Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀
@aceckhouse.bsky.social
Sixplex enthusiast. Redwood irredentist. Lake Merritt booster. Erstwhile Prince of Prosciutto.
Cities are for people not cars. California is not full.
he etc
Cities are for people not cars. California is not full.
he etc
you're saying restrictive zoning is a tool to block housing and uphold segregation? wow, I didn't know that, you're telling me that now for the first time
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 9:06 PM
you're saying restrictive zoning is a tool to block housing and uphold segregation? wow, I didn't know that, you're telling me that now for the first time
something set in Tenochtitlan
they would have to build a live scale set
they would have to build a live scale set
If you were a despotic president, what movie would you force Hollywood to make? I want to see Quentin's Star Trek movie or maybe Kill Bill Vol 3.
November 26, 2025 at 3:12 AM
something set in Tenochtitlan
they would have to build a live scale set
they would have to build a live scale set
Top 3 cookbooks:
1) World Vegetarian, Madhur Jaffrey
2) The Wok, Kenji Lopez-Alt
3) Simple, Yotam Ottolenghi
1) World Vegetarian, Madhur Jaffrey
2) The Wok, Kenji Lopez-Alt
3) Simple, Yotam Ottolenghi
The world of cooking blog sites was a SEO-caused disaster before GenAI and a symptom of Google being a bad steward of the web.
Find some cookbooks! Here's my fav this year.
Find some cookbooks! Here's my fav this year.
November 26, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Top 3 cookbooks:
1) World Vegetarian, Madhur Jaffrey
2) The Wok, Kenji Lopez-Alt
3) Simple, Yotam Ottolenghi
1) World Vegetarian, Madhur Jaffrey
2) The Wok, Kenji Lopez-Alt
3) Simple, Yotam Ottolenghi
fucking BLEAK
November 25, 2025 at 3:12 AM
fucking BLEAK
👀
🚨We analyzed 138 million geocoded property tax records to quantify how municipal boundaries spatially overlap onto economic segregation in every US metro area—creating disparities in localities’ ability to fund public goods. And we made an interactive map of our results! [1/16]
November 25, 2025 at 1:18 AM
👀
Reposted by Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀
We can't expect rural areas to design and deliver intercity rail projects by themselves. Caltrans' understaffing of rail and transit hurts rural areas and outer suburbs - who seldom have well-staffed transit agencies of their own - the most.
Not only is 3% of CA's transportation budget for transit agencies, the vast majority of that huge Caltrans budget supports highway projects - while rail gets the scraps. We need a #JustTransitionForCaltrans that shifts those workers into delivering green rail projects quickly and cost effectively.
November 22, 2025 at 12:32 AM
We can't expect rural areas to design and deliver intercity rail projects by themselves. Caltrans' understaffing of rail and transit hurts rural areas and outer suburbs - who seldom have well-staffed transit agencies of their own - the most.
every traffic death is a policy choice
Insane but true fact: making US roads as safe as Canadian, Australian, or European roads would save more lives than eliminating murder from the US.
November 21, 2025 at 11:28 PM
every traffic death is a policy choice
Reposted by Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀
I always think it's funny that the US developed pretty much the optimal--by revealed preference--kind of suburb (close-in streetcar suburbs) in the early 20th century and then spent the rest of the century trying furiously to undo that good idea
as will notes, people tend to *say* they want suburban living. they want a big house and a big yard and etc. this is not however what is suggested by their actual purchasing practices, which invariably result in something like this:
raincitymaps.com/maps/inspect...
raincitymaps.com/maps/inspect...
November 20, 2025 at 2:29 PM
I always think it's funny that the US developed pretty much the optimal--by revealed preference--kind of suburb (close-in streetcar suburbs) in the early 20th century and then spent the rest of the century trying furiously to undo that good idea
the ride between Fruitvale & Lake Merritt BART really is notably long
could use an infill station!
could use an infill station!
November 21, 2025 at 2:15 AM
the ride between Fruitvale & Lake Merritt BART really is notably long
could use an infill station!
could use an infill station!
Redwood Coast: Humboldt
November 21, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Redwood Coast: Humboldt
a cool thing about redwoods is that they are older than the land on which they stand and even the Pacific Plate
their ancestors would have been browsed by sauropods
their ancestors would have been browsed by sauropods
November 17, 2025 at 5:30 PM
a cool thing about redwoods is that they are older than the land on which they stand and even the Pacific Plate
their ancestors would have been browsed by sauropods
their ancestors would have been browsed by sauropods
Reposted by Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀
People who think mass deportations are a housing affordability strategy have no place in the YIMBY movement.
A reminder, a person who claims to be a YIMBY but backs the deportation of people to "solve" the housing crisis is just a NIMBY.
November 15, 2025 at 2:27 AM
People who think mass deportations are a housing affordability strategy have no place in the YIMBY movement.
unfunded inclusionary zoning is not a very effective policy for delivering affordable housing
Exhibit… idk, 73?
