City Engineer
@cityengineer.bsky.social
PE. Dengineer. Transportation and Engineering. Safe network builder for people walking, in wheelchairs, cycling & driving. Train lover. Selectboard member. Longer form here : https://bit.ly/4d0YNTj
Pinned
Should our 30-year goal be to bring the country’s housing market for the country’s grandkids incrementally back to the less than 3:1 median price to median income multiplier market the Boomers received when first buying homes, ending scarcity by increasing supply?
Local zoning created a country wide road network that only worked if someone else paid for it.. and that’s exactly what happened.
November 17, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Local zoning created a country wide road network that only worked if someone else paid for it.. and that’s exactly what happened.
If locals had to bear the cost of their zoning choices, things would look
much different today.
#DenseClusters
#BackTo3
much different today.
#DenseClusters
#BackTo3
November 17, 2025 at 3:45 AM
If locals had to bear the cost of their zoning choices, things would look
much different today.
#DenseClusters
#BackTo3
much different today.
#DenseClusters
#BackTo3
The bogeyman is looking at us in the mirror on housing affordability
November 17, 2025 at 3:40 AM
The bogeyman is looking at us in the mirror on housing affordability
If the federal government had not funded local arterials and collectors, U.S. land-use patterns would look fundamentally different and zoning very likely would have been forced to evolve for higher residential density and more mixed use.
November 17, 2025 at 2:34 AM
If the federal government had not funded local arterials and collectors, U.S. land-use patterns would look fundamentally different and zoning very likely would have been forced to evolve for higher residential density and more mixed use.
I like the goal of less cars but can’t help think that fighting a war on cars is like taking an Advil, like winning the Battle of Iwo Jima and that zoning reform, treating the infection with antibiotics, is how you defeat Germany and collapse car centrism decisively.
@thewaroncars.bsky.social
@thewaroncars.bsky.social
The War on Cars (@thewaroncars.bsky.social)
A podcast about the fight against car culture. Hosted by Sarah Goodyear & Doug Gordon.
Our new book, "Life After Cars" is out now from Thesis / Penguin Random House.
https://www.lifeaftercars.com/
...
thewaroncars.bsky.social
November 17, 2025 at 2:18 AM
I like the goal of less cars but can’t help think that fighting a war on cars is like taking an Advil, like winning the Battle of Iwo Jima and that zoning reform, treating the infection with antibiotics, is how you defeat Germany and collapse car centrism decisively.
@thewaroncars.bsky.social
@thewaroncars.bsky.social
Zoning forced an impossible infrastructure bill on towns and so states and the feds had to pick it up.
November 16, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Zoning forced an impossible infrastructure bill on towns and so states and the feds had to pick it up.
EVs added and up 20%. Make trains cheaper or and see what happens….
"The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, said that without the shake-up, another 2,200 vehicles would be driving in the zone on an average weekday, making it no longer fit for purpose."
London congestion charge to rise 20% and apply to EV for first time
November 16, 2025 at 10:07 PM
EVs added and up 20%. Make trains cheaper or and see what happens….
Local zoning mapped a road network in the US that only worked if someone else paid for it.. and that’s exactly what happened.
November 16, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Local zoning mapped a road network in the US that only worked if someone else paid for it.. and that’s exactly what happened.
Reposted by City Engineer
Car centrism was created by zoning maps
November 15, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Car centrism was created by zoning maps
Reposted by City Engineer
Our 6:1 housing multipliers are designed so that 40% of Americans, mostly older, already-housed owners win big, while everyone else pays for it.
A sane 3:1 system would flip that: roughly three-quarters of the country would be better off, including almost every worker under 50 and every renter.
A sane 3:1 system would flip that: roughly three-quarters of the country would be better off, including almost every worker under 50 and every renter.
November 15, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Our 6:1 housing multipliers are designed so that 40% of Americans, mostly older, already-housed owners win big, while everyone else pays for it.
A sane 3:1 system would flip that: roughly three-quarters of the country would be better off, including almost every worker under 50 and every renter.
A sane 3:1 system would flip that: roughly three-quarters of the country would be better off, including almost every worker under 50 and every renter.
Not many votes but wisdom prevails
November 16, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Not many votes but wisdom prevails
Reposted by City Engineer
This makes me so proud 🇨🇦☺️❤️🇨🇦
March 28, 2025 at 7:34 PM
This makes me so proud 🇨🇦☺️❤️🇨🇦
In high-demand urban areas, premiums for homes on well connected greenways can reach 10–20% when directly connected to a high-quality bike/ped greenway.
November 15, 2025 at 5:31 PM
In high-demand urban areas, premiums for homes on well connected greenways can reach 10–20% when directly connected to a high-quality bike/ped greenway.
Our 6:1 housing multipliers are designed so that 40% of Americans, mostly older, already-housed owners win big, while everyone else pays for it.
