts and cauliflower technology... the list goes on. Who would hate this?

Ironically, this is the best TV Bill has ever produced. Give him an Emmy for this.

The whiteboard at the restaurant I worked at had an 86 list (which meant we were out of something) but it would grow throughout the night to some really inappropriate things. I do remember the Lindbergh baby made it on there.

This is a fantastic answer.

Pollution levels in Paris after 10 years of advancing sustainable transport.

"The meta-analysis, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, analyzed 2,943 transgender women who had undergone hormone therapy for one to three years. It found no evidence of any physical advantage." english.elpais.com/health/2026-...

The benefits of new housing are mostly enjoyed by the people who get places to live, not the developers who build them.

This gate sucks so much. I use it like 3x/week. Biked my kid through it to school for years. You have to have the skills of a cat 3 Cylcocross racer to get through. And it doesn't fit a cargo bike with a kid in the back. I'm just baffled by why it was redesigned in the exact same unbikeable way.

The bike lanes in Griffith Park are so fantastic. This morning there was a crew out removing parking and painting in a new wide bike path. I was so astonished I forgot to get a picture. Removing parking for bikes...in LA! This is Nithya's doing. This is what's possible if we elect her.

We should allow apartments to be built with concrete in CA. I don’t care if it’s less green, it’s soundproof, would be a big quality of life improvement for tenants, and would be greener than sprawl either way. This is also a common material for multifamily housing globally, including in Canada.

Is Becerra really not going to show up for a debate on housing?

Honestly, having an LA mayor that genuinely cares about non-drivers would be like five times crazier than having a millennial socialist mayor of New York

It's pretty funny how SB79 has turned that Dilan Esper into a whiny baby.

"Raise taxes on wealthy older adults" is terrible politics but good policy. Property tax exemptions for older homeowners stem from good intentions but are actually regressive, because they reduce the availability of homes for younger, less wealthy renters. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/o...

"In housing, besides circumventing the disproportionately high elder participation in town meetings where land-use decisions are made, I advocate a progressive tax on older homeowners to incentivize them to downsize rather than retain. The longer you stay, the more you should have to pay."

Not joking in the slightest when I say that the state of California should dissolve the city government of Los Angeles and put it into receivership. LA is just dead-weight dragging the entire state down at this point.

It’s not rich people leaving California. It’s working class folks. And it’s all about the cost of housing due to decades of under-building. Once they leave, they can afford housing & their finances improve. We must continue the fight to build more homes. It’s essential for California’s future,

@abundanthousingla.bsky.social might want to pull that Durazo endorsement … www.reddit.com/r/LosAngeles...

Spencer Pratt is running the most pure Nextdoor fueled campaign I've ever seen.

I like this argument about the difference between Steyer and Pritzker. It's true. The big difference is that Pritzker is a billionaire who has won and Steyer hasn't done that yet. No argument there.

Maybe electing a billionaire for governor isn't so bad.

The worst part of any bike ride is cars.