M. Nolan Gray 🥑
@mnolangray.bsky.social
the once and future city planner // YIMBY // AICP // kentuckian in california // #BBN // author of hit broadway musical arbitrary lines
Pinned
M. Nolan Gray 🥑
@mnolangray.bsky.social
· Oct 10
Ladies and gentlemen, we did it. SB 79 has been signed.
Funny to think that Pyongyang might be building more housing than New York City.
m-en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN2026...
m-en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN2026...
N. Korea completes 50,000-unit housing construction project in Pyongyang: KCNA | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Tuesday it has completed a landmark housing pr...
m-en.yna.co.kr
February 17, 2026 at 8:40 PM
Funny to think that Pyongyang might be building more housing than New York City.
m-en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN2026...
m-en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN2026...
Just a remarkable failure of governance: 18 meetings, two council votes, two commission hearings over the course of five years, with many millions in taxpayer dollars on the line, and not even a single shovel in the ground.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: In Venice Beach, it's taken nearly a decade to not build low-income housing
The Venice Dell project has been approved again and again, only to be stymied by local officials who oppose it.
www.latimes.com
February 17, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Just a remarkable failure of governance: 18 meetings, two council votes, two commission hearings over the course of five years, with many millions in taxpayer dollars on the line, and not even a single shovel in the ground.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Reposted by M. Nolan Gray 🥑
By a 41-7 vote, the Washington Senate just directed the state's building code council to adopt updated regulations for elevators in buildings with up to six stories or 24 units, "minimally sized to meet federal accessibility requirements."
The final version:
lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/202...
The final version:
lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/202...
February 13, 2026 at 10:28 PM
By a 41-7 vote, the Washington Senate just directed the state's building code council to adopt updated regulations for elevators in buildings with up to six stories or 24 units, "minimally sized to meet federal accessibility requirements."
The final version:
lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/202...
The final version:
lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/202...
hitting that last rep at the gym tonight like
February 17, 2026 at 3:54 AM
hitting that last rep at the gym tonight like
Thinking I might start collecting records purely so I have a list to give friends and family when they ask for gift ideas.
February 16, 2026 at 2:33 AM
Thinking I might start collecting records purely so I have a list to give friends and family when they ask for gift ideas.
Basketball should be in the Winter Olympics.
February 16, 2026 at 12:40 AM
Basketball should be in the Winter Olympics.
It's a real problem that much of the left can't seem to conceptualize of any public policy issue except as a demand problem, never a supply problem.
But we didn't have economic stagnation for the working class. We had a period of unusually *high* wage growth for low income workers.
February 16, 2026 at 12:34 AM
It's a real problem that much of the left can't seem to conceptualize of any public policy issue except as a demand problem, never a supply problem.
I specifically need more Guatemalans to move to Greater Sacramento so we can get a direct flight to Guatemala City! San Francisco is getting one!
The Latinization of the United States is overwhelmingly a Mexican-American phenomenon
February 15, 2026 at 11:27 PM
I specifically need more Guatemalans to move to Greater Sacramento so we can get a direct flight to Guatemala City! San Francisco is getting one!
There's was a guy down in Sacramento's Cathedral Square today painting the cathedral. Absolute high agency behavior.
February 15, 2026 at 10:52 PM
There's was a guy down in Sacramento's Cathedral Square today painting the cathedral. Absolute high agency behavior.
My grandpa, a Great Society Democrat and General Electric middle manager, would randomly print off little modernist creeds like this and earnestly suggest that I hang them up somewhere. We need more of this energy in America these days. Really only immigrants and Mormons have got it.
February 15, 2026 at 10:46 PM
My grandpa, a Great Society Democrat and General Electric middle manager, would randomly print off little modernist creeds like this and earnestly suggest that I hang them up somewhere. We need more of this energy in America these days. Really only immigrants and Mormons have got it.
"The ballot initiative is bad and will destroy local housing production, but the vibes are good so I'm voting for it." Reminds me of how folks in Los Angeles talked about ULA, a blunder that might be ending Mayor Bass' career four years early.
