Patrick Sisson
@patrickcsisson.bsky.social
Writer. Trends, tech, economics & policy shaping cities. Bylines: New York Times, Bloomberg CityLab, MIT Tech Review, Bisnow, Fast Company. patsisson at gmail dot com.
Reposted by Patrick Sisson
Here’s me taking @thewaroncars.bsky.social new book out for a spin at last month’s CicLAvia. This is going to be a great show at one of the best venues in LA. See you on November 17!
November 11, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Here’s me taking @thewaroncars.bsky.social new book out for a spin at last month’s CicLAvia. This is going to be a great show at one of the best venues in LA. See you on November 17!
Reposted by Patrick Sisson
New from 404 Media: people are 3D-printing whistles to warn each other about the presence of ICE. Some people make designs and upload them; others are given a design and are printing hundreds and hundreds of whistles at home. It's been effective in Chicago
www.404media.co/the-latest-d...
www.404media.co/the-latest-d...
The Latest Defense Against ICE: 3D-Printed Whistles
Chicagoans are making, sharing, and printing designs for whistles that can warn people when ICE is in the area. The goal is to “prevent as many people from being kidnapped as possible.”
www.404media.co
November 11, 2025 at 1:56 PM
New from 404 Media: people are 3D-printing whistles to warn each other about the presence of ICE. Some people make designs and upload them; others are given a design and are printing hundreds and hundreds of whistles at home. It's been effective in Chicago
www.404media.co/the-latest-d...
www.404media.co/the-latest-d...
California housing advocates saw a long-cherished goal come to pass: SB 79, the “YIMBY Holy Grail” that will make transit-oriented development take off. For @bloomberg.com I spoke w/@cayimby.bsky.social & others about next steps needed to start a building boom www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Will the YIMBY ‘Holy Grail’ Deliver an LA Building Boom?
Supporters of the California zoning reform bill SB 79 say it will unleash a wave of multistory apartment buildings. In low-rise-loving Los Angeles, that could be a tall order.
www.bloomberg.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:53 PM
California housing advocates saw a long-cherished goal come to pass: SB 79, the “YIMBY Holy Grail” that will make transit-oriented development take off. For @bloomberg.com I spoke w/@cayimby.bsky.social & others about next steps needed to start a building boom www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
There’s strategy & symbolism in the decision of San Juan Capistrano city government to rebuild city hall w/an attached (extremely) affordable housing development for homeless residents. For @fastcompany.com I looked at a new kind of permanent housing partnership www.fastcompany.com/91438609/thi...
This wealthy California town built affordable housing in an unusual location
For San Juan Capistrano, helping the homeless meant having them move next to City Hall.
www.fastcompany.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:21 PM
There’s strategy & symbolism in the decision of San Juan Capistrano city government to rebuild city hall w/an attached (extremely) affordable housing development for homeless residents. For @fastcompany.com I looked at a new kind of permanent housing partnership www.fastcompany.com/91438609/thi...
California YIMBY & housing advocates statewide cheered when SB 79, the transformative zoning law allowing more urban density near transit, was signed. As I found for @bloomberg.com they also rolled up their sleeves to plot ways to help the law live up to its promise
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Will the YIMBY ‘Holy Grail’ Deliver an LA Building Boom?
Supporters of the California zoning reform bill SB 79 say it will unleash a wave of multistory apartment buildings. In low-rise-loving Los Angeles, that could be a tall order.
www.bloomberg.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:06 PM
California YIMBY & housing advocates statewide cheered when SB 79, the transformative zoning law allowing more urban density near transit, was signed. As I found for @bloomberg.com they also rolled up their sleeves to plot ways to help the law live up to its promise
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Reposted by Patrick Sisson
Publication day for the expanded paperback edition of THE DESIGN OF CHILDHOOD, with a new intro and my Pulitzer-winning essays up front geni.us/designofchil...
Plus a brand new audiobook www.audible.com/pd/The-Desig...
@bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social
Plus a brand new audiobook www.audible.com/pd/The-Desig...
@bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Publication day for the expanded paperback edition of THE DESIGN OF CHILDHOOD, with a new intro and my Pulitzer-winning essays up front geni.us/designofchil...
Plus a brand new audiobook www.audible.com/pd/The-Desig...
@bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social
Plus a brand new audiobook www.audible.com/pd/The-Desig...
@bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social
Reposted by Patrick Sisson
Check out our profile of @lataco.bsky.social, an LA-based outlet thats been covering the ICE raids.
studyhall.xyz/free-newslet...
studyhall.xyz/free-newslet...
How L.A. Taco Filled a Gap in Los Angeles’ Media Landscape
L.A. Taco Editor in Chief Javier Cabral will never forget the Friday in June when he watched a protester get run over by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement SUV in downtown Los Angeles, liv
studyhall.xyz
November 10, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Check out our profile of @lataco.bsky.social, an LA-based outlet thats been covering the ICE raids.
studyhall.xyz/free-newslet...
studyhall.xyz/free-newslet...
Austin City Limits: As SF office starts to bounce back from the urban doom loop with strong AI leasing, Austin now has a higher vacancy rate, per a new report, one of many data points showing the budding tech hub is struggling commercialobserver.com/2025/11/aust...
Austin's Tech-Leasing Boom Stalls Without an AI Backup Plan
The hub doesn't have the Bay Area's luck in drawing artificial intelligence startups — it's not all doom (loop) and gloom, though.
commercialobserver.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Austin City Limits: As SF office starts to bounce back from the urban doom loop with strong AI leasing, Austin now has a higher vacancy rate, per a new report, one of many data points showing the budding tech hub is struggling commercialobserver.com/2025/11/aust...
“That means the company’s estimates translate to 560,000 people exhibiting symptoms of psychosis or mania weekly, with 1.2 million demonstrating heightened emotional attachment and 1.2 million showing signs of suicidal planning or intent.” www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
The Chatbot Delusions: Is AI Contributing to a Novel Mental Health Crisis?
Some users are losing touch with reality during marathon sessions with ChatGPT and other bots.
www.bloomberg.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:41 PM
“That means the company’s estimates translate to 560,000 people exhibiting symptoms of psychosis or mania weekly, with 1.2 million demonstrating heightened emotional attachment and 1.2 million showing signs of suicidal planning or intent.” www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
For @fastcompany.com I looked at a different way to add density; take what’s there, and build up with more lightweight, sustainable mass timber. One advocate believes these top off projects can work especially well in older cities with stronger, older structures www.fastcompany.com/91436081/the...
These 'Frankenstein' buildings show how wood can make an old building new again
Architects are adding extra floors built from mass timber as a way to expand a building's footprint in a more sustainable way.
www.fastcompany.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:00 PM
For @fastcompany.com I looked at a different way to add density; take what’s there, and build up with more lightweight, sustainable mass timber. One advocate believes these top off projects can work especially well in older cities with stronger, older structures www.fastcompany.com/91436081/the...
Reposted by Patrick Sisson
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
Reposted by Patrick Sisson
“I didn't exactly panic, but here's what was going through my head,” Liz in Wisconsin, 43, who receives SNAP benefits for her and her adult daughter, explained. “We have to eat. This money will not last. What happens in December? What about January? Do I have to make this food last all winter?”
The voices of SNAP
Recipients have become political pawns. They explained, in their own words, what Trump withholding funds has been like.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 7, 2025 at 11:21 PM
“I didn't exactly panic, but here's what was going through my head,” Liz in Wisconsin, 43, who receives SNAP benefits for her and her adult daughter, explained. “We have to eat. This money will not last. What happens in December? What about January? Do I have to make this food last all winter?”
Reposted by Patrick Sisson
Last month, it was teenagers who got 8 books banned in a statewide Georgia reading bowl back into the competition. These literary heroes deserve recognition–get to meet three of these rad book-loving intellectual freedom champions.
bookriot.com/teens-who-ov...
bookriot.com/teens-who-ov...
