M. Nolan Gray 🥑
@mnolangray.bsky.social
the once and future city planner // senior legislative director for california YIMBY // proud kentuckian // #BBN // buy my book ❤
Pinned
M. Nolan Gray 🥑
@mnolangray.bsky.social
· Oct 10
Ladies and gentlemen, we did it. SB 79 has been signed.
This is the smartest thing I've read about the Venezuelan regime change effort.
16 hours in, my guess this was all intended basically as a coup to put VP Delcy Rodriguez in power (likely without her knowledge but 🤷).
At least for democracy & human rights, that might be even worse than the "opening shots in a war" scenario.
All speculation, but let me explain:
At least for democracy & human rights, that might be even worse than the "opening shots in a war" scenario.
All speculation, but let me explain:
January 4, 2026 at 12:53 AM
This is the smartest thing I've read about the Venezuelan regime change effort.
January 2, 2026 at 11:17 PM
People want the equivalent of "worn jeans" in their neighborhoods. I get it. But the thing about worn jeans is that, to really achieve the authentic effect, you have to actually wear them!
January 2, 2026 at 10:52 PM
People want the equivalent of "worn jeans" in their neighborhoods. I get it. But the thing about worn jeans is that, to really achieve the authentic effect, you have to actually wear them!
I think Cayala is great! Not to brag, but when I first visited Guatemala City im 2016 and toured it, when it was still new, I exclusively heard shallow critiques. "It feels fake." "It's a mall." "You drive to it." I said, guys, let the trees grow up, the housing get built and a community form...
January 2, 2026 at 10:43 PM
I think Cayala is great! Not to brag, but when I first visited Guatemala City im 2016 and toured it, when it was still new, I exclusively heard shallow critiques. "It feels fake." "It's a mall." "You drive to it." I said, guys, let the trees grow up, the housing get built and a community form...
I'm at a major supermarket chain in Guatemala City and they're out of bananas. Oh, the irony!
January 2, 2026 at 10:16 PM
I'm at a major supermarket chain in Guatemala City and they're out of bananas. Oh, the irony!
Cool newish stacked duplexes in Houston, with a few small design features well-suited to the climate.
January 2, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Cool newish stacked duplexes in Houston, with a few small design features well-suited to the climate.
Reposted by M. Nolan Gray 🥑
For the past several years, state legislatures have been ground zero for the housing reform discussion. Our 2026 state legislative tracking project is underway.
Follow along at www.housingaffordabilityinstitute.org/housing-refo...
Follow along at www.housingaffordabilityinstitute.org/housing-refo...
State Legislatures and Housing Reform 2026 Edition
Follow our State Legislatures and Housing Reform 2026 tracker to monitor state-level housing reforms this year.
www.housingaffordabilityinstitute.org
January 2, 2026 at 4:45 PM
For the past several years, state legislatures have been ground zero for the housing reform discussion. Our 2026 state legislative tracking project is underway.
Follow along at www.housingaffordabilityinstitute.org/housing-refo...
Follow along at www.housingaffordabilityinstitute.org/housing-refo...
Reposted by M. Nolan Gray 🥑
These are 10 of my favourite #UrbanEconomics & #SpatialEconomics articles published in academic journals in 2025, continuing with a tradition started in 2018 (order is alphabetical by first author, no ranking implied):
January 2, 2026 at 12:30 PM
These are 10 of my favourite #UrbanEconomics & #SpatialEconomics articles published in academic journals in 2025, continuing with a tradition started in 2018 (order is alphabetical by first author, no ranking implied):
My four favorite movies that I watched for the first time in 2025.
January 1, 2026 at 7:23 PM
My four favorite movies that I watched for the first time in 2025.
I'm really enjoying this history of the founding of Sacramento. It's doing a good job of capturing the way of contingent entrepreneurship can nudge otherwise mechanistic location theory forces.
January 1, 2026 at 4:03 PM
I'm really enjoying this history of the founding of Sacramento. It's doing a good job of capturing the way of contingent entrepreneurship can nudge otherwise mechanistic location theory forces.
What exactly are the New Year's Day traditions? Working out hungover?
January 1, 2026 at 6:05 AM
What exactly are the New Year's Day traditions? Working out hungover?
Thanks to a series YIMBY reforms—and high-quality administration—in San Diego, the city has been in the midst of a building boom, even as construction has plummeted elsewhere. The result? Rents are down six months in a row. www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/12/17/s...
San Diego rents have fallen for 6 months. Should you ask your landlord for a deal?
San Diego rents are down 0.3% year-over-year to an average $2,520 per month.
www.sandiegouniontribune.com
December 31, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Thanks to a series YIMBY reforms—and high-quality administration—in San Diego, the city has been in the midst of a building boom, even as construction has plummeted elsewhere. The result? Rents are down six months in a row. www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/12/17/s...
At California YIMBY, we receive good ideas for bills at a steady clip. But a substantial share—maybe half—are one of the following: (a) Los Angeles doing something that's already illegal; and/or (b) Los Angeles doing something in a stupid/inefficient way that no other city does.
ADA does not apply to private dwellings.
What he’s complaining about is the Fair Housing Act.
But actually, FHA exempts his exact situation, so the real issue is that his code reviewer was a dumbass who can’t read the code
What he’s complaining about is the Fair Housing Act.
But actually, FHA exempts his exact situation, so the real issue is that his code reviewer was a dumbass who can’t read the code
December 31, 2025 at 7:34 PM
At California YIMBY, we receive good ideas for bills at a steady clip. But a substantial share—maybe half—are one of the following: (a) Los Angeles doing something that's already illegal; and/or (b) Los Angeles doing something in a stupid/inefficient way that no other city does.