I’ve been clear that I don’t support the ballot initiative language as written—Boston has advanced our own proposal that has been blocked by the State—but I’m voting for it bc a ballot question is the only way to move the ball down the field with our State here & give a chance for legislative fixes.
February 14, 2026 at 9:46 PM
"The ballot initiative is bad and will destroy local housing production, but the vibes are good so I'm voting for it." Reminds me of how folks in Los Angeles talked about ULA, a blunder that might be ending Mayor Bass' career four years early.
Poor management is costing Los Angeles millions of dollars earned for street upgrades. It's infuriating. The city needs change at the top.
The City of LA is about to give back millions of dollars of previously won money for active transportation projects because it can’t build things in any reasonable amount of time.
February 14, 2026 at 8:05 PM
Poor management is costing Los Angeles millions of dollars earned for street upgrades. It's infuriating. The city needs change at the top.
It's too bad the courts probably won't be entertaining disparate impact claims for a while because, boy, deed-restricted "artist" housing would probably wash up dead on those shores.
Interesting affordable housing development around Truckee deed restricted to artists. (Like every ultra expensive quirky CA town has these arts restricted housing.) Looks like more plans for density in both housing and lodging around this remote bus terminal.
February 14, 2026 at 7:56 PM
It's too bad the courts probably won't be entertaining disparate impact claims for a while because, boy, deed-restricted "artist" housing would probably wash up dead on those shores.
An interesting divergence in US governance is that Democrats will gently ask civil servants to consider doing a thing, while Republicans will just straight up tell them to do it. The comparison on single-stair is telling.
WA's elevator bill SB 5156 passed the Senate today, 41 - 7.
It instructs state agencies to:
- allow smaller elevators in buildings up to 6 stories and 24 units
- consider harmonization with global standards
- assess other cost tradeoffs
On to the House!
lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/202...
It instructs state agencies to:
- allow smaller elevators in buildings up to 6 stories and 24 units
- consider harmonization with global standards
- assess other cost tradeoffs
On to the House!
lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/202...
February 14, 2026 at 7:31 PM
An interesting divergence in US governance is that Democrats will gently ask civil servants to consider doing a thing, while Republicans will just straight up tell them to do it. The comparison on single-stair is telling.
Reposted by M. Nolan Gray 🥑
If you want middle class homeownership in California, you need to build condos.
If you want to build condos, you need to fix the defect liability laws. My piece for @sacyimby.bsky.social
housesac.substack.com/p/sacramento...
If you want to build condos, you need to fix the defect liability laws. My piece for @sacyimby.bsky.social
housesac.substack.com/p/sacramento...
Sacramento needs more condos
To fix the housing crisis, close the gap between rental apartments and single-family homes
housesac.substack.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:56 PM
If you want middle class homeownership in California, you need to build condos.
If you want to build condos, you need to fix the defect liability laws. My piece for @sacyimby.bsky.social
housesac.substack.com/p/sacramento...
If you want to build condos, you need to fix the defect liability laws. My piece for @sacyimby.bsky.social
housesac.substack.com/p/sacramento...
Reposted by M. Nolan Gray 🥑
House Sac’s Kate Rodgers on @kcranews.bsky.social about last night‘s planning commission vote on whether to bring more than 300 new homes to East Sacramento.
Support for the project was unanimous (of course).
Support for the project was unanimous (of course).
February 13, 2026 at 7:04 PM
House Sac’s Kate Rodgers on @kcranews.bsky.social about last night‘s planning commission vote on whether to bring more than 300 new homes to East Sacramento.
Support for the project was unanimous (of course).
Support for the project was unanimous (of course).
In California, a city can take up to 15 business days to deem an application complete and 30 business days to conduct the review. If a city blows past this shot clock, only then can an applicant used a licensed third-party review. Once their report is submitted, a city has 10 days to dispute.
February 12, 2026 at 7:52 PM
In California, a city can take up to 15 business days to deem an application complete and 30 business days to conduct the review. If a city blows past this shot clock, only then can an applicant used a licensed third-party review. Once their report is submitted, a city has 10 days to dispute.