Exhibit… idk, 73?
In 2018, then-Mayor Ada Colau called Barcelona’s new 30% inclusionary housing requirement for projects over 600m^2 a “paradigm shift,” making housing “a right and not a commodity.” It was supposed to produce 330 affordable units a year. The reality: just 31 affordable apartments in all these years.
Cuando se ha aprobó esta medida dije repetidamente que iba a ser un fracaso y que no construirían nada de vivienda asequible. Se ha probado en mil sitios y no funciona.
Acerté. www.lavanguardia.com/local/barcel...
Acerté. www.lavanguardia.com/local/barcel...
November 9, 2025 at 9:07 PM
unfunded inclusionary zoning is not a very effective policy for delivering affordable housing
Exhibit… idk, 73?
Exhibit… idk, 73?
instead of the devil & angel on your shoulder, it’s a great egret & a great blue heron
November 9, 2025 at 4:09 PM
instead of the devil & angel on your shoulder, it’s a great egret & a great blue heron
I really think traffic calming via bike/ped improvements is the best thing Oakland can do for most of its retail districts
would certainly make Dimond soooo much more pleasant!
would certainly make Dimond soooo much more pleasant!
Piedmont Avenue is booming, on a beautiful fall evening. People are out and enjoying themselves. It desperately needs the city of #Oakland to widen the sidewalks and give it a road diet.
November 9, 2025 at 6:56 AM
I really think traffic calming via bike/ped improvements is the best thing Oakland can do for most of its retail districts
would certainly make Dimond soooo much more pleasant!
would certainly make Dimond soooo much more pleasant!
was over by the Parkway today and wondering about this
I do hope they can figure it out because “cannabis lounge movie palace” is a vision I very much am here for
read through for the “discretionary land use approvals invite corruption” angle
oaklandside.org/2022/08/29/p...
I do hope they can figure it out because “cannabis lounge movie palace” is a vision I very much am here for
read through for the “discretionary land use approvals invite corruption” angle
oaklandside.org/2022/08/29/p...
Will Oakland’s old Parkway Theater be reborn as a pot-friendly movie lounge?
Ivy Hill Cannabis, which operates a dispensary at the former theater near Lake Merritt, is hoping to do just that.
oaklandside.org
November 9, 2025 at 5:22 AM
was over by the Parkway today and wondering about this
I do hope they can figure it out because “cannabis lounge movie palace” is a vision I very much am here for
read through for the “discretionary land use approvals invite corruption” angle
oaklandside.org/2022/08/29/p...
I do hope they can figure it out because “cannabis lounge movie palace” is a vision I very much am here for
read through for the “discretionary land use approvals invite corruption” angle
oaklandside.org/2022/08/29/p...
some day “articulating the facade” will be just the joke phrase it was always meant to be
One way to reduce condo defect liability: stop forcing architects to design buildings that leak. HCD’s “objective design standards” guide *encourages* making building envelopes more complex, heightening leak and therefore defect lawsuit risk cao-94612.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/documents/Ap...
November 7, 2025 at 3:52 AM
some day “articulating the facade” will be just the joke phrase it was always meant to be
pretty remarkable the difference in quality between Chai Thai Oakland (elite) and Chai Thai Berkeley (deeply mid)
November 6, 2025 at 3:29 AM
pretty remarkable the difference in quality between Chai Thai Oakland (elite) and Chai Thai Berkeley (deeply mid)
are there jets flying above Oakland right now? what’s going on?
November 5, 2025 at 6:16 AM
are there jets flying above Oakland right now? what’s going on?
a liberalism that builds, yes, and also a liberalism that FIGHTS
November 5, 2025 at 5:33 AM
a liberalism that builds, yes, and also a liberalism that FIGHTS
Happy Berkeley Middle Housing Day!
I think Berkeley’s middle housing code is quite good and am optimistic it will lead to lots of new homes
I think Berkeley’s middle housing code is quite good and am optimistic it will lead to lots of new homes
All zones in the dark green are now unified in density standards. While areas in the light green are currently the same as their old codes due to fire risk.
November 1, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Happy Berkeley Middle Housing Day!
I think Berkeley’s middle housing code is quite good and am optimistic it will lead to lots of new homes
I think Berkeley’s middle housing code is quite good and am optimistic it will lead to lots of new homes
Reposted by Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀
war of southern aggression
October 28, 2025 at 3:13 PM
war of southern aggression
Shohei Ohtani should advance one additional base each time they intentionally walk him, to punish cowardice
October 28, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Shohei Ohtani should advance one additional base each time they intentionally walk him, to punish cowardice
this is why social insurance is so important!
October 26, 2025 at 9:44 PM
this is why social insurance is so important!
🤔
Fun fact: the "purpose" section of the IRC includes "affordability," while the same for the IBC does not!
October 24, 2025 at 4:13 PM
🤔