RJN
@nadeaushow.bsky.social
Urban planner: intensification, land/housing economics and zoning reform. Maritimer in exile, repentant car nut.
Reposted by RJN
Interesting new working paper that studies chains of movers after the construction of a new apartment building in Honolulu.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
uhero.hawaii.edu
November 28, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Interesting new working paper that studies chains of movers after the construction of a new apartment building in Honolulu.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
Reposted by RJN
What happens when you downzone?
Our new open-access research paper in @findingspress.org investigates effects of decades of downzoning in Chicago.
Findings:
—Downzoned areas added 1/7th of the new units as comparable non-downzoned areas;
—Downzoned areas became more white & were more expensive.
Our new open-access research paper in @findingspress.org investigates effects of decades of downzoning in Chicago.
Findings:
—Downzoned areas added 1/7th of the new units as comparable non-downzoned areas;
—Downzoned areas became more white & were more expensive.
Downzoning Chicago: How Local Land Use Policy Has Reduced Housing Construction and Reinforced Segregation | Published in Findings
By Yonah Freemark, George Kisiel. Downzonings were used by US cities in the postwar period to preserve neighborhood character. These land-use policies were associated with lower housing supply, higher...
findingspress.org
November 26, 2025 at 8:33 PM
What happens when you downzone?
Our new open-access research paper in @findingspress.org investigates effects of decades of downzoning in Chicago.
Findings:
—Downzoned areas added 1/7th of the new units as comparable non-downzoned areas;
—Downzoned areas became more white & were more expensive.
Our new open-access research paper in @findingspress.org investigates effects of decades of downzoning in Chicago.
Findings:
—Downzoned areas added 1/7th of the new units as comparable non-downzoned areas;
—Downzoned areas became more white & were more expensive.
I started out studying architecture because I had a "save-the-world" interest in the built environment. I quit and got into city planning because I realized the career prospects were better and it was more aligned with my personal strengths.
November 22, 2025 at 11:57 PM
I started out studying architecture because I had a "save-the-world" interest in the built environment. I quit and got into city planning because I realized the career prospects were better and it was more aligned with my personal strengths.
🎯
If the left wants the government to take greater responsibility in delivering basic needs and services, like housing and transit, as I want, it needs to understand that the public sector needs to embrace a "culture of delivering."
We'll need more builders and fewer regulators in government.
We'll need more builders and fewer regulators in government.
November 22, 2025 at 11:28 PM
🎯
Reposted by RJN
If you need me, tap me on the shoulder. I’ll be happily working all day listening to this on a loop.
November 13, 2025 at 1:49 PM
If you need me, tap me on the shoulder. I’ll be happily working all day listening to this on a loop.
I disagree with this government about a whole lot, but as far as imposing province-wide standards on Official Plans goes, I'm inclined to let them cook.
Speaking as a zoning reformer and, thus, as an interpreter of how policy plays out in practical terms: we need to be more judicious with our OPs.
Speaking as a zoning reformer and, thus, as an interpreter of how policy plays out in practical terms: we need to be more judicious with our OPs.
If u care about better cities for people in Ontario Canada, please pay attention to what Premier Ford is doing. Not only would his new bill block cities from building bike-lanes if they touch car lanes, he’s talking about imposing his own street standards & standardized official plans in EVERY city.
November 15, 2025 at 7:42 PM
I disagree with this government about a whole lot, but as far as imposing province-wide standards on Official Plans goes, I'm inclined to let them cook.
Speaking as a zoning reformer and, thus, as an interpreter of how policy plays out in practical terms: we need to be more judicious with our OPs.
Speaking as a zoning reformer and, thus, as an interpreter of how policy plays out in practical terms: we need to be more judicious with our OPs.
Reposted by RJN
"Neighbourhood interiors were never intended for commercial activity", says one letter writer. To be fair, this is true, if you toss the entirety of human history and modern day Earth outside North America in the trash, and think that urban planning less than a century old is ironclad natural law.
No corner coffee shops: Toronto committee waters down neighbourhood retail plan
It’s the second time in less than a year councillors balked at allowing certain businesses to open on some residential streets
www.torontotoday.ca
October 31, 2025 at 1:29 PM
"Neighbourhood interiors were never intended for commercial activity", says one letter writer. To be fair, this is true, if you toss the entirety of human history and modern day Earth outside North America in the trash, and think that urban planning less than a century old is ironclad natural law.
Reposted by RJN
Single stair bldgs have lower occupant loads, shorter travel distances, and more compartmentalization vs the two-stair buildings we're familiar with.
The two-stair building might have 5x to 10x as many people crowding down a stair.
(Perhaps that poor design is what drives the fire dept angst).
