Kirsten Bladh
@kerstanley.bsky.social
Policy @ Open New York. She/her. Cargo bike mom. Bassist for Leggy in my former life. NYC via LA via Cincinnati. Left urbanist 🏙️🚆🌹 Lamentably, a Bengals fan 🐅
Rae is the deputy director of Housing Now, a coalition that includes every single left NIMBY org. I wouldn’t count on her changing what is one of her core stances.
February 13, 2026 at 8:33 PM
Rae is the deputy director of Housing Now, a coalition that includes every single left NIMBY org. I wouldn’t count on her changing what is one of her core stances.
Reposted by Kirsten Bladh
“A year after the $1.1 billion overhaul,” which added a new lane each direction, “the 405’s rush hour drive times were a minute slower than they were before the workers broke ground. Five years later, traffic was worse at all times of day.”
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
A Tunnel to Transform Los Angeles
The ambitious Sepulveda Transit Corridor project — an automated subway line underneath Bel Air — aims to do something rare in LA: Get people out of their cars.
www.bloomberg.com
February 13, 2026 at 4:07 PM
“A year after the $1.1 billion overhaul,” which added a new lane each direction, “the 405’s rush hour drive times were a minute slower than they were before the workers broke ground. Five years later, traffic was worse at all times of day.”
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Reposted by Kirsten Bladh
It’s really incredible that white progressive men don’t seem to understand that Graham Platner’s campaign was grown in a lab to play on their insecurities
February 13, 2026 at 1:02 PM
It’s really incredible that white progressive men don’t seem to understand that Graham Platner’s campaign was grown in a lab to play on their insecurities
Reposted by Kirsten Bladh
Eighty five more people were killed by cars in Los Angeles than New York City despite the latter having over twice the population as the former.
February 12, 2026 at 11:07 PM
Eighty five more people were killed by cars in Los Angeles than New York City despite the latter having over twice the population as the former.
Speed limiters have a function to allow for a limited period of exceeding the limit, for just such situations.
February 11, 2026 at 2:38 PM
Speed limiters have a function to allow for a limited period of exceeding the limit, for just such situations.
And yet these words came from the mouth of an attorney who represents the mayors!
February 11, 2026 at 2:21 PM
And yet these words came from the mouth of an attorney who represents the mayors!
I regret to inform you that it’s not a novel idea. There’s a contingent of mayors in NY State who have been pushing for this to be permitted via state law. “Otherwise these cities have no incentive to build housing.”
February 11, 2026 at 11:49 AM
I regret to inform you that it’s not a novel idea. There’s a contingent of mayors in NY State who have been pushing for this to be permitted via state law. “Otherwise these cities have no incentive to build housing.”
Reposted by Kirsten Bladh
Lmao of course it’s NIMBY shit
Oh look, it's Howard Lutnick and Jeffrey Epstein emailing back and forth in 2018
February 10, 2026 at 11:09 PM
Lmao of course it’s NIMBY shit
They also hate their own kids
February 10, 2026 at 1:43 PM
They also hate their own kids
Reposted by Kirsten Bladh
If everyone reacting to this incredulously/asking why we can’t have nice things could take a few mins to email Manhattan CB 2 about how the proposed project’s design and aesthetics are appropriate for the historic district that would be great. 🫶🏻
📧 cbmanhattan.cityofnewyork.us/cb2/contact/
📧 cbmanhattan.cityofnewyork.us/cb2/contact/
Currently dialed into a community board meeting where a bunch of boomer NIMBYs are trying to argue this NoHo parking lot needs to be preserved and not turned into affordable housing.
god, NIMBYs are beyond parody. they must be politically crushed
god, NIMBYs are beyond parody. they must be politically crushed
February 10, 2026 at 3:30 AM
If everyone reacting to this incredulously/asking why we can’t have nice things could take a few mins to email Manhattan CB 2 about how the proposed project’s design and aesthetics are appropriate for the historic district that would be great. 🫶🏻
📧 cbmanhattan.cityofnewyork.us/cb2/contact/
📧 cbmanhattan.cityofnewyork.us/cb2/contact/
I do think there’s something to that, and my most direct experience with this phenomenon was when an old man from the LA Sierra Club told me he was against SB 79 because it would upzone his childhood home.
February 10, 2026 at 1:22 PM
I do think there’s something to that, and my most direct experience with this phenomenon was when an old man from the LA Sierra Club told me he was against SB 79 because it would upzone his childhood home.
Reposted by Kirsten Bladh
The current NIMBY speaking literally just said “I live right next to this parking lot and it gives the area a real neighborhood feeling”
February 10, 2026 at 12:04 AM
The current NIMBY speaking literally just said “I live right next to this parking lot and it gives the area a real neighborhood feeling”
Reposted by Kirsten Bladh
Personally I don't think CA should give Tesla or any other Musk company a single penny of public subsidy after Elon's war on democracy and the state budget. Basic exercise in fighting back!
