Jens von Bergmann
@jensvb.bsky.social
Data, analysis, visualization, #CensusMapper, transportation cyclist.
📍Vancouver, BC
📍Vancouver, BC
Another great paper demonstrating the effects of new housing on the rest of the housing system.
Reminder that the vast majority of moves are moves into old housing, focusing on the affordability of new housing is missing the forest for the trees. (Also congrats Limin and @justintyndall.bsky.social!)
Reminder that the vast majority of moves are moves into old housing, focusing on the affordability of new housing is missing the forest for the trees. (Also congrats Limin and @justintyndall.bsky.social!)
Very interesting paper alright. Another striking result is that people moving into this centrally-located building (or into the vacancies created by people moving into it) were generally downsizing from larger homes
November 28, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Another great paper demonstrating the effects of new housing on the rest of the housing system.
Reminder that the vast majority of moves are moves into old housing, focusing on the affordability of new housing is missing the forest for the trees. (Also congrats Limin and @justintyndall.bsky.social!)
Reminder that the vast majority of moves are moves into old housing, focusing on the affordability of new housing is missing the forest for the trees. (Also congrats Limin and @justintyndall.bsky.social!)
Yet another reason why this should pass. So that we don’t have to go through the same stupidity every time we rezone one social housing project at a time. (Also, spot zoning one project at a time is no way to run a city.)
Guy at public hearing right now opposes social housing because it might shadow solar panels and destroy our power grid.
Can't make this up
Can't make this up
November 28, 2025 at 4:54 AM
Yet another reason why this should pass. So that we don’t have to go through the same stupidity every time we rezone one social housing project at a time. (Also, spot zoning one project at a time is no way to run a city.)
Great news, Vancouverites doubled up more between 2021 and 2024, so based on that baseline we now need fewer homes to accommodate future population growth!
Metro Vancouver still working hard to coordinate the worsening of our housing shortage...
Metro Vancouver still working hard to coordinate the worsening of our housing shortage...
November 26, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Great news, Vancouverites doubled up more between 2021 and 2024, so based on that baseline we now need fewer homes to accommodate future population growth!
Metro Vancouver still working hard to coordinate the worsening of our housing shortage...
Metro Vancouver still working hard to coordinate the worsening of our housing shortage...
Reposted by Jens von Bergmann
there's a ~complete rough draft of Urban Analysis up on my website (as in, code executes all the way through)
knaaptime.com/urban_analysis
still lots of editing to do, but if you're into cities, Python, or spatial analysis, give it a look and let me know what's wrong :)
knaaptime.com/urban_analysis
still lots of editing to do, but if you're into cities, Python, or spatial analysis, give it a look and let me know what's wrong :)
June 9, 2025 at 6:10 PM
there's a ~complete rough draft of Urban Analysis up on my website (as in, code executes all the way through)
knaaptime.com/urban_analysis
still lots of editing to do, but if you're into cities, Python, or spatial analysis, give it a look and let me know what's wrong :)
knaaptime.com/urban_analysis
still lots of editing to do, but if you're into cities, Python, or spatial analysis, give it a look and let me know what's wrong :)
Happy to see this discussion resurface! Back in 2020 I wrote a report on the differential impacts of the CAP and built a visualization showing how much each individual home is over or underpaying because of the CAP.
November 25, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Happy to see this discussion resurface! Back in 2020 I wrote a report on the differential impacts of the CAP and built a visualization showing how much each individual home is over or underpaying because of the CAP.
Reposted by Jens von Bergmann
all credit to my coauthors. free download till 11 Jan 2026
Emissions assessment of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband megaconstellations; Starlink, OneWeb and Kuiper
The growth of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellite megaconstellations is rapidly increasing the number of rocket launches. While improving broadb…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:39 PM
all credit to my coauthors. free download till 11 Jan 2026
Idle thought, we all understand that dense urban infill improves the net lifecycle balance of infrastructure costs. So why do we charge high development fees on this kind of infill?
WATCH: If you really STILL don’t understand how car-dependent suburbia is HEAVILY SUBSIDIZED by downtown & all the urban parts of your city, please watch this EXCELLENT video by #NotJustBikes helped by #UrbanThree & @StrongTowns.org. And then please SHARE it as much as possible. youtu.be/7Nw6qyyrTeI
November 22, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Idle thought, we all understand that dense urban infill improves the net lifecycle balance of infrastructure costs. So why do we charge high development fees on this kind of infill?
Reposted by Jens von Bergmann
This is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Trump Has a Recipe for War and Corruption, Not Peace
Who would benefit from the White House’s 28-point proposal for Ukraine?
www.theatlantic.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:11 AM
This is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Jens von Bergmann
This is a good paper that @jensvb.bsky.social and @lausterna.bsky.social did all the work on, and I’m pleased to have a teeny weeny bit of stolen glory in saying it’s in a forthcoming journal issue I edited. The approach they use could be straightforwardly replicated in other countries.
@lausterna.bsky.social and I looked specifically into this question and found that while "culture" has a measurable effect, the main driver of household formation (or the lack thereof) is economic. More to the point, in Canada it's rents that drive cross-metro differences in household formation.
