Thank you for calling this out directly.

Cambridge is a testbed for a third option: a proportional at-large council. It doesn't bake in supremacy for local interests over the citywide good. And it ensures representation of minorities. @burhanazeem.bsky.social shows how this system can allow a pro-housing coalition to grow and make change

Agreed but my experience is that the focus on “public participation” is driven hard by elected progressives more so than planners and other professionals. You find yourself in conflict between trying to appease that demand while the most vocal members of the public are anti-development.

In August, @taniel.bsky.social identified 66 prosecutor elections on this year’s ballot. Three quarters of those featured just one candidate yesterday.

boltsmag.org/2025-prosecu...

NIMBYs are -- in an extremely direct, measurable way -- fucking the Dem Party, and by extension, the country. They just don't come in for abuse like college kids because the leaders of the party are wealthy suburbanite NIMBYs themselves. Easier to yell at the kids.

A lot of Americans want to be plantation owners. Not most. But more than enough to cause problems

😭

Even private homes sometimes! I’m so baffled by this. It’s a huge undertaking to do work on historic buildings. Where are the overzealous [affectionate] historical commissioners when you need them?

A one time payment? Terrible idea: won’t actually help most ppl (not that it wouldn’t matter! But not a serious impact), political malpractice in that it lends credibility to Trumps destruction of our economy. $2k a year or even a quarter for several years? Hell yeah Congressman, get after it!

What occurs is a battle of imaginations, not just in the meat world but online. Those invested in AI want to create impression of *inevitability* of a product, wedded the idea of "progress," even if this is activated in people in part cause of their memory of mediocre futuristic novels or movies 2/?