I think the most effectively way to frame this issue is, "Don't you want choice in where you live and how you get around?" When framed this way, multimodal reforms transform from a burden (e.g. "we have to do this because of climate change/sprawl/costs/etc") into an amenity.
An astonishing percentage of Americans are open to car-free living.
The problem isn't attitudes. The problem is the failure to invest in viable options.
humantransit.org/2025/12/many...
The problem isn't attitudes. The problem is the failure to invest in viable options.
humantransit.org/2025/12/many...
Many Americans Are Open to Car-Free Living — Human Transit
Is Americans a “car culture” or are they “car dependent”? Do they drive because they love driving, or are they in an unhealthy relationship with a substance it would be happy to do without? Obviousl...
humantransit.org
December 31, 2025 at 7:18 PM
I think the most effectively way to frame this issue is, "Don't you want choice in where you live and how you get around?" When framed this way, multimodal reforms transform from a burden (e.g. "we have to do this because of climate change/sprawl/costs/etc") into an amenity.
Thank you to @kcranews.bsky.social for having me on to discuss SB 79 and where pro-housing policy going forward in California.
December 31, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Thank you to @kcranews.bsky.social for having me on to discuss SB 79 and where pro-housing policy going forward in California.
A lonely Little Caesars in Twentynine Palms.
December 30, 2025 at 9:11 PM
A lonely Little Caesars in Twentynine Palms.
If you could put three urban planning books on the desk of every city manager/urban planner/elected official in America, what would they be?
December 30, 2025 at 2:59 PM
If you could put three urban planning books on the desk of every city manager/urban planner/elected official in America, what would they be?
Yup. Just another case of regressive intergenerational theft.
See also mid-level engineers ranting about how they are so much more productive doing remote work than coming into the office. Yeah; shirking all of your service obligations to junior employees helps you focus. Brilliant insight, jerk.
December 30, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Yup. Just another case of regressive intergenerational theft.
A low-rise commercial building turns into 274 homes over shops in Miami. (2016➡️2019)
December 30, 2025 at 1:06 AM
A low-rise commercial building turns into 274 homes over shops in Miami. (2016➡️2019)
In New Zealand they have a term for this: the ring of shame. By this I understand them to mean, close-in suburbs that combine extremely high feasibility (i.e. cheap, low-rise structures on expensive land near the center) with extremely restrictive exclusionary zoning.
There’s a narrative that it’s economically much harder to densify already-developed urban areas, so YIMBYism won’t do much.
This has some truth, but it can’t explain why the *densest* urban tracts have added substantially more housing than inner-ring suburbs since 2014
This has some truth, but it can’t explain why the *densest* urban tracts have added substantially more housing than inner-ring suburbs since 2014
December 29, 2025 at 6:56 PM
In New Zealand they have a term for this: the ring of shame. By this I understand them to mean, close-in suburbs that combine extremely high feasibility (i.e. cheap, low-rise structures on expensive land near the center) with extremely restrictive exclusionary zoning.
It's actually pretty insane that the CEQA exemption for *merely bring a zoning code into compliance with a general plan* didn't pass. If that doesn't blackpill you on following the vanilla channels of passing a bill, I don't know what will.
My pro-housing wish list for 2026:
- statewide base zoning layer
- CEQA exemption for zoning code updates to match General Plan map
- legalize small lot development by enabling point access blocks in building code
- unlock for-sale housing by reforming condo construction defect law
What else?
- statewide base zoning layer
- CEQA exemption for zoning code updates to match General Plan map
- legalize small lot development by enabling point access blocks in building code
- unlock for-sale housing by reforming condo construction defect law
What else?
December 29, 2025 at 6:54 PM
It's actually pretty insane that the CEQA exemption for *merely bring a zoning code into compliance with a general plan* didn't pass. If that doesn't blackpill you on following the vanilla channels of passing a bill, I don't know what will.
To save Las Vegas, let's take the car sewer that is the Las Vegas Strip and turn it one of the world's great promenades. mnolangray.substack.com/p/to-save-la...
To Save Las Vegas, Pedestrianize the Strip
It’s time to go all in.
mnolangray.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 6:41 PM
To save Las Vegas, let's take the car sewer that is the Las Vegas Strip and turn it one of the world's great promenades. mnolangray.substack.com/p/to-save-la...
"Let's go around the room and share the best things that happened to us in 2025. Nolan, do you want to start?"
"Oh, uh, hmm...well, passing SB 79 was pretty incredible."
"Wait, didn't you get married this year?"
🤦🏼♂️
"Oh, uh, hmm...well, passing SB 79 was pretty incredible."
"Wait, didn't you get married this year?"
🤦🏼♂️
December 29, 2025 at 12:43 AM
"Let's go around the room and share the best things that happened to us in 2025. Nolan, do you want to start?"
"Oh, uh, hmm...well, passing SB 79 was pretty incredible."
"Wait, didn't you get married this year?"
🤦🏼♂️
"Oh, uh, hmm...well, passing SB 79 was pretty incredible."
"Wait, didn't you get married this year?"
🤦🏼♂️
Charging $15 a week to remove ads from a compass app is essentially just fraud. I'd wager that literally everyone who pays this is confused or made a mistake. Google should remove junk like this from the app store.
December 29, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Charging $15 a week to remove ads from a compass app is essentially just fraud. I'd wager that literally everyone who pays this is confused or made a mistake. Google should remove junk like this from the app store.