Jake Berman
@lostsubways.com
Lawyer, historian, mapmaker. Transport + housing nerd. Californian living in New York.
Wrote and illustrated "The Lost Subways of North America". Order the book at: http://lostsubways.com
Wrote and illustrated "The Lost Subways of North America". Order the book at: http://lostsubways.com
Reposted by Jake Berman
This is such an important article and Stephen has some keen reflections to which I'd add:
It may or may not be necessary to do more than re-orient some non-profit/foundation leaders toward the empirical basis of YIMBYism -- i.e., solve a housing shortage by ending the housing shortage.
But ...
It may or may not be necessary to do more than re-orient some non-profit/foundation leaders toward the empirical basis of YIMBYism -- i.e., solve a housing shortage by ending the housing shortage.
But ...
Still thinking about this article. It’s always been a sore spot in YIMBY circles that so many progressive foundations pour money into NIMBYism, and I’m glad it’s finally being aired in public. Keep talking about it. 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 28, 2025 at 12:15 AM
This is such an important article and Stephen has some keen reflections to which I'd add:
It may or may not be necessary to do more than re-orient some non-profit/foundation leaders toward the empirical basis of YIMBYism -- i.e., solve a housing shortage by ending the housing shortage.
But ...
It may or may not be necessary to do more than re-orient some non-profit/foundation leaders toward the empirical basis of YIMBYism -- i.e., solve a housing shortage by ending the housing shortage.
But ...
Reposted by Jake Berman
Something I would note is the climate and environmental communities have become fully detached from people's "lived experiences" to the extent they actually believed everyone would race to buy a $50,000 electric car "because they're better."
Meanwhile, real people are struggling with housing costs.
Meanwhile, real people are struggling with housing costs.
Scientific/enviro communities are starting to get this -- just talking AT ppl because you have good data isn't a convincing argument. And the communities are rightly starting from a place of mistrust. Building that trust in coalition takes time and I'm not sure targeting groups helps that endeavor.
November 27, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Something I would note is the climate and environmental communities have become fully detached from people's "lived experiences" to the extent they actually believed everyone would race to buy a $50,000 electric car "because they're better."
Meanwhile, real people are struggling with housing costs.
Meanwhile, real people are struggling with housing costs.
Reposted by Jake Berman
Still thinking about this article. It’s always been a sore spot in YIMBY circles that so many progressive foundations pour money into NIMBYism, and I’m glad it’s finally being aired in public. Keep talking about it. 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 27, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Still thinking about this article. It’s always been a sore spot in YIMBY circles that so many progressive foundations pour money into NIMBYism, and I’m glad it’s finally being aired in public. Keep talking about it. www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/philant...
Is there a good summary somewhere of HB8002, the housing and parking reform bill Ned Lamont just signed in CT?
November 27, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Is there a good summary somewhere of HB8002, the housing and parking reform bill Ned Lamont just signed in CT?
Reposted by Jake Berman
While NY is considering mandating two-person trains, the DC Metro not only already operates with one person, but recently reactivated its automatic train operation system.
Now, continuing to follow best practices, Metro has announced plans to move towards driverless trains.
tinyurl.com/yft73mru
Now, continuing to follow best practices, Metro has announced plans to move towards driverless trains.
tinyurl.com/yft73mru
November 26, 2025 at 6:40 PM
While NY is considering mandating two-person trains, the DC Metro not only already operates with one person, but recently reactivated its automatic train operation system.
Now, continuing to follow best practices, Metro has announced plans to move towards driverless trains.
tinyurl.com/yft73mru
Now, continuing to follow best practices, Metro has announced plans to move towards driverless trains.
tinyurl.com/yft73mru
Reposted by Jake Berman
One weird trick to speed up your bus service.
Cost: $0
Cost: $0
I completed my final count. Out of 10,511 bus stops, I found that 4,360 (41%) of them could be removed to align with national best practices of 1/4 mile spacing. Long-form explainer article and an interactive map are forthcoming. Green dots are removed stops, black are kept stops.
November 26, 2025 at 4:30 PM
One weird trick to speed up your bus service.
Cost: $0
Cost: $0
If you see this, post an anime you love
November 26, 2025 at 2:41 PM
If you see this, post an anime you love
Reposted by Jake Berman
November 25, 2025 at 9:29 PM
The lesson: mandatory inclusionary zoning really has to be funded for it to work.
From 2017 - 2024, #PortlandOR’s inclusionary zoning program wasn’t working.
“The city had ordered that at least 10% of new apartments be affordable,” writes @andersem.bsky.social, “but it turned out that 10% of a small number was also a small number.”
“The city had ordered that at least 10% of new apartments be affordable,” writes @andersem.bsky.social, “but it turned out that 10% of a small number was also a small number.”
Portland’s Inclusionary Zoning Program Is Finally Performing, New Data Suggests | Sightline Institute
Because for the first time, the city fully funded it.
www.sightline.org
November 25, 2025 at 4:57 PM
The lesson: mandatory inclusionary zoning really has to be funded for it to work.
Reposted by Jake Berman
When did the New York Minute become the New York Decade? It shouldn't take as long as it does to implement busways, bus lanes, bike lanes, open streets, pedestrian plazas, day-lit intersections, red light cameras, speed cameras, outdoor dining sheds, etc.
OPINION: How to Fix the City’s Slothful Agencies - Streetsblog New York City
Curing our government of its ills does not require a lot of money but rather executive leadership and political courage.
buff.ly
November 25, 2025 at 4:25 PM
When did the New York Minute become the New York Decade? It shouldn't take as long as it does to implement busways, bus lanes, bike lanes, open streets, pedestrian plazas, day-lit intersections, red light cameras, speed cameras, outdoor dining sheds, etc.
