@scott@carfree.cityLit-dropped Noe Valley in defense of Prop I and got a solid workout 😅 This is how we're gonna win and preserve funding for social housing. #sfpol
- If you live in SF and haven't sent a letter yet: https://dsasf.org/protectpropi
@cheryanne@aus.socialThe SDA Housing Podcast
A leading voice in the Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) sector, delivering in-depth discussions, expert insights, and the latest updates related to housing solutions for people with disabilities...
Great Australian Pods Podcast Directory: https://www.greataustralianpods.com/sda-…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialSources: the US Senate's crypto market structure bill is likely to be delayed by several weeks as key lawmakers shift focus to potential housing legislation (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-21/…
@brian_gettler@mas.toOn housing for students at Ontario universities.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/ontario-university-housing-survey/article_569933c2-2e92-4732-b7f0-4fc0ddde9e1f.html
@memeorandum@universeodon.comTrump is on his way to Davos, where his quest to own Greenland could overshadow his other goals (Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/trump-davos-housing-greenland-gaza-a2f3f4c18ba321c8025a3e208fc0ddf6
http://www.memeorandum.com/260121/p106#a260121p106
@cdarwin@c.imThe real reason people move to red states
The “U-Haul index” does not prove a point -- or at least the point the WaPo Editorial Board makes.
Yes, people are moving from more expensive to less expensive areas,
but why are those areas more expensive?
Many factors play into the calculation, but one is obvious and significant:
Real estate is more expensive where people want to live.
Tax rates by themselves don’t make real estate expensive;
ultimate…
@stefan@gardenstate.socialDemocratic president should use ICE money for:
- guaranteed jobs program
- workers to build housing
- Healthcare worker
take the money and redirect it.
#uspol
@scott@carfree.city"Declining property values and home prices are understood as a sign of impending doom, rather than a cause for celebration, and so the system aims to keep prices on an upward slope."
Housing can't be a good investment and affordable
https://jewishcurrents.org/zohran-mamd
@MichaelLondonSF@mas.toMy draft response to Mayor of London consultation on housing michaeledwards.org.uk
@memeorandum@universeodon.comWhite House Offers New Details on Its Push to Ban Housing Investors (Rebecca Picciotto/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/white-house-offers-new-details-on-its-push-to-ban-housing-investors-97fb1829?st=FymPTN&reflink=article_imessage_share
http://www.memeorandum.com/260219/p114#a260219p114
@servelan@newsie.socialDemocrat Khanna refloats bill to block investors from buying up homes after Trump proposal
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/18/trump-khanna-housing-investor-ban.html
@cdarwin@c.im"Continuum of Care"
is the federal government’s flagship program to support state and local governments and non-profits in funding housing and other services for individuals at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
The program is built on the principle that getting unhoused people housed can get them on a path to address other challenges.
But in the past months, the Trump administration has tried to issue sweeping policy shifts to the program,
some of which…
@PaulWermer@sfba.socialLuckily, the "Family Zoning Plan" offers opportunities for creative real estate agents and developers to meet this need. Look at what happened to the 7 unit building at Jackson and Presidio.
More millionaires than mansions: AI-fueled demand meets ‘egregious shortage’ of inventory
https://sfstanda…
@paulwermer@sfba.socialPlease explain to me why people believe the "market" will solve the housing crisis, if only we removed barriers like zoning. The market certainly doesn't seem to do so well at maintaining existing properties at affordable prices.
‘My bill keeps escalating’: how Toledo, Ohio, became the epicenter of the US housing crisis
@davej@dice.campThey're talking about government-mandated #RentControl. The article doesn't mention it, because #jermalisms, but we have it in #Canberra. My
@Techmeme@techhub.socialSan Francisco's housing market is seeing a big rebound, driven by the AI boom; Apartment List says rents rose 14% YoY in February, the fastest growth in the US (Katherine Bindley/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing/san-fr…
@paulbusch@mstdn.ca"Hey Doug... we bought a bunch of those Stag and Doe tickets so you gotta put a stop on forcing us to build affordable housing..." - Developers who totally didn't buy Ford.
