The largest ongoing expense for most people is housing and transportation. The more you can reduce those expenses, the more money you have for savings and buying stuff you really want. Imagine how much buying power and economic growth we can unlock if those 2 expenses went down for everyone.

I wrote about this paper for Broad & Liberty. Check it out! broadandliberty.com/2026/04/08/r...

There's a non-zero chance he's doing all this to manipulate the market and make himself and his friends a lot of money.

Inspired by André Gorz, 1973: "...the car wastes more time than it saves and creates more distance than it overcomes. Of course, you can get yourself to work doing 60 mph, but that’s because you live 30 miles from your job and are willing to give half an hour to the last 6 miles."

People like to bring up the studies around the difference between handwriting vs typing for memory retention. But with AI notetakers and code assist, we're not even doing much typing anymore! I wonder if AI is going to kill our ability to remember anything. 😢

I think my coworkers learn to not use car analogies at work when I'm in the conversation.

I’ve been looking for The Trinity Session by Cowboy Junkies on vinyl since I started building my collection last year. It’s one of my favorite albums. I finally found it at Beautiful World Syndicate on Passyunk Ave today! I got my other favorite album Good Dog Bad Dog by Over the Rhine last year.

On Sunday, Philadelphia had equal numbers of homicides and traffic deaths. While the city has seen killings decline by nearly 80% since pandemic-era highs, progress on traffic deaths has been much slower. www.inquirer.com/opinion/edit...

First ball game of the year. And it’s in Toronto. I wasn’t expecting a lot from the domed stadium experience but it was great! Especially since it was cold and drizzly outside! Cool to see a future hall of famer Max Scherzer pitch. And I ate 4 hot dogs on Loonie Dog Night!

Sankofa Square, Toronto, Canada. 🇨🇦

The Toronto subway is so underrated. High frequency, clean. Gotta be top 5 in North America.

Today is the last day to get the e-book edition of LIFE AFTER CARS for just $1.99 at @bookshop.org and other sellers! bookshop.org/a/9252/97805...

Both team’s jerseys have too much white. I don’t know why they didn’t make Belgium play with their red kit.

LinkedIn is mostly corporate fluff, so when I post, I try to make it somewhat work-related but also personal. I went to Las Vegas this past week for my company's sales kickoff. I had a lot of fun, especially when I got off the strip. Feel free to like and share. 🙏 www.linkedin.com/posts/peters...

The ATM at a casino in Vegas was charging $7 per transaction! $7 just to pull out cash! It made me happy to have a bank account that refunds all ATM fees, even the crazy high ones. It's the best checking account in the US. www.fidelity.com/spend-save/f...

I always think it’s super interesting to get insight into people’s finances. It seems like Europeans are much more open about their finances; Americans are so private about their finances. I think more openness would help Americans understand what’s normal, what they might want to strive for, etc.

Under the condition of anonymity, we spoke with Philadelphians who agreed to reveal their finances to us. Their salaries. Their expenses. Their secrets for scrimping. Their biggest splurges.

The Big Ten is doing really well this year. If Michigan and Michigan State win tomorrow, that’ll be 5 Big Ten teams (all historic Big Ten, not recent adds) in the Elite 8. That’d be a record for most teams from one conference in the Elite 8.

I’ve been wanting to get this book for a while. It’s about a church in Philly and its struggles figuring out what it means to be the church in an increasingly polarized world. It won many awards for best book in 2024. It was on the discount shelf at a bookstore in Las Vegas. 🙌🏼

I’ve taken the Deuce bus in Vegas before but haven’t taken the monorail… until now! I’m kinda surprised to see people actually taking it.

I love the live interviews with players in baseball. Especially with guys like Jazz Chisholm who’s just a lot of fun. I wonder if we’ll see this more this season or if it’s just a Netflix opening night thing.

I’m begging folks to put policy ahead of vibes and national political posturing. There is no urbanist priority that mayor Parker is a major obstacle of. None. The problem is City Council, and always has been.

The e-book edition of LIFE AFTER CARS is available for just $1.99 on @bookshop.org for a limited time! bookshop.org/a/9252/97805...

Longest lines I’ve seen at PHL in a while but if you have Precheck, you’ll be fine. Also the new Touchless Precheck is even faster.

I was looking at water bottles today and I still think the OGs of water bottles, Nalgene and Klean Kanteen are the best. The newer models try to get too fancy. My classic steel water bottle is over 20 years old. And my insulated coffee tumbler is over 10 years old.

