Ashley Harrington
@aharrington.bsky.social
Politics & whiskey—moderation in neither
For the last week & a half I’ve been in over a dozen medieval cities in Europe. All with densities in their center village from 4–6 stories. Literally attracting thousands of people for their character. To say mid rise development lacks character, is absurd. It’s all about design & how we interact.
Meanwhile, over at tonight's Bainbridge Island City Counci meeting, a councilmember is currently stating that the number of places in his city where a five story building could be built and not be "offensive to the eye" are in the single digits.
Despite a well-recognized housing emergency in Puget Sounds, cities continue to wield their emergency powers in ways that are related to...anything but that crisis.
A latest example: Bellevue is considering an emergency control tonight to protect the "character" of Old Bellevue from development.
A latest example: Bellevue is considering an emergency control tonight to protect the "character" of Old Bellevue from development.
December 3, 2025 at 6:28 PM
For the last week & a half I’ve been in over a dozen medieval cities in Europe. All with densities in their center village from 4–6 stories. Literally attracting thousands of people for their character. To say mid rise development lacks character, is absurd. It’s all about design & how we interact.
Seen in Cologne Germany today. No, just no.
December 3, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Seen in Cologne Germany today. No, just no.
It’s absurd that this event isn’t hosted along the many, many Metro lines in LA. It doesn’t even appear to be convenient by bus. What on earth are the organizers thinking? This is the anti-YIMBY urbanist vision. Why wasn’t it hosted in DTLA or another similarly dense hotel/transit/meeting location?
HOT OFF THE PRESSES! Join YIMBY Democrats for America & Radio Abundance at the first-ever FESTIVAL OF PROGRESSIVE ABUNDANCE! Coming this Friday January 30th to Sunday February 1st, 2026, to Cinevita Los Angeles.
Summit. Rally. Festival. Party.
Join us at progressiveabundance.com!
Summit. Rally. Festival. Party.
Join us at progressiveabundance.com!
December 2, 2025 at 9:25 AM
It’s absurd that this event isn’t hosted along the many, many Metro lines in LA. It doesn’t even appear to be convenient by bus. What on earth are the organizers thinking? This is the anti-YIMBY urbanist vision. Why wasn’t it hosted in DTLA or another similarly dense hotel/transit/meeting location?
Portland needs this!
Have you ever seen a bike lane sweeper - pulled behind a bike?
Volunteers in Kirkland have a new tool that attaches to the back of an e-bike. It's good for protected bike lanes, sidewalks, and narrow trails.
My @kuow.org story: www.kuow.org/stories/clea...
Volunteers in Kirkland have a new tool that attaches to the back of an e-bike. It's good for protected bike lanes, sidewalks, and narrow trails.
My @kuow.org story: www.kuow.org/stories/clea...
November 29, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Portland needs this!
Reposted by Ashley Harrington
So many discourse about addressing enforced car dependency is like:
- There is a problem. We should change things to fix it.
- But the change you want is not how things are.
- I know. That's why I said it should change.
- But if we changed it in a way you didn't suggest, there might be a problem.
- There is a problem. We should change things to fix it.
- But the change you want is not how things are.
- I know. That's why I said it should change.
- But if we changed it in a way you didn't suggest, there might be a problem.
November 23, 2025 at 2:16 PM
So many discourse about addressing enforced car dependency is like:
- There is a problem. We should change things to fix it.
- But the change you want is not how things are.
- I know. That's why I said it should change.
- But if we changed it in a way you didn't suggest, there might be a problem.
- There is a problem. We should change things to fix it.
- But the change you want is not how things are.
- I know. That's why I said it should change.
- But if we changed it in a way you didn't suggest, there might be a problem.
Also an attorney, graduate of Harvard Law. This lady has more talent than I will ever even know. Impressive!
November 23, 2025 at 5:41 AM
Also an attorney, graduate of Harvard Law. This lady has more talent than I will ever even know. Impressive!
Reposted by Ashley Harrington
Foundations should stop funding groups that advance harmful housing policies.
These left-NIMBY nonprofits dwarf the YIMBY movement w/r/t funding and paid staff.
Great piece from @resnikoff.bsky.social!
www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/philant...
These left-NIMBY nonprofits dwarf the YIMBY movement w/r/t funding and paid staff.
Great piece from @resnikoff.bsky.social!
www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/philant...
Philanthropy Needs to Pick a Side on the Housing Construction Debate
Despite California’s severe housing shortage, foundations are still funding on the wrong side of the housing fight there, guest author Ned Resnikoff writes.
www.insidephilanthropy.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Foundations should stop funding groups that advance harmful housing policies.