#onpoli #AffordableHousing
https://www.torontotoday.ca/local/city-hall/ford-government-pause-affordable-housing-rules-new-toronto-buildings-11733993
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot"A National Audit Office investigation revealed in October last year that a staggering 98% of external insulation fitted under the previous government’s home-improvement schemes was installed so ineptly that it will have to be repaired or replaced."
Surprise, surprise.
Britain's building industry is unbelievably shoddy.
@midtsveen@social.linux.pizzaRE: https://sauropods.win/@futurebird/115922230592810749
If you think building public bathrooms is communism, wait till you hear that actual communism means decommodifying everything, housing, healthcare, education, the whole deal. What you’re describing …
@lpryszcz@genomic.socialSeriously, knowing the dire predicament we are in, we should be busy learning and re-learning how to produce food, clothing and housing on a planet transitioning into a radically different climate. We desperately need a plan how to scale back on technology use, in tandem with the natural decline in resource and energy availability.
https://
@cdarwin@c.imThe Senate passed a bill Thursday aimed at boosting the supply of housing and bringing down prices,
marking a rare bipartisan breakthrough on a major issue.
The ✅ "21st Century ROAD to Housing Act",
written by Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C.,
and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.,
won 89 votes.
Ten senators voted against it.
Scott is the chairman of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee,
and Warren is the ranking member.
@PaulWermer@sfba.socialPlease explain to me why people believe the "market" will solve the housing crisis, if only we removed barriers like zoning. The market certainly doesn't seem to do so well at maintaining existing properties at affordable prices.
‘My bill keeps escalating’: how Toledo, Ohio, became the epicenter of the US housing crisis
@memeorandum@universeodon.comAustin's Surge of New Housing Construction Drove Down Rents (The Pew Charitable Trusts)
https://www.pew.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2026/03/18/austins-surge-of-new-housing-construction-drove-down-rents
http://www.memeorandum.com/260318/p58#a260318p58
@ckent@urbanists.socialRemind Angus, it's the Pokémon landlords
Not the mums and dads, not the owner occupiers
#CGT #WellDoneAngus #housing
@UP8@mastodon.social🏘️ Factory-built housing hasn't taken off in California yet, but this year might be different
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-02-14/factory-built-housing-hasnt-taken-off-in-californ…
@jerome@jasette.facil.servicesEven after so many policy changes on housing, that this kind of shit can still happen is very discouraging.
From the article:
Members said they found Malhotra’s plan both inappropriate and undesirable — too tall for the street at six storeys, even while they acknowledged its height would be within regulations under a new law and therefore not subject to their approval.
@benb@osintua.euRussia strikes ENERGY AND HOUSING: 1,700 DRONES and 69 MISSILES in one week #shorts: https://benborges.xyz/2026/01/25/russia-strikes-energy-and-housing.html
@memeorandum@universeodon.comTrump is pressuring the Hill on voter verification -- but not his own housing plan (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/18/trump-is-pressuring-the-hill-on-voter-verification-but-not-his-own-housing-plan-00833228
http://www.memeorandum.com/260318/p14#a260318p14
@mattmaisonre@mastodon.worldTop Articles of 2025: The Rental Housing Market Holds Strong
"The U.S. rental housing market remained strong and stable in 2025, with narrowing supply‑demand gaps, rising investment activity, and rent growth in line with pre‑pandemic levels."
@bthalpin@mastodon.socialI'm exploring Irish census data to try to understand more about one-off "rural" housing, and have accidentally discovered that the most densely-populated small-area in Ireland is in Limerick's Dock Rd, where 255 people live in apartments with a ground area of 2,500m2.
One-off houses in the country are typically on "half-acre" plots, i.e., 2,000m2.
