Paul Lewis
@p-g-lewis.bsky.social
Urban politics & public policy researcher. 1st-gen college grad. Not that other Paul Lewis. Skeets don't purport to represent my employer.
Reposted by Paul Lewis
I regret to inform you the NIMBYs have discovered AI. Shut it all down
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
AI-powered nimbyism could grind UK planning system to a halt, experts warn
Tools that help people scan applications and find grounds for objection have potential to hit government’s housebuilding plans
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:13 PM
I regret to inform you the NIMBYs have discovered AI. Shut it all down
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Paul Lewis
Free link here: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/m...
The Soothing British Radio Show That Blew My Mind — and Put Me Right to Sleep
www.nytimes.com
November 4, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Free link here: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/m...
Glad to see that IU student journalists are once again free to print the news. (I wrote for the IDS my freshman year, where I learned something valuable too: my anticipated career as a reporter was not a good fit for me! Given what's happened to the news biz since, I'm glad I changed my plans.)
Heartened to see Indiana University resume print publication of Indiana Daily Student, dropping bizarre demand that newspaper not print news. I often say I learn from my students. Looks like the student editors of the IDS taught IU leaders something, too. https://loom.ly/JMYaFSU
LETTER FROM THE EDITORS: IDS to continue printing after IU reverses course
Our next edition will hit the stands Nov. 20.
www.idsnews.com
October 31, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Glad to see that IU student journalists are once again free to print the news. (I wrote for the IDS my freshman year, where I learned something valuable too: my anticipated career as a reporter was not a good fit for me! Given what's happened to the news biz since, I'm glad I changed my plans.)
Reposted by Paul Lewis
Walkable city baseball edition:
Andrés Giménez on how you get the feeling of a city by walking it.
Andrés Giménez on how you get the feeling of a city by walking it.
October 29, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Walkable city baseball edition:
Andrés Giménez on how you get the feeling of a city by walking it.
Andrés Giménez on how you get the feeling of a city by walking it.
Reposted by Paul Lewis
The expiration of enhanced premium tax credits, combined with premium increases by ACA insurers, will mean that 22 million subsidized ACA enrollees will see an average out-of-pocket premium increase of 114%.
October 27, 2025 at 2:40 PM
The expiration of enhanced premium tax credits, combined with premium increases by ACA insurers, will mean that 22 million subsidized ACA enrollees will see an average out-of-pocket premium increase of 114%.
Reposted by Paul Lewis
“Imagine you step into your vehicle, you push a button, and it drives you to the office. You catch up on work, send emails, or watch an episode of your favorite show,” said GM CEO Mary Barra.
This exists, it's called a bus
www.cnn.com/2025/10/22/c...
This exists, it's called a bus
www.cnn.com/2025/10/22/c...
GM will introduce eyes-off driving in 2028 | CNN Business
General Motors, the 100-year-old car company, plans to offer Americans hands-free driving and the freedom to watch a movie on the go.
share.google
October 25, 2025 at 6:40 PM
“Imagine you step into your vehicle, you push a button, and it drives you to the office. You catch up on work, send emails, or watch an episode of your favorite show,” said GM CEO Mary Barra.
This exists, it's called a bus
www.cnn.com/2025/10/22/c...
This exists, it's called a bus
www.cnn.com/2025/10/22/c...
Reposted by Paul Lewis
Former US Sen. Kyrsten Sinema lobbies for data center developer at Chandler AZ Plan Commission. Says she's working "hand in glove" w Trump Admin & warns city to embrace DCs or face federal intervention. City Council vote on Sinema's DC scheduled for Nov. 13.
October 24, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Former US Sen. Kyrsten Sinema lobbies for data center developer at Chandler AZ Plan Commission. Says she's working "hand in glove" w Trump Admin & warns city to embrace DCs or face federal intervention. City Council vote on Sinema's DC scheduled for Nov. 13.
Reposted by Paul Lewis
We're two weeks out from Virginia's election. Almost no state's electorate has realigned as much as Virginia's over the past decades. When Mark Warner won the 2001 Gov. election, he did so with a coalition that included the Western coal counties and Hampton Roads, but mostly lost NOVA. 1/x
October 22, 2025 at 4:12 PM
We're two weeks out from Virginia's election. Almost no state's electorate has realigned as much as Virginia's over the past decades. When Mark Warner won the 2001 Gov. election, he did so with a coalition that included the Western coal counties and Hampton Roads, but mostly lost NOVA. 1/x
Can you imagine the adverse selection issues if every young person who is (or thought they were) healthy abandoned the insurance pool to maybe save a few bucks?
DeSantis said “Most people, particularly under 50, what they really need is a catastrophic plan that’s affordable, where then they can pay whatever they’re doing out of a health savings account.”
floridapolitics.com/archives/761...
floridapolitics.com/archives/761...
Ron DeSantis says people under 50 don’t have much use for comprehensive health insurance
'Catastrophic care' should be enough for them.
floridapolitics.com
October 20, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Can you imagine the adverse selection issues if every young person who is (or thought they were) healthy abandoned the insurance pool to maybe save a few bucks?
Reposted by Paul Lewis
The American centrist punditocracy has decided that what the US transit industry needs are endless lectures about the importance of security.
These writers misunderstand the problem, and are making things worse. 1/
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
These writers misunderstand the problem, and are making things worse. 1/
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Other Reason Americans Don’t Use Mass Transit
People will take buses and trains only if they feel safe while riding them.
www.theatlantic.com
October 17, 2025 at 6:58 PM
The American centrist punditocracy has decided that what the US transit industry needs are endless lectures about the importance of security.
