Payton Chung
@westnorth.com
Card-carrying urbanist since 1998; housing developer, author, museum docent, board member, single-issue #climate voter. Opine solely for myself. Ex-CHI, BOS, RDU 🚄🚋🚴♂️🌇🏗️🚰🏳️🌈
Words @ggwash.org @citybuilder.bsky.social
Words @ggwash.org @citybuilder.bsky.social
Pinned
Payton Chung
@westnorth.com
· Nov 22
www.fastcompany.com
👋 new followers! #GreatestHits from the Other Site to get acquainted.
A 3750 sq. ft. McMansion is legal just about everywhere in America. But the exact same lot, with the exact same number of residential square feet, divided into eight tiny houses? No!
www.fastcompany.com/90348777/thi...
A 3750 sq. ft. McMansion is legal just about everywhere in America. But the exact same lot, with the exact same number of residential square feet, divided into eight tiny houses? No!
www.fastcompany.com/90348777/thi...
Notable that the building studied is a 43 story high rise next to a luxury mall, with median prices over $1M, and 40% of market rate units rented out.
Even ostentatious LuXuRy cOnDoS improve affordability.
Even ostentatious LuXuRy cOnDoS improve affordability.
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 29, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Notable that the building studied is a 43 story high rise next to a luxury mall, with median prices over $1M, and 40% of market rate units rented out.
Even ostentatious LuXuRy cOnDoS improve affordability.
Even ostentatious LuXuRy cOnDoS improve affordability.
Reposted by Payton Chung
A book and a train is a hell of a combination.
*bonus points for the snowy landscape.
*bonus points for the snowy landscape.
November 28, 2025 at 5:41 PM
A book and a train is a hell of a combination.
*bonus points for the snowy landscape.
*bonus points for the snowy landscape.
Reposted by Payton Chung
Report: It Pretty Incredible That Americans Entrusted With Driving Cars https://theonion.com/report-it-pretty-incredible-that-americans-entrusted-w-1819574734/
November 25, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Report: It Pretty Incredible That Americans Entrusted With Driving Cars https://theonion.com/report-it-pretty-incredible-that-americans-entrusted-w-1819574734/
Hey DC, I heard you wanted policies to encourage new "family sized" (i.e., 3-bedroom) housing units. Arlington has a new policy where 57% of the resulting units are 3+BR; it's called ENDING SFZ.
www.arlingtonva.us/files/shared...
www.arlingtonva.us/files/shared...
November 27, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Hey DC, I heard you wanted policies to encourage new "family sized" (i.e., 3-bedroom) housing units. Arlington has a new policy where 57% of the resulting units are 3+BR; it's called ENDING SFZ.
www.arlingtonva.us/files/shared...
www.arlingtonva.us/files/shared...
Reposted by Payton Chung
celebrating Thanksgiving the traditional way today: cross-dressing and wandering the streets drunkenly shaking down stuffy people
November 27, 2025 at 6:56 PM
celebrating Thanksgiving the traditional way today: cross-dressing and wandering the streets drunkenly shaking down stuffy people
Reposted by Payton Chung
Great news! Connecticut governor Ned Lamont, a noted coward, has finally located his big-boy pants and signed the legislature's amazing, ambitious housing bill. Among other things, it nukes parking mandates!
Gov. Lamont signs much-debated CT affordable housing bill after vetoing previous version
The bill is Connecticut's most significant housing legislation in decades.
www.ctinsider.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Great news! Connecticut governor Ned Lamont, a noted coward, has finally located his big-boy pants and signed the legislature's amazing, ambitious housing bill. Among other things, it nukes parking mandates!
Reposted by Payton Chung
I know most of the focus is on RFK Jr.'s weird horny texts, but the news that he used to spam Bill Nye with anti-vax weirdness and Bill was like, "Dude, you're you're confusing correlation for causation" is the only RFK text-message news I will ever need.