@scott@carfree.cityIf I were voting today in D4 I'd rank Jeremy Greco first because he's the only pro–Sunset Dunes candidate and seems cool generally; he's a longtime co-op worker at Other Avenues and wants to make it easier to start co-ops.
I'd rank Natalie Gee second. It sucks she wants to turn the park back into a highway, but so do all the non-Jeremy candidates, and she's the only one I trust to tax the rich to build affordable housing.
@primonatura@mstdn.social"Green spaces should be the norm for all new housing developments in England, guidelines say"
#UK #UnitedKingdom #Houses
@markhburton@mstdn.socialThe low-hanging fruit just isn't that juicy for the technolatrous UK government.
"The Warm Homes Plan provides an opportunity to change course, but the approach taken by government prioritises heat pumps and solar panels over ensuring that homes reach basic standards of health and energy efficiency."
A Plan for Places: Transforming Housing and Lowering the Cost of Living Through Home Improvement Corporations
@steadystatemcr@mstdn.socialRare good news for now, but don't trust the Planning Inspectorate to uphold the rejection.
Scheme to build 2,150 homes in Greater Manchester countryside REJECTED - Manchester Evening News
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/scheme-build…
@davej@dice.campAlt Text:
“Sarah J. Jackson
@sjjphd.bsky.social
“Someone has sure already made this
observation but the fact they can
convert all those empty warehouses into
prison camps means they could have
converted them into housing,
community centers, job training centers
or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It's
always a matter of will not resources.”
@kurtsh@mastodon.socialBoth Amazon & Microsoft cooperatively push for 5 policy changes to address housing crisis in WA state.
▶️ WA must make it easier to build our way out of housing crisis | The Seattle Times
https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/wa-mu…
@scott@carfree.cityThis is why I don't fully trust 48hills, even though they're on "my side" in being pro-labor and anti-billionaire. Tim Redmond thinks it's a good thing that a 100% affordable housing development was forced to lop a floor off to preserve views 😫
"The staff reached out to the neighbors,[...]took feedback, and as a result made some changes that lowered the height of the new buildings. That, in a reasonable world, is how this should work" No it's not!!…
@mlawton@mstdn.socialWell that’s not good. Was taking advantage of the mild weather to use the 3” chipper/shredder on a bunch of downed branches on the hill in the back yard.
Not ten minutes in and a 2.5” branch jammed it. I had to disassemble half the housing to clear it. Then it still wouldn’t start, upon which time I noticed that the jam must have pushed the moving blade into the housing with force enough to shear off a piece of the housing.
Obviously not safe to continue. Warranty support initia…
@Mediagazer@mstdn.socialHow Craigslist has stayed relevant for users as a place to find jobs, housing, and personal connections without relying on algorithmic feeds or public profiles (Jennifer Swann/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/is-craigslist-the-last-real-place-on-the-internet/…
@kctipton@mas.toHome Builders Turn to White House for Help on Inventory Glut - WSJ https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing/home-builders-turn-to-white-house-for-help-on-inventory-glut-7e41e708?st=MYUJhb&refli…
@memeorandum@universeodon.comTrump goes his own way on housing (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/13/trump-goes-his-own-way-on-housing-00829047
http://www.memeorandum.com/260314/p44#a260314p44
@cdarwin@c.imNobody really knows the scale of the U.S. housing crisis
America faces a serious housing shortage, one that Moody’s estimates would take more than 2 million new homes to resolve.
But over at Goldman Sachs, analysts put the number at
3 million.
Zillow’s estimate tops 4 million,
while Brookings projects 5 million,
and McKinsey says 8 million.
Meanwhile, congressional Republicans insist the shortfall is closer to 20 million.