These writers misunderstand the problem, and are making things worse. 1/
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
These writers misunderstand the problem, and are making things worse. 1/
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by Paul Lewis
"Sincerity, if you can fake that, you've got it made."
October 12, 2025 at 8:19 PM
"Sincerity, if you can fake that, you've got it made."
Reposted by Paul Lewis
Your war correspondent on the ground in battle-ravaged inner northeast Portland
September 27, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Your war correspondent on the ground in battle-ravaged inner northeast Portland
Reposted by Paul Lewis
I hope the military stays safe in Portland. When I took my family there we were terrified of the largest Japanese garden in the US, the independent book store selling banned books, the massive & free rose garden, and urban green spaces. What a hellscape.
September 27, 2025 at 5:01 PM
I hope the military stays safe in Portland. When I took my family there we were terrified of the largest Japanese garden in the US, the independent book store selling banned books, the massive & free rose garden, and urban green spaces. What a hellscape.
Chance of having ticket checked on Phoenix light rail is 150%, per my recent experience (checked 3 times in 2 trips).
Anecdotal, but I've been in Copenhagen for 24 hours, and I've had my ticket checked 3 (three) times in the metro. I've taken a dozen trips, maybe, so that's 1 in 4 chances of being checked
September 21, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Chance of having ticket checked on Phoenix light rail is 150%, per my recent experience (checked 3 times in 2 trips).
Reposted by Paul Lewis
Journal publishers *are* bundling your papers up in "data licensing agreements" for big tech companies to use for AI model training. Our publisher, T&F, got £75m from Microsoft for that last year alone.
September 6, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Journal publishers *are* bundling your papers up in "data licensing agreements" for big tech companies to use for AI model training. Our publisher, T&F, got £75m from Microsoft for that last year alone.
@waymo.bsky.social I just saw one of your driverless cars make a left turn at a red light (from a stop) into a busy intersection in Tempe, AZ.
September 6, 2025 at 9:23 PM
@waymo.bsky.social I just saw one of your driverless cars make a left turn at a red light (from a stop) into a busy intersection in Tempe, AZ.
Reposted by Paul Lewis
Tom Fishburne commemorated this a couple years ago and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
marketoonist.com/2023/03/ai-w...
marketoonist.com/2023/03/ai-w...
August 24, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Tom Fishburne commemorated this a couple years ago and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
marketoonist.com/2023/03/ai-w...
marketoonist.com/2023/03/ai-w...
Reposted by Paul Lewis
"moving from a less walkable (25th percentile) city to a more walkable city (75th percentile) increased walking by 1,100 daily steps, on average. These changes hold across different genders, ages and body mass index values, and are sustained over 3 months." www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Countrywide natural experiment links built environment to physical activity - Nature
By analysing the smartphone data of 2,112,288 participants, in particular observing and comparing the activity of the same individual in two different environments, we find that increases in the walka...
www.nature.com
August 14, 2025 at 11:27 PM
"moving from a less walkable (25th percentile) city to a more walkable city (75th percentile) increased walking by 1,100 daily steps, on average. These changes hold across different genders, ages and body mass index values, and are sustained over 3 months." www.nature.com/articles/s41...
It's sobering to see how a skewed-representation issue I described more than 25 yrs ago for California continues to affect so many metro areas around the US. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
August 11, 2025 at 8:54 PM
It's sobering to see how a skewed-representation issue I described more than 25 yrs ago for California continues to affect so many metro areas around the US. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Paul Lewis
To give more context: San Tan Valley has about 100,000 residents now. That's about as many as Boulder, Colorado, and Green Bay, Wisconsin.
One of the fastest-growing communities in the U.S. might become a town today.
San Tan Valley residents (see SE corner of map, in relation to Phoenix) are voting today on whether to incorporate.
San Tan Valley residents (see SE corner of map, in relation to Phoenix) are voting today on whether to incorporate.
August 5, 2025 at 7:28 PM
To give more context: San Tan Valley has about 100,000 residents now. That's about as many as Boulder, Colorado, and Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Reposted by Paul Lewis
Scoop: EPA is preparing to cancel $7 billion in grants intended to help low- and moderate-income families install solar panels www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/c...
E.P.A. Moves to Cancel $7 Billion in Grants for Solar Energy
www.nytimes.com
August 5, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Scoop: EPA is preparing to cancel $7 billion in grants intended to help low- and moderate-income families install solar panels www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/c...
Reposted by Paul Lewis
ON GANGS, by Scott Decker, David Pyrooz, and James Densley, was featured on @lastweektonight.com with John Oliver on July 27. The book is quoted from at the 5:56 minute mark.
Gang Databases: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
YouTube video by LastWeekTonight
www.youtube.com
July 29, 2025 at 3:21 PM
ON GANGS, by Scott Decker, David Pyrooz, and James Densley, was featured on @lastweektonight.com with John Oliver on July 27. The book is quoted from at the 5:56 minute mark.
It's cool that Jane Jacobs's book helped inspire the set design on Sesame Street. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/r...
The Quintessential Urban Design of ‘Sesame Street’
www.nytimes.com
July 28, 2025 at 11:44 PM
It's cool that Jane Jacobs's book helped inspire the set design on Sesame Street. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/r...