The two-stair building might have 5x to 10x as many people crowding down a stair.
(Perhaps that poor design is what drives the fire dept angst).
November 3, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Single stair bldgs have lower occupant loads, shorter travel distances, and more compartmentalization vs the two-stair buildings we're familiar with.
The two-stair building might have 5x to 10x as many people crowding down a stair.
(Perhaps that poor design is what drives the fire dept angst).
The two-stair building might have 5x to 10x as many people crowding down a stair.
(Perhaps that poor design is what drives the fire dept angst).
Something this large & powerful combined with the certainty its operator has problems with emotional self-regulation - terrible combo
October 5, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Something this large & powerful combined with the certainty its operator has problems with emotional self-regulation - terrible combo
Reposted by RJN
the meta ai video slop TikTok is I think the first tech thing where I have been 100% on the side of the Luddites (vernacular usage, I know the actual Luddites were more complex than that, nerds). Usually I think there's a little too much of that reflexively on the left tbh, but no this shit sucks.
October 1, 2025 at 5:23 PM
the meta ai video slop TikTok is I think the first tech thing where I have been 100% on the side of the Luddites (vernacular usage, I know the actual Luddites were more complex than that, nerds). Usually I think there's a little too much of that reflexively on the left tbh, but no this shit sucks.
Reposted by RJN
My review of Toronto’s new Mass timber tower: a quiet triumph.
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
Limberlost Place: Toronto’s timber tower aims high
Limberlost stretches building codes and gives architects and engineers a new system of open-sourced solutions
www.theglobeandmail.com
September 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
My review of Toronto’s new Mass timber tower: a quiet triumph.
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
Reposted by RJN
right wing “abundance” is funny to me because everyone involved has to constantly dance around the fact that their entire political party is a cult dedicated to the most anti-abundance politician of all time who is doing everything possible to destroy American state capacity.
good luck with that!!
good luck with that!!
September 5, 2025 at 5:22 PM
right wing “abundance” is funny to me because everyone involved has to constantly dance around the fact that their entire political party is a cult dedicated to the most anti-abundance politician of all time who is doing everything possible to destroy American state capacity.
good luck with that!!
good luck with that!!
Reposted by RJN
Them: “Paris is only nice because it was built before cars and they protected all of the beautiful historic architecture.“
Paris:
Paris:
August 20, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Them: “Paris is only nice because it was built before cars and they protected all of the beautiful historic architecture.“
Paris:
Paris:
Reposted by RJN
I see a lot of people on here debating the merits of having a Popeye's in Evanston, but IMO the real point here is that discretionary permitting is a bad system and progressive political candidates should not be explicitly endorsing it.
August 15, 2025 at 9:15 PM
I see a lot of people on here debating the merits of having a Popeye's in Evanston, but IMO the real point here is that discretionary permitting is a bad system and progressive political candidates should not be explicitly endorsing it.
Reposted by RJN
teachers!
excited to share a new website at this late date of Aug 15 to try to help us collectively prepare for back to school in the interpretative humanities classroom assaulted by the AI grift, so we don't have to go it alone.
take a look, share, + most importantly: CONTRIBUTE
against-a-i.com
excited to share a new website at this late date of Aug 15 to try to help us collectively prepare for back to school in the interpretative humanities classroom assaulted by the AI grift, so we don't have to go it alone.
take a look, share, + most importantly: CONTRIBUTE
against-a-i.com
AGAINST AI
against-a-i.com
August 15, 2025 at 5:39 PM
teachers!
excited to share a new website at this late date of Aug 15 to try to help us collectively prepare for back to school in the interpretative humanities classroom assaulted by the AI grift, so we don't have to go it alone.
take a look, share, + most importantly: CONTRIBUTE
against-a-i.com
excited to share a new website at this late date of Aug 15 to try to help us collectively prepare for back to school in the interpretative humanities classroom assaulted by the AI grift, so we don't have to go it alone.
take a look, share, + most importantly: CONTRIBUTE
against-a-i.com
Montreal, Tokyo, Paris, Marseille, Halifax
If you could get a crib in any five cities (five cribs) of your choice in the world, which would you choose?
Me: Philly, NYC, LA, Chicago, Atlanta
Me: Philly, NYC, LA, Chicago, Atlanta
August 14, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Montreal, Tokyo, Paris, Marseille, Halifax
Reposted by RJN
I think it's now possible to make a poli-sci course that equips one for modern political analysis better than most classic theory and has a syllabus sourced entirely from random internet posts.
Text 1. Wilhoit's Law, born as part of a 2018 blog comment
crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/l...