A sane 3:1 system would flip that: roughly three-quarters of the country would be better off, including almost every worker under 50 and every renter.
A sane 3:1 system would flip that: roughly three-quarters of the country would be better off, including almost every worker under 50 and every renter.
November 15, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Our 6:1 housing multipliers are designed so that 40% of Americans, mostly older, already-housed owners win big, while everyone else pays for it.
A sane 3:1 system would flip that: roughly three-quarters of the country would be better off, including almost every worker under 50 and every renter.
A sane 3:1 system would flip that: roughly three-quarters of the country would be better off, including almost every worker under 50 and every renter.
Car centrism was created by zoning maps
November 15, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Car centrism was created by zoning maps
Local governments were enabled with nearly full control over land use, while depending on massive state and federal subsidies to sustain the low-density, car-centric built form that their land-use decisions require.
November 15, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Local governments were enabled with nearly full control over land use, while depending on massive state and federal subsidies to sustain the low-density, car-centric built form that their land-use decisions require.
Housing scarcity turns shelter into a speculative asset
November 15, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Housing scarcity turns shelter into a speculative asset
Housing scarcity is a major driver of inequality
Supply restrictions are a regressive tax on younger households
Zoning reform is economically necessary
High-multiplier metros distort national productivity
More building is the correct macro response
Supply restrictions are a regressive tax on younger households
Zoning reform is economically necessary
High-multiplier metros distort national productivity
More building is the correct macro response
November 13, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Housing scarcity is a major driver of inequality
Supply restrictions are a regressive tax on younger households
Zoning reform is economically necessary
High-multiplier metros distort national productivity
More building is the correct macro response
Supply restrictions are a regressive tax on younger households
Zoning reform is economically necessary
High-multiplier metros distort national productivity
More building is the correct macro response
If you zone for more and more cars, that’s exactly what you’ll get.
November 11, 2025 at 1:57 AM
If you zone for more and more cars, that’s exactly what you’ll get.
Reposted by City Engineer
One too many persons lamented to me that we couldn't build housing in Marin because we were too "full." So I did what any normal person would do and built 3D population density maps so people could see how "full" we are. The black beads represent our workforce commuting in.
November 14, 2024 at 4:20 PM
One too many persons lamented to me that we couldn't build housing in Marin because we were too "full." So I did what any normal person would do and built 3D population density maps so people could see how "full" we are. The black beads represent our workforce commuting in.
If you talk about affordability of electricity, gas, eggs, even health insurance but not HOUSING you are distracting. Housing is severly inflated by scarcity. If you can't say how you'll make market housing affordable in time, like when Boomers were buying in 1970, you are saying mostly nothing.
November 9, 2025 at 7:42 PM
If you talk about affordability of electricity, gas, eggs, even health insurance but not HOUSING you are distracting. Housing is severly inflated by scarcity. If you can't say how you'll make market housing affordable in time, like when Boomers were buying in 1970, you are saying mostly nothing.
In 1977, the U.S. median home cost about 2.8× the median wage; by 2023, it’s roughly 6.5×.
As wages rose to $75K, housing costs rose far faster to nearly $500K, decoupling of shelter from labor income. The “dream” of owning a home through steady work, now requires dual earners or inherited capital.
As wages rose to $75K, housing costs rose far faster to nearly $500K, decoupling of shelter from labor income. The “dream” of owning a home through steady work, now requires dual earners or inherited capital.
November 9, 2025 at 3:11 PM
In 1977, the U.S. median home cost about 2.8× the median wage; by 2023, it’s roughly 6.5×.
As wages rose to $75K, housing costs rose far faster to nearly $500K, decoupling of shelter from labor income. The “dream” of owning a home through steady work, now requires dual earners or inherited capital.
As wages rose to $75K, housing costs rose far faster to nearly $500K, decoupling of shelter from labor income. The “dream” of owning a home through steady work, now requires dual earners or inherited capital.
Reposted by City Engineer
The median age of a first-time home buyer in the US has now exceeded 40 for the first time in history, up from 30 in 2010.
The median age of all US homebuyers jumped to 59.
The median age of all US homebuyers jumped to 59.
November 6, 2025 at 2:46 PM
The median age of a first-time home buyer in the US has now exceeded 40 for the first time in history, up from 30 in 2010.
The median age of all US homebuyers jumped to 59.
The median age of all US homebuyers jumped to 59.
Reposted by City Engineer
Housing abundance is letting a homeowner put an apartment above their garage, an apartment in her house, allowing ADUs by right, making the duplex the by right base in some districts, allowing multifamily housing by right near transit. What is being “removed” other than unnecessary restrictions ?
November 7, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Housing abundance is letting a homeowner put an apartment above their garage, an apartment in her house, allowing ADUs by right, making the duplex the by right base in some districts, allowing multifamily housing by right near transit. What is being “removed” other than unnecessary restrictions ?