Hot take: SB79 did rezone Contra Costa County because they counted wrong. The law applies to counties with 15 or more passenger rail stations... and Contra Costa has 16, because the Legislature forgot to count the Tilden Park steam train.
November 24, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Hot take: SB79 did rezone Contra Costa County because they counted wrong. The law applies to counties with 15 or more passenger rail stations... and Contra Costa has 16, because the Legislature forgot to count the Tilden Park steam train.
Good article by @stephenkb.bsky.social. Past and present, competent railways make real estate development a core part of their businesses, whether it's the Pacific Electric in LA in 1925 or the Hanshin Electric in Osaka in 2025.
Essentially the best way to run a railway is for it to be owned by a development corporation, and then frankly whether that corporation is state owned or privately owned is sort of a much of a muchness:
The missing piece in Labour’s rail renationalisation scheme
Whether trains are public or private is not the deal-breaker for a well-functioning service — it is about a better delivery model
www.ft.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Good article by @stephenkb.bsky.social. Past and present, competent railways make real estate development a core part of their businesses, whether it's the Pacific Electric in LA in 1925 or the Hanshin Electric in Osaka in 2025.
Reposted by Jake Berman
As has been documented by @lostsubways.com in his book.
The issue isn’t cost. It’s that the entire infrastructure in this country has been put into cars. Parking lots everywhere and bus stations nowhere. Light rail that comes every half an hour and isn’t synchronized so it takes forever if you have to switch lines.
November 24, 2025 at 2:01 AM
As has been documented by @lostsubways.com in his book.
Reposted by Jake Berman
SOURCE: Cal has fired head coach Justin Wilcox, @theathletic.com has learned.
The Bears are 6-5 and lost 31-10 to Stanford. (ESPN first reported)
The Bears are 6-5 and lost 31-10 to Stanford. (ESPN first reported)
November 23, 2025 at 11:19 PM
SOURCE: Cal has fired head coach Justin Wilcox, @theathletic.com has learned.
The Bears are 6-5 and lost 31-10 to Stanford. (ESPN first reported)
The Bears are 6-5 and lost 31-10 to Stanford. (ESPN first reported)
Reposted by Jake Berman
beauty and the beast all klingon production
October 25, 2025 at 3:31 PM
beauty and the beast all klingon production
The Adeline St-Stanford Ave corridor in Berkeley/Oakland/Emeryville is a real missed opportunity. (I'm home for Thanksgiving.)
It should really be a linear park. 1/🧵
It should really be a linear park. 1/🧵
November 23, 2025 at 6:33 PM
The Adeline St-Stanford Ave corridor in Berkeley/Oakland/Emeryville is a real missed opportunity. (I'm home for Thanksgiving.)
It should really be a linear park. 1/🧵
It should really be a linear park. 1/🧵
Detroit's unholy regional soda has spread to the Bay Area. What fresh horrors will the Midwest inflict on us next, Malort?
November 23, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Detroit's unholy regional soda has spread to the Bay Area. What fresh horrors will the Midwest inflict on us next, Malort?
GO BEARS. Stanford's going down.
Fight for California
YouTube video by CalSpirit68
m.youtube.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:36 PM
GO BEARS. Stanford's going down.
The Bay Area needs this.
Today I discovered that since 2022 Lombardy has developed a manual for standardized wayfinding for the entire region's transit, notably for bus stops, with a unified design across operators
www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/portal/i...
www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/portal/i...
November 22, 2025 at 9:27 PM
The Bay Area needs this.
This is a prelude to an all-time Scorigami, one would hope
Notre Dame has elected to let the clock run out rather than attempt on third-and-goal to go up 42-0 in the first quarter
November 22, 2025 at 9:23 PM
This is a prelude to an all-time Scorigami, one would hope
not gonna lie, sacramento's city song is dorky as hell but also a total earworm
Freebadge Serenaders- Sacramento, Ca USA
YouTube video by saceats
www.youtube.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:09 AM
not gonna lie, sacramento's city song is dorky as hell but also a total earworm
Reposted by Jake Berman
The Queens Daily Eagle remains undefeated.
Queens men meet — Queens Daily Eagle
The first man from Queens to be elected president and the first Queens resident to be elected mayor of New York City met for the first time in the Oval Office on Friday.
queenseagle.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:33 AM
The Queens Daily Eagle remains undefeated.
Reposted by Jake Berman
These guys yearn for a mythical past where America was exclusively by and for white Protestants. In doing so, they accidentally reinvented the platform of the 1920s KKK. 1/🧵
To understand JD Vance, you need to meet the “TheoBros.”
These extremely online young Christian men want to end the 19th Amendment, restore public flogging, and make America white again.
These extremely online young Christian men want to end the 19th Amendment, restore public flogging, and make America white again.
To understand JD Vance, you need to meet the “TheoBros”
These extremely online young Christian men want to end the 19th Amendment, restore public flogging, and make America white again.
www.motherjones.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:44 PM
These guys yearn for a mythical past where America was exclusively by and for white Protestants. In doing so, they accidentally reinvented the platform of the 1920s KKK. 1/🧵
Reposted by Jake Berman
Don’t want to @ the person and get into it but I’ve been thinking about the “Housing may be expensive in a lot of places but it’s not a national crisis” argument. It’s a bit like saying we don’t have a national opioid crisis because there are a lot of places where it’s not that much of a problem.
November 21, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Don’t want to @ the person and get into it but I’ve been thinking about the “Housing may be expensive in a lot of places but it’s not a national crisis” argument. It’s a bit like saying we don’t have a national opioid crisis because there are a lot of places where it’s not that much of a problem.