Housing shortage as an explanation for family and household change – Mountain Doodles
A run down of our recent paper on this topic, and implications for research and policy.
doodles.mountainmath.ca
November 20, 2025 at 11:49 PM
This is a good paper that @jensvb.bsky.social and @lausterna.bsky.social did all the work on, and I’m pleased to have a teeny weeny bit of stolen glory in saying it’s in a forthcoming journal issue I edited. The approach they use could be straightforwardly replicated in other countries.
Great discussion that has been going on for serval days now up and down this thread and in the quotes (up and down). Metrics matter, and some of our main metrics in the housing discourse simply aren't responsive to the issues: Standard affordability metrics suffer from massive collider bias.
> What the “objective evidence” shows is that the share of income dedicated to housing is higher than before
???
No, it does not. www.bls.gov/news.release...
???
No, it does not. www.bls.gov/news.release...
November 20, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Great discussion that has been going on for serval days now up and down this thread and in the quotes (up and down). Metrics matter, and some of our main metrics in the housing discourse simply aren't responsive to the issues: Standard affordability metrics suffer from massive collider bias.
Reposted by Jens von Bergmann
In this episode of UCLA Housing Voice we talk with @benschneider.bsky.social about progressive era housing reformers, strengthening building standards, and unintended consequences for housing affordability
www.lewis.ucla.edu/2025/11/19/1...
www.lewis.ucla.edu/2025/11/19/1...
Episode 102: Minimum Standards vs. Affordability with Benjamin Schneider (Incentives Series pt. 5)
We’ve been grappling with trade-offs between stricter building codes and declining affordability for over 100 years. Benjamin Schneider helps us trace the history.
www.lewis.ucla.edu
November 19, 2025 at 5:49 PM
In this episode of UCLA Housing Voice we talk with @benschneider.bsky.social about progressive era housing reformers, strengthening building standards, and unintended consequences for housing affordability
www.lewis.ucla.edu/2025/11/19/1...
www.lewis.ucla.edu/2025/11/19/1...
Reposted by Jens von Bergmann
The really mean value theorem
when I was a kid my dad could have kicked my ass because he was an adult. now I could kick my dad’s ass because he’s old. but there was one day between then and now when we were exactly evenly matched. the father/son convergence
November 19, 2025 at 4:37 AM
The really mean value theorem
Reposted by Jens von Bergmann
Exciting news - I’m seeking the mayoral nomination with @OneCityVan! 1 / 5 youtu.be/2MTf7QmcEpc
My name is William Azaroff and I'm seeking the mayoral nomination with OneCity
YouTube video by William for Vancouver
youtu.be
November 17, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Exciting news - I’m seeking the mayoral nomination with @OneCityVan! 1 / 5 youtu.be/2MTf7QmcEpc
Reposted by Jens von Bergmann
Japan...and Taiwan. This makes me furious.
Russia is using Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwanese machine tools to manufacture guided bombs and missile parts. OSINT investigators identified Okuma (Japan) and Hision (China) equipment on Russian bomb assembly lines, and Taiwanese AKIRA SEIKI and ECOM machines for missile systems like Iskander.
November 17, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Japan...and Taiwan. This makes me furious.
Updated Urban Greenness data out from StatCan is out today, quantifying the "average greenness" on a 250m grid. Data is annual and goes back to 2000 and allows for some comparison (although some caution is advised).
November 17, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Updated Urban Greenness data out from StatCan is out today, quantifying the "average greenness" on a 250m grid. Data is annual and goes back to 2000 and allows for some comparison (although some caution is advised).
Books hold a lot of emotional value. Doing some overdue decluttering and proud of myself for sorting out half of my math and physics books and weaning the ones I keep (for now) down to less than two rows in a bookshelf.
November 17, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Books hold a lot of emotional value. Doing some overdue decluttering and proud of myself for sorting out half of my math and physics books and weaning the ones I keep (for now) down to less than two rows in a bookshelf.
Reposted by Jens von Bergmann
I calculated change in access to jobs by transit before and after Winnipeg's bus network redesign. 🚍
The median resident experienced an increase of 4% in access to jobs within 45 minutes, according to my analysis in R.
The redesigned network gets more people to more places within the same time.
The median resident experienced an increase of 4% in access to jobs within 45 minutes, according to my analysis in R.
The redesigned network gets more people to more places within the same time.
November 17, 2025 at 12:47 AM
I calculated change in access to jobs by transit before and after Winnipeg's bus network redesign. 🚍
The median resident experienced an increase of 4% in access to jobs within 45 minutes, according to my analysis in R.
The redesigned network gets more people to more places within the same time.
The median resident experienced an increase of 4% in access to jobs within 45 minutes, according to my analysis in R.
The redesigned network gets more people to more places within the same time.
Reposted by Jens von Bergmann
“So @scottwiener.bsky.social is more than just an interesting lawmaker from America’s 3rd-weirdest city. His nose-to-grindstone, hardcore policy approach could be a key to a political realignment—a long-overdue recognition that addressing housing is needed for the survival of the Democratic Party.”