"Dallas City Hall might ultimately be razed for a casino—a perfect symbol for our era of civic impoverishment and gambling addiction." A striking story about the apparent implosion of downtown Dallas. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
People Who Don’t Understand Downtowns Are Destroying Downtowns
A far-fetched plan to demolish Dallas’s seat of government reflects the city’s diminished role in the region.
www.theatlantic.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:12 PM
"Dallas City Hall might ultimately be razed for a casino—a perfect symbol for our era of civic impoverishment and gambling addiction." A striking story about the apparent implosion of downtown Dallas. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
In cities like Sacramento, affordable mass homeownership looks like building a lot of condominiums. But California's out-of-whack defect laws make them nearly impossible for developers to safely build. housesac.substack.com/p/sacramento...
Sacramento needs more condos
To fix the housing crisis, close the gap between rental apartments and single-family homes
housesac.substack.com
February 12, 2026 at 6:25 PM
In cities like Sacramento, affordable mass homeownership looks like building a lot of condominiums. But California's out-of-whack defect laws make them nearly impossible for developers to safely build. housesac.substack.com/p/sacramento...
As best as I can tell, the "source" on SB 79's allegedly rocky rollout is a bunch of cities and COGs that didn't want it to pass in the first place? The League and SANDAG both opposed the bill from the start. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
California's blockbuster housing legislation faces rocky rollout
State Sen. Scott Wiener, the author of Senate Bill 79, has not ruled out postponing the July 1 implementation date for the new law because of widespread confusion over what it requires.
www.politico.com
February 12, 2026 at 5:47 PM
As best as I can tell, the "source" on SB 79's allegedly rocky rollout is a bunch of cities and COGs that didn't want it to pass in the first place? The League and SANDAG both opposed the bill from the start. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
"Bills allegedly spiked from $120 to $320 in a single month or rose nearly that far within the first 30 days of moving in." I had this exact experience with Public Storage: completely random rate changed and outright lying as to my rate.
www.curbed.com/article/mamd...
www.curbed.com/article/mamd...
Mamdani Takes on the Self-Storage Wild West
A new suit filed by the city alleges price hikes seem to have “no correlation to any market conditions or costs.”
www.curbed.com
February 11, 2026 at 4:39 AM
"Bills allegedly spiked from $120 to $320 in a single month or rose nearly that far within the first 30 days of moving in." I had this exact experience with Public Storage: completely random rate changed and outright lying as to my rate.
www.curbed.com/article/mamd...
www.curbed.com/article/mamd...
The California state fire marshal was legally obliged to release the single-stair report on January 1. A month later, it's nowhere in sight, and I'm hearing the draft recommends doing the bare minumum. State legislators should just pass the code update themselves.
calmatters.org/housing/2026...
calmatters.org/housing/2026...
Housing advocates still waiting for state-ordered stair report
California’s fire safety regulators are more than a month late with a study on mid-rise apartments and staircases.
calmatters.org
February 10, 2026 at 8:14 PM
The California state fire marshal was legally obliged to release the single-stair report on January 1. A month later, it's nowhere in sight, and I'm hearing the draft recommends doing the bare minumum. State legislators should just pass the code update themselves.
calmatters.org/housing/2026...
calmatters.org/housing/2026...
As long as it costs six figures in fees to build even a single home in California, we're never going to get rents and home prices down to affordable levels. I provide comment:
www.dailynews.com/2026/02/04/e...
www.dailynews.com/2026/02/04/e...
Editorial: California needs local housing fee reform
It’s time to talk about local fees.
www.dailynews.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:00 PM
As long as it costs six figures in fees to build even a single home in California, we're never going to get rents and home prices down to affordable levels. I provide comment:
www.dailynews.com/2026/02/04/e...
www.dailynews.com/2026/02/04/e...
I learned today that this episode came out two days earlier in Central America than in the US, so I'm reupping!
The moral earnestness of "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" feels a lot more subversive than anything ever attempted in "Game of Thrones."
February 9, 2026 at 5:06 AM
I learned today that this episode came out two days earlier in Central America than in the US, so I'm reupping!
While you're watching the game...I'm studying the game.
February 9, 2026 at 12:25 AM
While you're watching the game...I'm studying the game.