These left-NIMBY nonprofits dwarf the YIMBY movement w/r/t funding and paid staff.
Great piece from @resnikoff.bsky.social!
www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/philant...
These left-NIMBY nonprofits dwarf the YIMBY movement w/r/t funding and paid staff.
Great piece from @resnikoff.bsky.social!
www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/philant...
Can anyone explain to me why the City of Portland has a 40% larger budget than the City of San Diego? Portland has a substantially smaller population, not to mention land area. Would love some rationale here, as it’s quite surprising.
November 20, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Can anyone explain to me why the City of Portland has a 40% larger budget than the City of San Diego? Portland has a substantially smaller population, not to mention land area. Would love some rationale here, as it’s quite surprising.
We need significant national reform on the power fire marshal’s have. They are problematic in so, so many circumstances
The good news: Portland is opting into Oregon's optional 4-story single-stair code section.
The bad news: Portland's fire marshal has managed to insert a poison pill into what appeared to be a take-it-or-leave-it appendix text, likely making it unusable in most cases.
djcoregon.com/news/2025/11...
The bad news: Portland's fire marshal has managed to insert a poison pill into what appeared to be a take-it-or-leave-it appendix text, likely making it unusable in most cases.
djcoregon.com/news/2025/11...
Portland’s new single-staircase rule faces big hurdles
The city now allows single-staircase buildings as tall as four stories, but a fire access rule may make most projects unbuildable, one designer warns.
djcoregon.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:20 AM
We need significant national reform on the power fire marshal’s have. They are problematic in so, so many circumstances
Reposted by Ashley Harrington
Tonight’s Senate vote on the federal government shutdown should have been a time for strength.
Instead we saw capitulation and a betrayal of working Americans.
The American people need more from their leaders.
Instead we saw capitulation and a betrayal of working Americans.
The American people need more from their leaders.
November 10, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Tonight’s Senate vote on the federal government shutdown should have been a time for strength.
Instead we saw capitulation and a betrayal of working Americans.
The American people need more from their leaders.
Instead we saw capitulation and a betrayal of working Americans.
The American people need more from their leaders.
Reposted by Ashley Harrington
She’s not wrong. The beauty of the Martha Stewart method was that’s replicable, with clear instructions and organization. The timeline for holiday prep is still one I use today.
“I was the original [expletive] tradwife,” Martha Stewart said in a recent interview, referring to current social media influencers like Nara Smith or Hannah Neeleman of Ballerina Farm. “And I was just as pretty as those girls, and more organized.”
Martha Stewart Transformed the Dinner Party. Was That a Good Thing?
With “Entertaining,” a seminal cookbook that’s being newly reissued, the original lifestyle influencer changed the culture and built her empire.
nyti.ms
November 3, 2025 at 7:20 PM
She’s not wrong. The beauty of the Martha Stewart method was that’s replicable, with clear instructions and organization. The timeline for holiday prep is still one I use today.
Yes, what “regular Americans” in middle USA cry out for is advice from conservative windbags at the NY Times
In Opinion
In political defeat, “there is a bottomless appetite for prescriptions that reassure the defeated party members that they just need to be truer to themselves, more effective, more ruthless,” Ross Douthat writes. “This is the psychological spot where many Democrats find themselves today.”
In political defeat, “there is a bottomless appetite for prescriptions that reassure the defeated party members that they just need to be truer to themselves, more effective, more ruthless,” Ross Douthat writes. “This is the psychological spot where many Democrats find themselves today.”
Opinion | It’s Obvious Why Harris Lost in 2024. But Can Democrats Accept It?
Lessons from the Tea Party and recent elections.
nyti.ms
November 2, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Yes, what “regular Americans” in middle USA cry out for is advice from conservative windbags at the NY Times
Reposted by Ashley Harrington
Academics’ and planners’ single-minded focus on making *brand new* homes affordable to the poorest people has been a disaster for poor people’s’ ability to afford housing.
Real grim stuff from a nonprofit staff attorney and former UCSD urban studies lecturer
October 31, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Academics’ and planners’ single-minded focus on making *brand new* homes affordable to the poorest people has been a disaster for poor people’s’ ability to afford housing.
Reposted by Ashley Harrington
So the president took a dementia test, and then they administered an MRI. Where’s the media on this?
October 28, 2025 at 7:38 PM
So the president took a dementia test, and then they administered an MRI. Where’s the media on this?
Reposted by Ashley Harrington
What To Make of those Anti-Mamdani Rabbis talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/what-...
What To Make of those Anti-Mamdani Rabbis
In the last couple weeks the questions about Jews, Israel and Zohran...
talkingpointsmemo.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:52 PM
What To Make of those Anti-Mamdani Rabbis talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/what-...