Scott Wiener defeated California’s NIMBYs. Can he fix America’s housing crisis?
By running for Nancy Pelosi's House seat, he's putting the abundance theory to the test.
www.motherjones.com
November 16, 2025 at 3:09 AM
“So @scottwiener.bsky.social is more than just an interesting lawmaker from America’s 3rd-weirdest city. His nose-to-grindstone, hardcore policy approach could be a key to a political realignment—a long-overdue recognition that addressing housing is needed for the survival of the Democratic Party.”
Reposted by Jens von Bergmann
I did a comparable map for the Halifax peninsula out of curiosity
November 16, 2025 at 1:29 AM
I did a comparable map for the Halifax peninsula out of curiosity
Reposted by Jens von Bergmann
Almost everywhere in the City of Toronto has fewer people that it did 50 years ago
November 15, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Almost everywhere in the City of Toronto has fewer people that it did 50 years ago
Nice try flipping the script!
Housing should be illegal by default, each new project should be scrutinized, provide justification, and neighbours should have veto powers.
It's a slippery slope. If we just allowed housing that meets environmental and health standards, more people would have housing.
Housing should be illegal by default, each new project should be scrutinized, provide justification, and neighbours should have veto powers.
It's a slippery slope. If we just allowed housing that meets environmental and health standards, more people would have housing.
"[W]hile the Islands Trust is aware of the many illegal dwellings on the island, if there are no environmental and health concerns, the occupants are left alone due to the housing crunch."
Kinda gives away the game. If there aren't any environmental & health concerns, why are the dwellings illegal?
Kinda gives away the game. If there aren't any environmental & health concerns, why are the dwellings illegal?
Good reporting here on Salt Spring Island's housing crisis & the rise of informal workforce housing.
Good to keep asking both why the Islands Trust isn't allowing more permanent housing to be constructed & why $20k trailer homes have been made illegal.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Good to keep asking both why the Islands Trust isn't allowing more permanent housing to be constructed & why $20k trailer homes have been made illegal.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
November 15, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Nice try flipping the script!
Housing should be illegal by default, each new project should be scrutinized, provide justification, and neighbours should have veto powers.
It's a slippery slope. If we just allowed housing that meets environmental and health standards, more people would have housing.
Housing should be illegal by default, each new project should be scrutinized, provide justification, and neighbours should have veto powers.
It's a slippery slope. If we just allowed housing that meets environmental and health standards, more people would have housing.
Noticed on my morning bike ride into downtown that the construction crane has been taken down on the first tower at Sen̓áḵw. Getting tantalizingly close to being done…
(Not sure when this happened, was out of town for a few days.)
(Not sure when this happened, was out of town for a few days.)
November 15, 2025 at 4:31 AM
Noticed on my morning bike ride into downtown that the construction crane has been taken down on the first tower at Sen̓áḵw. Getting tantalizingly close to being done…
(Not sure when this happened, was out of town for a few days.)
(Not sure when this happened, was out of town for a few days.)
You used to regularly hang out with your neighbour across the street for chats and drinks. But then that neighbour started taking crazy pills, shit on your front lawn, threaten and shout obscenities at you.
So you simply don’t cross the street to chat any more. That does not require “effort”.
So you simply don’t cross the street to chat any more. That does not require “effort”.
November 14, 2025 at 8:15 PM
You used to regularly hang out with your neighbour across the street for chats and drinks. But then that neighbour started taking crazy pills, shit on your front lawn, threaten and shout obscenities at you.
So you simply don’t cross the street to chat any more. That does not require “effort”.
So you simply don’t cross the street to chat any more. That does not require “effort”.
Reposted by Jens von Bergmann
It is certainly interesting that the politician who frames himself as the most conservative is obsessed with regulating what people sell and where they live
bsky.app/profile/pwal...
bsky.app/profile/pwal...
The very idea that a politician thinks they should be able to create a prescribed list of approved items for sale really highlights how unhinged local politics is.
November 13, 2025 at 8:48 PM
It is certainly interesting that the politician who frames himself as the most conservative is obsessed with regulating what people sell and where they live
bsky.app/profile/pwal...
bsky.app/profile/pwal...
Reposted by Jens von Bergmann
Hmm... seems familiar.
"We consider how housing acts as a potential realm where perception of crisis can activate reactionary nationalism, investigating how it differs from and interacts with other realms (e.g. jobs and wages, crime, and social welfare)..." www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
"We consider how housing acts as a potential realm where perception of crisis can activate reactionary nationalism, investigating how it differs from and interacts with other realms (e.g. jobs and wages, crime, and social welfare)..." www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
November 13, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Hmm... seems familiar.
"We consider how housing acts as a potential realm where perception of crisis can activate reactionary nationalism, investigating how it differs from and interacts with other realms (e.g. jobs and wages, crime, and social welfare)..." www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
"We consider how housing acts as a potential realm where perception of crisis can activate reactionary nationalism, investigating how it differs from and interacts with other realms (e.g. jobs and wages, crime, and social welfare)..." www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...