November 27, 2025 at 1:15 AM
I know most of the focus is on RFK Jr.'s weird horny texts, but the news that he used to spam Bill Nye with anti-vax weirdness and Bill was like, "Dude, you're you're confusing correlation for causation" is the only RFK text-message news I will ever need.
Gentle reminder that ALL of the growth in single-person households since 2000 has been among seniors. Singles age 15-64 were 16.6% of US households in 2000, and 16.5% in 2020.
www.census.gov/library/stor...
www.census.gov/library/stor...
November 26, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Gentle reminder that ALL of the growth in single-person households since 2000 has been among seniors. Singles age 15-64 were 16.6% of US households in 2000, and 16.5% in 2020.
www.census.gov/library/stor...
www.census.gov/library/stor...
The federal government already has a columned ballroom that seats 1,000, decorated with the Presidential seal. But it doesn't belong to the executive; it was built into the Pension Building, accessory to offices that paid Union Army war widows, and it's open to the public.
nbm.org/pension-buil...
nbm.org/pension-buil...
November 26, 2025 at 6:24 PM
The federal government already has a columned ballroom that seats 1,000, decorated with the Presidential seal. But it doesn't belong to the executive; it was built into the Pension Building, accessory to offices that paid Union Army war widows, and it's open to the public.
nbm.org/pension-buil...
nbm.org/pension-buil...
Psst, a lot of data centers proposed in the current environment are never going to get built
www.bisnow.com/national/new...
"Eventually, they will be able to expand far more efficiently within these existing campuses"
www.bisnow.com/national/new...
"Eventually, they will be able to expand far more efficiently within these existing campuses"
www.bisnow.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Psst, a lot of data centers proposed in the current environment are never going to get built
www.bisnow.com/national/new...
"Eventually, they will be able to expand far more efficiently within these existing campuses"
www.bisnow.com/national/new...
"Eventually, they will be able to expand far more efficiently within these existing campuses"
LOL that now-defunct Sonder began in 2012 by discovering the same arbitrage that determined my 2005 summer vacation: McGill students' summer sublets are far cheaper per night than Montreal hotels.
(That they subsequently took on $1.7B in debt is entirely their fault.)
www.cnbc.com/2021/02/20/h...
(That they subsequently took on $1.7B in debt is entirely their fault.)
www.cnbc.com/2021/02/20/h...
This 28-year-old turned his college side hustle into a $1.3 billion start-up backed by Jeff Bezos
Francis Davidson rented out his college apartment over the summer for extra cash. Now Sonder is a $1.3 billion start-up that may be the next big hospitality brand.
www.cnbc.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:01 PM
LOL that now-defunct Sonder began in 2012 by discovering the same arbitrage that determined my 2005 summer vacation: McGill students' summer sublets are far cheaper per night than Montreal hotels.
(That they subsequently took on $1.7B in debt is entirely their fault.)
www.cnbc.com/2021/02/20/h...
(That they subsequently took on $1.7B in debt is entirely their fault.)
www.cnbc.com/2021/02/20/h...
Reposted by Payton Chung
The truly wild thing is this isn’t even true, a shit-ton of their oil reserves on paper are heavy tar sands and every US oil company will take one look at that at $80/bbl and walk away because it isn’t close to economically viable.
Rep. Salazar on Venezuela: "We're about to go in ... we need to go in ... Venezuela for the American oil companies will be a field day"
November 24, 2025 at 9:26 PM
The truly wild thing is this isn’t even true, a shit-ton of their oil reserves on paper are heavy tar sands and every US oil company will take one look at that at $80/bbl and walk away because it isn’t close to economically viable.
The "scientifically 'safe' density level" is higher than anything that exists in the USA; life expectancy in Hong Kong is higher than in Marin County.
"we don’t set different air quality standards or fire codes based on neighborhood. If density restrictions actually protected public health, we could identify a scientifically 'safe' density level and apply it uniformly citywide, as we would with any other health-related regulation."
