San Francisco just upzoned the Sunset, the Richmond, North Point, and a bunch of the Marina. I truly never thought I'd see the day. Huge congratulations to the local activists at @sfyimby.bsky.social who worked so hard to make this happen.
Again, in Texas I haven’t found this to be true anecdotally, because the heat seems to radiate from areas where there is little tree coverage. This manifests under trees in light colored asphalt parking lots I’m imagining that asphalt effectively more strongly radiates heat to surrounding areas?
Which one causes sidewalks to feel more hot? I’m in Texas and can’t imagine a form of asphalt cooler than concrete sidewalks
I’m just bothered by the fact they couldn’t put the private bathrooms inside the bedrooms. 😆
Funny enough, I was part of an extremely close group at UT that would have totally rented that.
TxDOT is working on its *first ever* statewide walk/bike plan.
This is huge. Support the Statewide Active Transportation Plan now:
🚶🏼♀️Take the short survey (deadline: 7/13)
🚲 Attend the in-person meeting @ Fiesta Gardens (7/8, 4:30pm)
Survey/event info: burnsmcd.mysocialpinpoint.com/txdot-statew...
Housing abundance is good politics, pass it on.
I’m partial to this design of the 3¢ silver (1851-1853)
Other coins we used to mint that nobody thinks about today:
- 1/2¢ coin
- 2¢ coin
- 3¢ coin
- 20¢ coin
- $1 gold coin (literally 90% gold)
- $1 silver coin (literally 90% silver)
- $2.50 coin
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coins_o...
Tomorrow is Super Saturday for Texas housing! House votes on sending crucial bills to the guv:
SB15: Starter homes in new subdivisions
SB1567: Protect student renters
SB2835: Single-stair apartments in the building code
Call your representative in favor of all three ASAP! wrm.capitol.texas.gov
I’m an abundant pro-housing guy!
Of course! Here more people can benefit from lower home prices than higher home prices. Culturally we still need to diversify our personal wealth creation increasingly beyond real estate. Housing should be a commodity, not an investment for the masses.
My worry is the quantity of overleveraged now-suffering people in debt would be enough to call it a proper “collapse”
Counterpoint. China has built a deep culture of buying real estate overleveraged as a way to invest, which means that a great number of middle class people have quickly moved into deep debt and poverty. Though of course, falling home prices is a good thing in general.
This bill seem to be making good progress in both chambers and could set good precedent for removing other CVCs cutting through downtown to I 35
Affordability requirements is how this policy becomes palatable. I’m more worried about the definition of “affordable unit” potentially changing to be built one and the same as a market unit. That will absolutely break the economics and result in fewer market and affordable units.
Frankly, the US’s immigration system under Trump is now more progressive than many European progressive nations.
And that’s really scary.
#truefinns #europeanimmigration
Massing render of a point access block apartment building
Like 5-over-1s, density bonuses & overlay districts will do a lot of the heavy lifting.
Below is a single-stair massing render from a presentation @chrants.bsky.social gave on Thursday at City Council for a specific 3,970 sqft. lot that will be inside the UNO expansion boundary—6 stories, 18-units
Far right parties (more extreme than Trump) are rapidly gaining ground in Europe. Germany’s far right party got second in the recent elections to the conservatives, with 20%‼️ of the vote share. The far right True Finns party only narrowly lost parliament in Finland in 2023. The whole world is scary.
City of Austin is asking how they should revamp the downtown Seaholm (Trader Joe’s) area. Survey and more details: www.speakupaustin.org/e65606
Many men view a conception of masculinity as existentially important. It’s therefore imperative that we on the left embed in our discourse a new, more free and more healthy vision for masculinity. One that can coexist with equality, our changing society, and yes, even feminism.
Andrew Tate Masculinity only continues the trend away from “Traditional Family Masculinity,” which instead prizes the ability to be self-sufficient and act as a stable provider for the family unit. #toxicmasculinity
Men look to a mentor to help figure out their place in the world. In an epidemic of loneliness, Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson offer a worldview that tries to “reclaim and restore masculinity”. Doubling down on male dominance only results in more frustration and #loneliness.
How social platforms influence ideology using this framework -
Fascism => X, Facebook, Instagram
Liberal democracy => Discord, Bluesky Feeds, Reddit, activist communities
🧵(2 of 2) #philosophy #theory #acidcommunism #fascism
Fascism thrives in environments where social connections are weak, and a small number of thought leaders dictate values to the masses. Liberal democracy flourishes with dense social communities, where individuals connect and unite over shared values and desires. 🧵 (1 of 2)
Think Twitch streaming and Only Fans, fueling unhealthy parasocial "connections" (more like obsessions). Where are the social institutions that foster deep, meaningful connections between participants? We need a new kind of third place, a not for profit return of social institutions. 🧵 (2 of 2)
There is a true cost to the commoditization of social connection. Think social media, whose goal is to feed you ads and keep you on the platform, rather than strengthening bonds. Think Tinder, where the more important features are gated behind an increasingly exorbitant fee. 🧵(1 of 2)
No modern liberal democracy views human connection as a key economic metric in policy. Hence the global right resurgence that promises incels women as a form of property and blames every problem on our changing social "woke" attitudes. #incels #loneliness
Should we have Austin for Summer Olympics 2036!? (Obviously host the summer games in winter. It’s hot here y’all)
A whole couple of these could fit in your average surface parking lot in West Campus.