Reposted by Ashley Harrington
"men who clearly have hang-ups about their ability to perform a certain kind of blue collar masculinity" is a society-wide issue. There's a reason pickup truck sales have continued going up (to the degree the F-150 is now America's best selling vehicle) even as blue collar employment has gone down
i mean i don't think you can separate any of this discussion from the fact that so many of the participants are men who clearly have hang-ups about their inability to perform a certain kind of blue collar masculinity
October 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM
"men who clearly have hang-ups about their ability to perform a certain kind of blue collar masculinity" is a society-wide issue. There's a reason pickup truck sales have continued going up (to the degree the F-150 is now America's best selling vehicle) even as blue collar employment has gone down
Reposted by Ashley Harrington
"To qualify for an all-way stop, a major road like Jackson Drive is required to score at least 25 points. The intersection scored 10 points. The intersection was also evaluated for a crosswalk in November 2024, Santacroce said, and it did not meet the required criteria." #VisionZero
A Jackson Drive resident sought stop signs and crosswalks to no avail. Then a boy died.
The city will install an all-way stop at Lake Badin Avenue and Jackson Drive.
www.sandiegouniontribune.com
October 24, 2025 at 8:04 PM
"To qualify for an all-way stop, a major road like Jackson Drive is required to score at least 25 points. The intersection scored 10 points. The intersection was also evaluated for a crosswalk in November 2024, Santacroce said, and it did not meet the required criteria." #VisionZero
Reposted by Ashley Harrington
The Young Republican chat leak isn’t about “kids telling jokes.” It’s about a culture that’s been decades in the making—from the Southern Strategy to Trump’s open embrace of white nationalism. J.D. Vance’s defense of it shows how far the party has fallen.
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...
The GOP’s Long Dance With Racism
The leaked Young Republican chat shows a party culture decades in the making
open.substack.com
October 23, 2025 at 4:15 PM
The Young Republican chat leak isn’t about “kids telling jokes.” It’s about a culture that’s been decades in the making—from the Southern Strategy to Trump’s open embrace of white nationalism. J.D. Vance’s defense of it shows how far the party has fallen.
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...
Half a day at DMV yesterday with 4 different representatives, all because they sent me the wrong license plate. Today, already 2 hours on the phone with my health insurance. The System is failing miserably.
October 21, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Half a day at DMV yesterday with 4 different representatives, all because they sent me the wrong license plate. Today, already 2 hours on the phone with my health insurance. The System is failing miserably.
Reposted by Ashley Harrington
5+2 lane road with unmarked crosswalks near a school. This is a choice by our leaders and by traffic engineers to prioritize traffic flow over the lives of children.
#sandiego #safestreets
#sandiego #safestreets
October 20, 2025 at 8:14 PM
5+2 lane road with unmarked crosswalks near a school. This is a choice by our leaders and by traffic engineers to prioritize traffic flow over the lives of children.
#sandiego #safestreets
#sandiego #safestreets
Given the state of the US military, this isn’t surprising in the least. Anyone with friends & loved ones in the military knows how fragile things are. It’s sickening to think the Feds wanted folks to keep driving on the freeway during this “show”
An artillery shell fired during 250th anniversary celebration of the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton on Saturday detonated prematurely over Interstate 5, damaging a California Highway Patrol vehicle on JD Vance's security detail www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/u...
Artillery Shell Detonated Over Interstate 5 During Marines’ Celebration, California Officials Say
www.nytimes.com
October 19, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Given the state of the US military, this isn’t surprising in the least. Anyone with friends & loved ones in the military knows how fragile things are. It’s sickening to think the Feds wanted folks to keep driving on the freeway during this “show”
This is why a lot of people empathized with Luigi Mangione
Lawmakers have taken steps to require insurers to keep more accurate provider directories but state rules still aren’t complete and "ghost networks" fail patients without much penalty. https://cal.news/4o1F8aE
📷 Jungho Kim
Californians - have you encountered this problem before? Let us know 👇
📷 Jungho Kim
Californians - have you encountered this problem before? Let us know 👇
October 16, 2025 at 6:22 PM
This is why a lot of people empathized with Luigi Mangione
Reposted by Ashley Harrington
At this rate Duffy is going to bring back leaded gasoline.
Sean Duffy: "We are gonna save billions of dollars by getting rid of the fuel economy standards that are set way too high, that no combustion engine can meet, costing each car to the tune of thousands of dollars for the end consumer. We're in the process of getting rid of those rules."
October 16, 2025 at 4:26 PM
At this rate Duffy is going to bring back leaded gasoline.