November 24, 2025 at 5:58 PM
The "scientifically 'safe' density level" is higher than anything that exists in the USA; life expectancy in Hong Kong is higher than in Marin County.
Reposted by Payton Chung
Engineers think of traffic as one particular liquid. Sewage.
You don't care how long it takes to get to its destination, but you do everything possible to make sure it doesn't back up.
Sanitary engineering was a hot new science when traffic engineering started in the 1920s.
You don't care how long it takes to get to its destination, but you do everything possible to make sure it doesn't back up.
Sanitary engineering was a hot new science when traffic engineering started in the 1920s.
Engineers think it’s a liquid but traffic is a gas. Give it space and it’ll fill it up. Take it away and it disperses
Every time
November 24, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Engineers think of traffic as one particular liquid. Sewage.
You don't care how long it takes to get to its destination, but you do everything possible to make sure it doesn't back up.
Sanitary engineering was a hot new science when traffic engineering started in the 1920s.
You don't care how long it takes to get to its destination, but you do everything possible to make sure it doesn't back up.
Sanitary engineering was a hot new science when traffic engineering started in the 1920s.
Reposted by Payton Chung
🏘️Dear town and city councils, allow our communities to build what they need. Make infill legal✅
🛍️ Our communities want more housing and more small businesses. It's that simple✨
Thank you Incremental Development Alliance for this amazing quote🙏
#infill #urbanism #smallbusiness #yimby
🛍️ Our communities want more housing and more small businesses. It's that simple✨
Thank you Incremental Development Alliance for this amazing quote🙏
#infill #urbanism #smallbusiness #yimby
November 24, 2025 at 5:05 PM
🏘️Dear town and city councils, allow our communities to build what they need. Make infill legal✅
🛍️ Our communities want more housing and more small businesses. It's that simple✨
Thank you Incremental Development Alliance for this amazing quote🙏
#infill #urbanism #smallbusiness #yimby
🛍️ Our communities want more housing and more small businesses. It's that simple✨
Thank you Incremental Development Alliance for this amazing quote🙏
#infill #urbanism #smallbusiness #yimby
Reposted by Payton Chung
Only Kelly Rowland gets to sext in Excel
November 24, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Only Kelly Rowland gets to sext in Excel
"We don’t have anything to learn." - an "advocate" after getting absolutely nothing, besides a by-right strip mall, out of an intensive community-led planning process
Once the first phase of the new project has begun, retrofitting things like affordable housing and green space will become much more challenging, says Brandon Williams, chair of the Northgate Mall Committee for the Walltown Community Association.
After Years of Neighborhood Advocacy, Developer Files “Underwhelming” Plans for Part of Northgate Site
A developer is planning to turn one-third of the Northgate Mall property into a shopping center. Community members hope they can still influence the future of the site.
indyweek.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:19 PM
"We don’t have anything to learn." - an "advocate" after getting absolutely nothing, besides a by-right strip mall, out of an intensive community-led planning process
"The density regulations roughly matched the existing density of each neighborhood, sort of, more or less. That was it. No science. No public health data. Just numbers written into a chart decades ago with the sole goal of preserving the status quo."
"Why I lost faith in zoning." tinyurl.com/5n8sh428 Baltimore’s former zoning board executive director, on why she supports @mayorbmscott.bsky.social bills to promote more density and multi-family housing in the city. [OP-ED]
Baltimore’s former zoning board director explains why she lost faith in zoning | Baltimore Brew
The mayor’s “Housing Options and Opportunity” legislation – including Bill 25-0066 – will go a long way toward fixing an unfair system. [OP-ED]
tinyurl.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:00 PM
"The density regulations roughly matched the existing density of each neighborhood, sort of, more or less. That was it. No science. No public health data. Just numbers written into a chart decades ago with the sole goal of preserving the status quo."