I’m sad Gorewear is going out of business. They make high quality cycling gear for staying warm in cool weather. I have one of their windproof helmet caps and made good use of it this winter. Great price on this. www.gorewear.com/us/en-us/c3-...

You can walk into any single family neighborhood and see schools closing left and right because people are overhoused. I live in a three bedroom house by myself for the family I didn’t have, since price growth exceeds interest, tax, insurance, and maintenance. But corporations are an easier target.

I have a pinned Apple Note that’s a base packing list. Poster tube is on there because I like going to museums when I travel; there have been so many times I wanted to buy a print or poster but didn’t because I knew it’d get ruined in travel.

We need more of these pickup trucks in the US.

I’m so glad Philly has a Uniqlo in Center City. They do free hemming and it’s a lifesaver for people like me who have short legs!

We should not rule out the possibility that the US started a war to cause inflation so the Fed is forced to lower interest rates.

Ugh. If the city isn't going to provide all the funding the school district needs, maybe the school district should have some discretion for managing its assets and finances to support its mission.

Last night three dozen hardy riders showed up for a cold but joyful ride from West to South Philly. I really liked the after-party at Second District, where it felt like we had our own clubhouse in the back room.

I paid only $23 for an Uber ride from Mt Airy to Passyunk Sq. I would've taken SEPTA if it ran more frequently; I just missed one. Sadly, the driver only got about $12 from that ride. If the current mileage reimbursement rate is accurate, the "cost" of that ride was $8. So the driver only made ~$4.

If you’ve been wanting an analog watch, here’s a great deal on a Timex. a.co/d/0hGKmmGz

I used an AI chatbot to get an instant pot corned beef and cabbage recipe. And it turned out good! I hate that I did this but I also see why people would prefer the experience of using chat bots over the typical recipe website that’s overrun with ads.

The Free Library of Philadelphia just added the ability to store your library card in your Apple or Google Wallet so you don’t need to carry your library card with you all the time! Log in to your account and there’s a link for it. catalog.freelibrary.org/MyResearch/H...

I already disabled almost all notifications on my Apple Watch but I still had a few. It’s refreshing to not have something on my wrist vibrating throughout the day.

I am still boycotting Disney+/Hulu for taking Jimmy Kimmel off the air and not giving him a proper public apology. When they reinstated him, they gave some BS excuse to justify their decision. I hope you are continuing to boycott Disney/Hulu and demand a proper apology.

3/18 We Can Do Better Than These... travel on painted bike lanes & "sharrow" streets in West+South Philly (a route first used in 11/22) to contrast "better than nothing" with next month's ride on Philly 3rd District safe, thoughtful parking-protected infrastructure wednightrides.org/posts/2026/0...

Got some links on the band re-added to fit my wrist. Can barely read the date but otherwise I like it.

I’ve worn daily contact lenses for the past 10 years or so but I’m switching back to bi-weeklies. Dailies are convenient but it’s wasteful. So much microplastic waste. I can’t go back to annual replacements because they do get grimy over time and this is my compromise.

Apple just announced new AirPods Max headphones. Meh. My favorite headphone purchase in recent years is the Sennheiser HD599. It's kinda the opposite of the AirPods Max and other active noise cancelling headphones. It's an "open back" headphone. www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-H...

There are only two things I like about my Apple Watch: 1) Strava app. The watch has GPS so I don't need my phone to track runs/rides. 2) Funky watch faces. Here's what I have now. That's literally all I find useful+valuable about my Apple Watch.

When my Apple Watch's battery dies, I think I'm going to go full analog. I got this for my younger son last year, but he got a smaller+lighter Casio which he prefers, so I get his reject watch. www.casio.com/us/watches/c...

IMO the optimal solution for living car-free in the US is 1) find a remote job, 2) live in one of Philly’s walkable neighborhoods. I wish #1 wasn’t required but the city’s tax policies actively discourage employers from doing business here.

A lot of people about to have children assume they need to move to the suburbs where kids can have a yard, a bigger house, more green space, etc. As if it's some universally accepted rule of living in our society. Parents think it's their obligation and expectation. It doesn't have to be that way.

Best part of living in a city like Philadelphia is there's no shortage of things to do. My Google Maps is full of places I've been to or want to go to, but there are so many more I haven't made a plan for or even know about!

The Iran war is showing that renewable energy is a national security imperative, and that fighting renewables tooth and nail as the White House has been doing since day one deeply undermines national security, as @ryanlcooper.com writes. prospect.org/2026/03/13/i...