Then there are the …
@kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #VarietyMix
Ultramagnetic MC’s:
🎵 Kool Keith Housing Things
#UltramagneticMCs
https://ultimatesoundz.bandcamp.com/track/kool-keith-housing-things
https://open.spotify.com/track/5I7GbWmphoJfZi6VnzUyGZ
@pavelasamsonov@mastodon.socialYou load 16 server racks, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
St Peter, don't @ me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/20
@scott@carfree.city"The governor’s proposed 2026–27 budget includes no funding for existing affordable housing. Federal housing programs face deep uncertainty. Locally, San Francisco is staring down a structural deficit... In this context, proposals to eliminate transfer taxes and weaken development impact fees...are deliberate choices that would lock in housing scarcity for years to come."
@paulwermer@sfba.socialJust one more example demonstrating that the "market" and #MayorLurie's "Family Zoning Plan" will not solve even a small part of the affordable housing problem.
But it might make more mansions available.
SFMTA approves slashing 365 units from Mission housing project
@denmanrooke@mastodon.ie"Denman Rooke has been selected as the People Before Profit candidate to contest the by-election in Galway West.
He is a long-time activist campaigning on issues of worker’s rights, trade unions, anti-racism, climate action, cost of living, and housing."
https://www.
@UP8@mastodon.social🌪️ The housing crisis is forcing Americans to choose between affordability and safety
https://theconversation.com/the-housing-crisis-is-forcing-americans-to-choose-between-affordability-and-safety-266136
<…
@memeorandum@universeodon.comCapitol agenda: House hard-liner headaches ahead (Mia McCarthy/Politico)
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/03/17/congress/house-conservatives-fisa-housing-save-america-act-elections-00831120
http://www.memeorandum.com/260317/p31#a260317p31
@joe@toot.works
@Sustainable2050@mastodon.energyGood evening!
Starlings over Utrecht, at dusk.
@scott@carfree.city"Open land represents the future in its purest form — after all, every place was no place at some point." 😑 This is such a distilled expression of settler-colonial mindset. No, we do not need "new" cities, we need to fix up the ones we've got.
https://www.
@cdarwin@c.imNewly sworn-in Virginia Governor #Abigail #Spanberger signed
10 executive orders in her first official act at the Virginia State Capitol.
Three of the orders target
✅reducing cost-of-living expenses for Virginia families,
✅bringing down healthcare costs
✅and making it easier to build more…
@jerome@jasette.facil.servicesLily Cheng in #Willowdale is again advocating against new housing next to a subway station
According to her, adding 2000 new residents to the neighborhood would be a risk to lose the Costco (???). As if adding new people to the neighborhood would make Costco leave.
Yes some "essential local retail shops" (aka Starbucks) would leave... But there's no shortage i…
@servelan@newsie.socialAramark tells Yosemite workers it's axing most of their housing rights
https://www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/aramark-yosemite-employee-housing-21307621.php
@paulbusch@mstdn.caWhen the government offers to provide rebates or tax credits to low income Canadians, as recently announced by our Federal Government, most welcome the extra cash. But it doesn't address the key issue in affordable food, housing, or utilities. All of that extra government cash, provided by taxpayers BTW, gets sucked up by corporations that continue to rake in record profits. If you want to truly attack the #Affordability problem then implement laws that penalize excess profit taking by corporations. Take key necessities (food, transit, shelter, utilities, etc.) and create public options that are run as cooperatives and have controlled profit margins.
Marit Styles points out the difference between food prices at independent grocers versus the big chains. The policy position from @… on establishing a public grocery option makes sense, as long as we also protect the small independent vendors in our communities.
#CorporateProfiteers
https://youtu.be/Hj-ncCLSaZY
@scott@carfree.cityThis is clearly timed to take the heat off Mahmood after he introduced legislation to slash $100 million a year in funding for affordable housing.
There’s a new streamlining bill or measure every year, and we’re clearly hitting diminishing returns. Meanwhile all over the city thousands of affordable homes are stalled for lack of funding. Want to speed up housing? Fund it.