Reposted by Payton Chung
Absolutely 🔥 piece from the former director of Baltimore's board of zoning appeals.
"Why I lost faith in zoning." tinyurl.com/5n8sh428 Baltimore’s former zoning board executive director, on why she supports @mayorbmscott.bsky.social bills to promote more density and multi-family housing in the city. [OP-ED]
Baltimore’s former zoning board director explains why she lost faith in zoning | Baltimore Brew
The mayor’s “Housing Options and Opportunity” legislation – including Bill 25-0066 – will go a long way toward fixing an unfair system. [OP-ED]
tinyurl.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Absolutely 🔥 piece from the former director of Baltimore's board of zoning appeals.
Reposted by Payton Chung
This is such a good example of how different types of input give you different impressions:
- one in-person speaker
- a majority of written comments opposed
- 87% of 1,842 survey respondents supported making the closure permanent, with 12 of 16 businesses on the block backing the proposal
- one in-person speaker
- a majority of written comments opposed
- 87% of 1,842 survey respondents supported making the closure permanent, with 12 of 16 businesses on the block backing the proposal
Alexandria City Council approves permanent closure of 200 block of King Street
www.alxnow.com/2025/09/13/a...
www.alxnow.com/2025/09/13/a...
Alexandria City Council approves permanent closure of 200 block of King Street | ALXnow
The Alexandria City Council unanimously voted Saturday to permanently close the 200 block of King Street to vehicular traffic, extending the city's pedestrian zone after a successful pilot program. The...
www.alxnow.com
September 15, 2025 at 3:01 PM
This is such a good example of how different types of input give you different impressions:
- one in-person speaker
- a majority of written comments opposed
- 87% of 1,842 survey respondents supported making the closure permanent, with 12 of 16 businesses on the block backing the proposal
- one in-person speaker
- a majority of written comments opposed
- 87% of 1,842 survey respondents supported making the closure permanent, with 12 of 16 businesses on the block backing the proposal
Reposted by Payton Chung
Anti-solar NIMBYs aren't beating the accusations of being pretty dim bulbs. "Extracting from the sky" is a good one
November 23, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Anti-solar NIMBYs aren't beating the accusations of being pretty dim bulbs. "Extracting from the sky" is a good one
Reposted by Payton Chung
The Scooby Doo Theory of Housing states that we can arrest housing price inflation if we only some clever kids are able to unmask the evil villain responsible for making rent go up.
I think this is mostly San Francisco finally shrugging off the pandemic, but it is *really* funny that rent prices in San Francisco shot up *immediately* after the city banned RealPage and other algorithmic price setting software.
My pre trends are incredible!
My pre trends are incredible!
November 22, 2025 at 7:15 PM
The Scooby Doo Theory of Housing states that we can arrest housing price inflation if we only some clever kids are able to unmask the evil villain responsible for making rent go up.
Weird to not mention that not only was there a coal power plant, but that its hot water discharge was famously used for decades as a wintertime recreation amenity
wamu.org/story/25/11/...
wamu.org/story/25/11/...
Proposed Montgomery County data center would use Potomac River water for cooling
The data center would be located at the old Dickerson coal-fired power plant site. Residents, state officials, and local environmental groups are weighing what it will mean for the area.
wamu.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Weird to not mention that not only was there a coal power plant, but that its hot water discharge was famously used for decades as a wintertime recreation amenity
wamu.org/story/25/11/...
wamu.org/story/25/11/...
Reposted by Payton Chung
The administration should never try to force our servicemembers to carry out an illegal order. Calling for the execution of senators and Congressmembers for reminding our troops of that is chilling behavior. Every one of my Republican colleagues needs to stand up and swiftly condemn this.
November 20, 2025 at 3:41 PM
The administration should never try to force our servicemembers to carry out an illegal order. Calling for the execution of senators and Congressmembers for reminding our troops of that is chilling behavior. Every one of my Republican colleagues needs to stand up and swiftly condemn this.