Meet the High Schoolers Who Overturned a State Reading Bowl Book Ban: Book Censorship News, November 7, 2025
A Georgia statewide reading bowl banned eight books. These students led the charge to get the bans overturned and succeeded.
bookriot.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Last month, it was teenagers who got 8 books banned in a statewide Georgia reading bowl back into the competition. These literary heroes deserve recognition–get to meet three of these rad book-loving intellectual freedom champions.
bookriot.com/teens-who-ov...
bookriot.com/teens-who-ov...
Reposted by Patrick Sisson
10 Years After a Breakthrough Climate Pact, Here’s Where We Are www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
10 Years After the Paris Climate Agreement, Here's Where We Are
Has anything really changed in the decade since the Paris Agreement was reached? Actually, quite a lot.
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:25 PM
10 Years After a Breakthrough Climate Pact, Here’s Where We Are www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Patrick Sisson
wikipedia's data shows that AI is siphoning traffic away from the site, which is a danger to its sustainability. ironically Wikipedia is more important than ever to users who want reliable information instead of slop, and to AI companies that need it for training data www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors
“With fewer visits to Wikipedia, fewer volunteers may grow and enrich the content, and fewer individual donors may support this work.”
www.404media.co
October 17, 2025 at 1:15 AM
wikipedia's data shows that AI is siphoning traffic away from the site, which is a danger to its sustainability. ironically Wikipedia is more important than ever to users who want reliable information instead of slop, and to AI companies that need it for training data www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
Reposted by Patrick Sisson
my latest: i spent weeks investigating how frustrations about data centers were about to swallow american politics…
…and then the 2025 election happened, proving the electoral impacts are already here.
read and share my deep dive on the bipartisan AI techlash shaping our elections before our eyes!
…and then the 2025 election happened, proving the electoral impacts are already here.
read and share my deep dive on the bipartisan AI techlash shaping our elections before our eyes!
The Data Center Backlash Is Swallowing American Politics
Activists on both the left and the right are pushing back against rampant AI development.
heatmap.news
November 6, 2025 at 9:13 PM
my latest: i spent weeks investigating how frustrations about data centers were about to swallow american politics…
…and then the 2025 election happened, proving the electoral impacts are already here.
read and share my deep dive on the bipartisan AI techlash shaping our elections before our eyes!
…and then the 2025 election happened, proving the electoral impacts are already here.
read and share my deep dive on the bipartisan AI techlash shaping our elections before our eyes!
Reposted by Patrick Sisson
new: at least 26 unhoused chicagoans have been abducted since the start of "operation midway blitz."
the full scope of people disappeared is likely much larger but is obscured by heavy criminalization, social stigma, and fewer eyes and phones around to bear witness.
via @katieprout.bsky.social
the full scope of people disappeared is likely much larger but is obscured by heavy criminalization, social stigma, and fewer eyes and phones around to bear witness.
via @katieprout.bsky.social
Many unhoused Chicagoans uncounted among the disappeared - Chicago Reader
The Latino Union of Chicago, via its Adopt a Corner initiative, organizes patrols to watch for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agents at intersections and landmarks wh...
chicagoreader.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:18 PM
new: at least 26 unhoused chicagoans have been abducted since the start of "operation midway blitz."
the full scope of people disappeared is likely much larger but is obscured by heavy criminalization, social stigma, and fewer eyes and phones around to bear witness.
via @katieprout.bsky.social
the full scope of people disappeared is likely much larger but is obscured by heavy criminalization, social stigma, and fewer eyes and phones around to bear witness.
via @katieprout.bsky.social
Reposted by Patrick Sisson
Librarians told 404 Media they are being inundated with new pitches for AI library tech and catalogs are being flooded with AI slop books that they need to wade through. AI maximalism across society is supercharging the ideological war on libraries, schools, academics
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge
"Fascism and AI, whether or not they have the same goals, they sure are working to accelerate one another."
www.404media.co
November 6, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Librarians told 404 Media they are being inundated with new pitches for AI library tech and catalogs are being flooded with AI slop books that they need to wade through. AI maximalism across society is supercharging the ideological war on libraries, schools, academics
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
Tenant improvement allowances—the $$$ landlords provide to help update offices for new tenants—may seem like a tiny detail in the story of commercial real estate. But an explosion in such costs over the last decade helps explains 2025’s office market. My latest @Bisnow www.bisnow.com/national/new...