CA's climate+air regulators present their support of Tesla as the only way to decarbonize freight - but they're ignoring the state's freight rail system, which could take a huge bite out of the problem at a fraction the cost, while supporting passenger rail infrastructure!
h/t @niedermeyer.online
h/t @niedermeyer.online
"Nevertheless, the reservation of vouchers effectively limited access to funding for other manufacturers with production-ready electric trucks, as HVIP operates on a first-come, first-served basis and funding rounds are typically oversubscribed within days."
Always frustrating.
Always frustrating.
February 9, 2026 at 9:50 PM
Personally I don't think CA should give Tesla or any other Musk company a single penny of public subsidy after Elon's war on democracy and the state budget. Basic exercise in fighting back!
Reposted by Kirsten Bladh
It really annoys me that the moral panic over e-bikes obscures the incredible impact they have had for disabled people.
This. For the disabled they are a vital tool, and without mine, I am housebound. The inherent ableism infuriates me, especially since I am a careful rider. In every incident I have been in, and there are very few, I was the victim not the cause. Every time.
February 9, 2026 at 7:16 PM
It really annoys me that the moral panic over e-bikes obscures the incredible impact they have had for disabled people.
Reposted by Kirsten Bladh
Reposted by Kirsten Bladh
They should start showing cut scenes of Santa Clara. Give us a dilapidated 1970s strip mall and an 8 lane arterial road. Show us how many restaurants are already closed even though it's only 5:30.
February 9, 2026 at 1:44 AM
They should start showing cut scenes of Santa Clara. Give us a dilapidated 1970s strip mall and an 8 lane arterial road. Show us how many restaurants are already closed even though it's only 5:30.
Also, baby food pouches are processed food! Which is totally fine, just quite hypocritical in this instance.
February 8, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Also, baby food pouches are processed food! Which is totally fine, just quite hypocritical in this instance.
I think you might be looking at a retail vacancy rate. The residential vacancy rate in Manhattan is ~1.5%, and almost all of those are apartments in between tenants.
February 8, 2026 at 6:16 PM
I think you might be looking at a retail vacancy rate. The residential vacancy rate in Manhattan is ~1.5%, and almost all of those are apartments in between tenants.
Reposted by Kirsten Bladh
this interaction (about me!) says everything you need to know about the Bay Area neolibs
February 8, 2026 at 1:38 PM
this interaction (about me!) says everything you need to know about the Bay Area neolibs
Reposted by Kirsten Bladh
Very telling that the initiative exempts all home value for CA seniors. Could have easily capped the exemption to the first $1M in value, but the motivation isn't about low-income seniors in modest homes, it's about the rich wanting an exemption.
February 8, 2026 at 4:37 PM
Very telling that the initiative exempts all home value for CA seniors. Could have easily capped the exemption to the first $1M in value, but the motivation isn't about low-income seniors in modest homes, it's about the rich wanting an exemption.
Reposted by Kirsten Bladh
Because they're fucking idiots that's why
Why another US state is preparing a 10 mph e-bike speed limit
Why another US state is preparing a 10 mph e-bike speed limit
Florida is the latest US state to wade into the increasingly crowded waters of e-bike regulation, with lawmakers advancing a bill that would impose a situational 10 mph (16 km/h) speed limit for e-bikes on shared-use paths. It’s a move that fits squarely into a broader national trend, as states and cities across the country reconsider how electric bikes fit into public spaces that were never designed with fast, motor-assisted travel in mind.
more…
electrek.co
February 8, 2026 at 3:53 AM
Because they're fucking idiots that's why
This one does take that into account, and says that $60k puts you in top 2% once adjusted for cost of living in the U.S.
How Rich Am I?
Calculate how rich you are compared to the rest of the world. Are you in the top global income percentile? Does your household income make you wealthy?
www.givingwhatwecan.org
February 8, 2026 at 1:01 PM
This one does take that into account, and says that $60k puts you in top 2% once adjusted for cost of living in the U.S.
I think a lot of people forget/don’t know that Mamdani was a state assemblymember when he ran for office. I don’t see how that’s more of an outsider than a city councilmember.
February 7, 2026 at 10:40 PM
I think a lot of people forget/don’t know that Mamdani was a state assemblymember when he ran for office. I don’t see how that’s more of an outsider than a city councilmember.
Moderate is not synonymous with liberal. There are plenty of moderates with no liberal values.
February 7, 2026 at 1:28 AM
Moderate is not synonymous with liberal. There are plenty of moderates with no liberal values.