@memeorandum@universeodon.comSenate passes major housing affordability bill by Elizabeth Warren and Tim Scott (NBC News)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-passes-major-housing-affordability-bill-warren-scott-rcna263046
http://www.memeorandum.com/260312/p93#a260312p93
@PaulWermer@sfba.socialJust one more example demonstrating that the "market" and #MayorLurie's "Family Zoning Plan" will not solve even a small part of the affordable housing problem.
But it might make more mansions available.
SFMTA approves slashing 365 units from Mission housing project
@markhburton@mstdn.socialMore evil from the Israeli regime.
Israel escalates West Bank demolitions amid illegal settlement expansion | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/1/israel-es…
@cdarwin@c.imTo house the hundreds or thousands of temporary workers needed to build an AI data center, developers are increasingly relying on temporary villages known as "man camps".
This style of camp was popularized as housing for men working in remote oil fields.
For example, as a Bitcoin mining facility in rural Dickens County, Texas is converted into a 1.6 gigawatt data center, Bloomberg reports its workers are living in gray housing units with access to a gym, a laundromat, g…
@memeorandum@universeodon.comCapitol agenda: House revolt ahead for housing bill (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/03/12/congress/housing-affordability-bill-senate-vote-00824598
http://www.memeorandum.com/260312/p26#a260312p26
@Techmeme@techhub.socialHow Craigslist has stayed relevant for users as a place to find jobs, housing, and personal connections without relying on algorithmic feeds or public profiles (Jennifer Swann/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/is-craigslist-the-last-real-place-on-the-internet/…
@scott@carfree.cityAlright, I'm starting to be kind of impressed by this Mamdani guy.
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-zohran-mamdani-new-york-housing-3835daca395dbe46c2f3da2433ec24f4
@memeorandum@universeodon.comBronx building Mamdani used to showcase new housing commish's talents has 200 violations -- after favored nonprofit ran it into the ground (Rich Calder/New York Post)
https://nypost.com/2026/01/11/us-news/bronx-building-mamdani-highlighted-to-showcase-nycs-new-housing-commissioners-talents-has-nearly-200-violations/
http://www.memeorandum.com/260111/p67#a260111p67
@cheryanne@aus.socialBuhay Australia
Listen to information that will help improve health, housing, employment, visas and citizenship, Australian laws and more...
Great Australian Pods Podcast Directory: https://www.greataustralianpods.com/buhay-australia/
@cdarwin@c.im"Trump supporters report higher levels of psychopathy, manipulativeness, callousness, and narcissism"
...
"Trump fans are much angrier about housing assistance when they see an image of a black man
In contrast, Clinton supporters seemed relatively unmoved by racial cues"
https://www.…
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scotI was at a meeting last night of key decision makers in the two main civic institutions of my village, and no one in the room was under seventy.
There are reasons.
1. House prices are way beyond what people of working age can afford;
2. Limited social housing is (rightly) allocated to the most vulnerable, but they typically don't have the bandwidth to take on civic roles;
3. There are few jobs in the local economy for degree-educated young people;
/Continued…
@paulbusch@mstdn.caTIL about "iceberg homes", and wondered why we don't let all the wealthy people live in deep holes and build affordable public housing on top of them. It's a win-win people...
https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2026/02/toronto-figuring-out-controversial-iceberg-homes/
@memeorandum@universeodon.comHow the money spent on Trump's Iran war could have helped Americans (Philip Bump/MS NOW)
https://www.ms.now/opinion/trump-iran-war-11-billion-income-housing
http://www.memeorandum.com/260314/p71#a260314p71
@scott@carfree.city2019 time capsule: “The successful implementation of a public bank could be a windfall for affordable housing advocates.” By @…. Now, finally, it’s headed for a ballot near you!