Rising Costs, Shifting Market Have Office Landlords Tightening The Purse Strings On TI
The postpandemic surge in tenant improvement allowances for office real estate — and their recent plateau — help explain the U.S. office market.
www.bisnow.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Tenant improvement allowances—the $$$ landlords provide to help update offices for new tenants—may seem like a tiny detail in the story of commercial real estate. But an explosion in such costs over the last decade helps explains 2025’s office market. My latest @Bisnow www.bisnow.com/national/new...
Zohran wasn’t the only big winner yesterday. Housing has a great day at the ballot box. my latest for @dwell.bsky.social www.dwell.com/article/affo...
Affordable Housing Plans Were the Real Winners of the 2025 Election
Zohran Mamdani’s proposed rent freeze contributed to his watershed win as New York City’s mayor-elect, part of a national trend to address the housing crisis with the ballot.
www.dwell.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Zohran wasn’t the only big winner yesterday. Housing has a great day at the ballot box. my latest for @dwell.bsky.social www.dwell.com/article/affo...
Reposted by Patrick Sisson
“The election of two new public service commissioners represents a seismic change in Georgia’s energy landscape and reflects a new politics of electricity in America.” heatmap.news/politics/ali...
Democrats Win 2 Key Energy Races in Georgia
A “seismic change” comes for the state’s Public Service Commission.
heatmap.news
November 5, 2025 at 3:01 AM
“The election of two new public service commissioners represents a seismic change in Georgia’s energy landscape and reflects a new politics of electricity in America.” heatmap.news/politics/ali...
Reposted by Patrick Sisson
NYMag blew up its story about ICE's increased presence at 26 Federal Plaza, and pasted it on a wall a few blocks away on Broadway
November 3, 2025 at 5:57 PM
NYMag blew up its story about ICE's increased presence at 26 Federal Plaza, and pasted it on a wall a few blocks away on Broadway
New Illinois clean energy law, focused on battery storage, will save consumers $13B over 20 years — seems like a pretty strong message to bolster more battery investment www.canarymedia.com/articles/ene...
Illinois lawmakers just passed another big clean-energy bill
Batteries are the centerpiece of the state’s third major piece of energy legislation in a decade. The governor has pledged to sign the bill.
www.canarymedia.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:55 PM
New Illinois clean energy law, focused on battery storage, will save consumers $13B over 20 years — seems like a pretty strong message to bolster more battery investment www.canarymedia.com/articles/ene...
For @fastcompany.com I looked at the military move to explore 3D printing drones, and what it says about a changing battlefield and the defense manufacturing base www.fastcompany.com/91429742/3d-...
In the future, U.S. troops won't just deploy drones. They'll make them
Meet the startups who want to bring military production right to the front lines.
www.fastcompany.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:37 PM
For @fastcompany.com I looked at the military move to explore 3D printing drones, and what it says about a changing battlefield and the defense manufacturing base www.fastcompany.com/91429742/3d-...
Delayed funding, stalled approvals, even missed rent — the real consequences of the ever-lengthening shutdown have hit the apartment industry, and they’re poised to get much worse in the coming weeks. My latest for Bisnow www.bisnow.com/national/new...
The Shutdown Is Already Having A 'Chilling Effect' On Multifamily
Fallout from layoffs and stalled payments is expected to worsen if the shutdown drags on.
www.bisnow.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Delayed funding, stalled approvals, even missed rent — the real consequences of the ever-lengthening shutdown have hit the apartment industry, and they’re poised to get much worse in the coming weeks. My latest for Bisnow www.bisnow.com/national/new...