Text 1. Wilhoit's Law, born as part of a 2018 blog comment
crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/l...
July 13, 2025 at 1:07 AM
I think it's now possible to make a poli-sci course that equips one for modern political analysis better than most classic theory and has a syllabus sourced entirely from random internet posts.
Text 1. Wilhoit's Law, born as part of a 2018 blog comment
crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/l...
Text 1. Wilhoit's Law, born as part of a 2018 blog comment
crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/l...
I have to wonder of AI-users: what task is important enough that they would not have a machine do it?
Wild that so many people are immediately comfortable relying on a thought and self-expression simulator as if these things were a stupid chore & not central to human agency and consciousness
Wild that so many people are immediately comfortable relying on a thought and self-expression simulator as if these things were a stupid chore & not central to human agency and consciousness
If you're using AI to write essays, eulogies, a text to your wife, I do think less of you as a person. Ceding your mental and creative abilities to a machine is an embarrassing thing and people should be ashamed to admit doing it in public.
![[quoting a tweet by fractalcounty that reads, “today I learned that there are actual people irl who get genuinely upset if they catch you using chatgpt. like they view it as a serious moral failing in certain circles”]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hppum4l25hcczzffastsicpq/bafkreihjvnz2ttxl7z4a2b3a4kylubobgvqxmjhwz6yuetuztzoc4g2s4y@jpeg)
August 3, 2025 at 1:52 AM
I have to wonder of AI-users: what task is important enough that they would not have a machine do it?
Wild that so many people are immediately comfortable relying on a thought and self-expression simulator as if these things were a stupid chore & not central to human agency and consciousness
Wild that so many people are immediately comfortable relying on a thought and self-expression simulator as if these things were a stupid chore & not central to human agency and consciousness
🎯
My YIMBY take on design is that micromanaging architecture through strict regulation and/or subjective design review processes empowers busybodies and NIMBYs for little public benefit and that public policies to create attractive neighborhoods should instead focus on designing the public realm.
Building on some housing debates this week, I wrote about YIMBY and design.
NIMBYs use aesthetics as a tool to block new housing, through design review and historic districting.
But growth is actually the key to better-looking buildings — and vice versa. www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
NIMBYs use aesthetics as a tool to block new housing, through design review and historic districting.
But growth is actually the key to better-looking buildings — and vice versa. www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
July 27, 2025 at 8:01 PM
🎯
Reposted by RJN
So not only is non-profit housing alone not enough to clear the housing backlog. Any suppression of market rate housing supply directly sabotages the effectiveness of non-profit housing by overwhelming it with lower-middle class renters who, in a functional housing market, could afford market rent.
July 26, 2025 at 2:01 AM
So not only is non-profit housing alone not enough to clear the housing backlog. Any suppression of market rate housing supply directly sabotages the effectiveness of non-profit housing by overwhelming it with lower-middle class renters who, in a functional housing market, could afford market rent.
Reposted by RJN
A good way to think about the housing crisis is landlords pocketing essentially all the consumer surplus the last 40 years
Between 1980 and 2024 the basket of 50 basic commodities become cheaper and more abundant. To be precise 70 per cent cheaper and 238 per cent more abundant. If we hadn’t messed up housing costs we’d be collectively very well off. Source: buff.ly/U8lZZkc
July 18, 2025 at 11:30 PM
A good way to think about the housing crisis is landlords pocketing essentially all the consumer surplus the last 40 years
Reposted by RJN
Portland is fun because if you talk about permitting changes in the abstract people will say “this neoliberal deregulatory agenda will only hurt the poor”
But if you talk specifics everyone will agree that it should not be so hard to open a damn hot dog cart.
But if you talk specifics everyone will agree that it should not be so hard to open a damn hot dog cart.
July 10, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Portland is fun because if you talk about permitting changes in the abstract people will say “this neoliberal deregulatory agenda will only hurt the poor”
But if you talk specifics everyone will agree that it should not be so hard to open a damn hot dog cart.
But if you talk specifics everyone will agree that it should not be so hard to open a damn hot dog cart.
Reposted by RJN
everything is housing or gender, and go deep enough the two are one and the same
July 8, 2025 at 4:43 AM
everything is housing or gender, and go deep enough the two are one and the same
Reposted by RJN
The rise of people like Lander and Walz, whose ideologies don't exactly match mine but have the exact right combination of "love thy neighbor" and "fuck you, asshole" attitudes, is massive positive for people who care about left of center politics
June 28, 2025 at 4:29 PM
The rise of people like Lander and Walz, whose ideologies don't exactly match mine but have the exact right combination of "love thy neighbor" and "fuck you, asshole" attitudes, is massive positive for people who care about left of center politics