@servelan@newsie.socialPortland to remove 100 people from its tiny-house village because they have stayed in the transitional housing too long | The Independent
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/tiny-house-village-eviction-portland-b2896294.html
@memeorandum@universeodon.comBondi Is Said to Move to Military Housing Because of Threats (Glenn Thrush/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/us/politics/bondi-military-housing-threats.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/260310/p150#a260310p150
@scott@carfree.city“The case for upzoning is relatively solid but deeply underwhelming as a standalone position. The upshot is that everyone is at least partly right: Upzoning can address the shortfall in supply. But it won’t come close to solving the housing crisis alone. Re-enter: public housing.”
https://
@Techmeme@techhub.socialThe US Treasury Department, State Department, and federal housing agency are ending use of Anthropic products; State Department says it will switch to OpenAI (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/business/us-treasury-ending-all-use-anthropi…
@scott@carfree.citySF YIMBY has endorsed Alan Wong, whose whole campaign is about reopening the Great Highway, after previously endorsing Stephen Sherrill who's doing everything he can to block Marina Safeway housing. They are just a mod Dem club. Housing and urbanism are their marketing pitch, not their goal. #sfpol
@cdarwin@c.imTying housing costs to homelessness rates, researchers have identified inflection points:
🔸When rents in a community exceed about a third of the median income, homelessness escalates.
🔸“As the share of low-income households with severe rent burdens grows, so does their risk of homelessness,”
said Thomas Byrne of Boston College, an author of the study.
Gregg Colburn, a housing expert at the University of Washington, found that
Seattle and San Francisco, with so…
@memeorandum@universeodon.comZohran Mamdani stands by 'housing justice' appointee Cea Weaver -- as Trump admin warns he 'should be on notice' (New York Post)
https://nypost.com/2026/01/06/us-news/zohran-mamdani-stands-by-housing-justice-appointee-cea-weaver/
http://www.memeorandum.com/260106/p115#a260106p115
@scott@carfree.city"Both candidates agreed that Market Street should be reopened to cars (a few people booed, then some cheered). They also both agreed that new housing developments should include more parking."
No problem for the "urbanists" at SF YIMBY, who just endorsed Sherrill.
https://
@cdarwin@c.imMr. Mamdani, a democratic socialist who ran on an #affordability agenda,
pledged during the campaign to freeze rent on the city’s nearly one million rent-stabilized apartments.
“We know we are fighting for a #rent #freeze…
@scott@carfree.cityoooof. this incumbent running for re-election to the SF Bike Coalition board is literally a landlord lawyer.
if you're a member, the voting details are here and there are 10 candidates for 8 seats. https://sfbike.org/news/meet-the-candidat…
@cdarwin@c.imThe Oglala Sioux Tribe is seeking answers after
four enrolled members were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis.
Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out said in a statement on Facebook that the men,
who were homeless and living near the Little Earth housing complex in Minneapolis,
home to nearly 1,500 people,
many of whom are Native American.
The men were taken into custody without their names being recorded, the tribe …
@memeorandum@universeodon.comTrump Moves to Ban Big Investors From Buying Single-Family Homes (Alyssa Lukpat/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing/trump-moves-to-ban-investors-from-buying-single-family-homes-13e06f61
http://www.memeorandum.com/260107/p91#a260107p91
@scott@carfree.cityI'm shocked, shocked, that waiving the transfer tax on downtown office to residential conversions did not result in a single such conversion happening.
Well, not that shocked. (The real point of March 2024 Prop C was the sneaky provision letting the SFBOS reduce the transfer tax altogether without an election. Not to produce housing but to cut downtown landlords' taxes.)
@memeorandum@universeodon.comMamdani heads to White House for meeting with Trump on housing (Chris Sommerfeldt/Politico)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/26/mamdani-heads-to-white-house-for-meeting-with-trump-on-housing-00801450
http://www.memeorandum.com/260226/p74#a260226p74
@scott@carfree.cityKind of a cool proposal in terms of squeezing density onto a slim site, but I wish it didn't have 10 parking spaces for 11 units. That much parking shouldn't be allowed so close to BART, inducing more driving trips on Guerrero which is already a traffic sewer.
https://missionlocal…
@cdarwin@c.imThe race for the next mayor of Los Angeles has become even more intense as
Council Member Nithya Raman officially launched her campaign on Saturday.
Her announcement came just hours before the city’s filing deadline.
Nithya Raman said Los Angeles needs a leader who will take full responsibility for the challenges the city faces.
Raman represents District 4, which stretches from parts of the San Fernando Valley to neighborhoods like Los Feliz, the Hollywood Hills, and…
@scott@carfree.cityI read something touting a housing policy bill in Minnesota as “bipartisan” and thought: really? in the year of our Lord 2026? fascists liking your reform isn’t a selling point
@scott@carfree.city @scott@carfree.cityI donated a bit to Gary McCoy's campaign for District 8 supervisor in SF.
I'm hesitant to support merely "progressive" candidates since so many veer rightward after getting elected, like D8's current supe Mandelman, and recently D7 supe Melgar to a lesser degree.
But I really like Gary's platform, emphasizing non-police public safety programs; traffic calming as part of public safety; and pro-housing with emphasis on public investment, not just upzone an…
@memeorandum@universeodon.comFACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims made during Trump's first cabinet meeting of 2026 (Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-trump-cabinet-economy-housing-energy-health-california-f4b4fb985300724a7e717863626e5506
http://www.memeorandum.com/260129/p131#a260129p131
@cdarwin@c.imThe median home buyer is 59 years old.
That may sound like a shocking statistic, but it’s part of a trend.
In 2020, the median home buyer was 47 years old, which at the time was also an all-time high.
Here’s another shocking statistic:
The median down payment on a house in 2025 for first time homebuyers surpassed $40,000
— exceeding the median net worth of Americans under 35.
Americans once went in search of their starter homes in their 20s,
but …
@scott@carfree.cityHere’s a half-block stretch in the Avenues with no trees.
Legislation by Mayor Lurie and Alan Wong made it harder to remove these driveways by allowing them to remain when garages are converted to housing.
Now the Lurie-Wong legislation to let developers not plant trees and limit tree removal appeals is going to Planning Commission tomorrow.
#sfpol
@memeorandum@universeodon.comThe Trump 'Affordability' Pivot That Never Came (Catherine Rampell/The Bulwark)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-trump-affordability-pivot-that-never-came-state-of-the-union-inflation-housing-stock-market
http://www.memeorandum.com/260225/p127#a260225p127
@memeorandum@universeodon.comTrump says he wants government to buy $200B in mortgage bonds in a push to bring down mortgage rates (Josh Boak/Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/trump-housing-mortgage-rates-79294cf8eac1579b17430b4cd0708fcd
http://www.memeorandum.com/260108/p132#a260108p132
@scott@carfree.cityApropos of Denim Dan Lurie's tax break for rich real estate investors... The mayor's brother is a luxury real estate agent, and he told the Chronicle in October that the problem with SF housing was a "mansion shortage."
https://www.sfchronicle.com/reale…
@scott@carfree.cityAchievement unlocked: Got the SF Chronicle to publish an argument for social housing!
(it's the second in this batch of letters to the editor)
https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/letterstotheeditor/article/licence-p…
@memeorandum@universeodon.comTrump says U.S. to ban large investors from buying homes (Yun Li/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/07/trump-housing-affordability.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/260107/p94#a260107p94
@scott@carfree.cityI’m helping put together a campaign for municipal #socialHousing here in San Francisco. If you’re already familiar with social housing, how would you define it? If you’re newer to the idea, what’s a question you have about social housing, or something you hope it can achieve?
@scott@carfree.cityHere’s a perfect encapsulation of why #YIMBY hopes for new market-rate housing to lower rents are in vain. San Francisco has the highest rents in the country, but still not high enough for developers to build. It “could really help” if our extreme rents got even higher, though!
