Josh Martin
@jlmartin.bsky.social
SF based, medicinal chemist by trade, housing and urban transportation enthusiast
Is no one doing their taxes in the sunset or what?
November 29, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Is no one doing their taxes in the sunset or what?
I've seen some pretty impressive rail infrastructure here, both metro and intercity, there's some pretty nice intercity bus service too, but man, trying to walk 200 m is pretty grim
November 28, 2025 at 7:45 AM
I've seen some pretty impressive rail infrastructure here, both metro and intercity, there's some pretty nice intercity bus service too, but man, trying to walk 200 m is pretty grim
Upper middle class area, boogie shopping mall, one thousand people on foot, not even the notion of a sidewalk
November 28, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Upper middle class area, boogie shopping mall, one thousand people on foot, not even the notion of a sidewalk
SF is worse for cycling than DC and NYC, by a reasonably large margin too. At least when comparing the three city propers.
November 28, 2025 at 7:15 AM
SF is worse for cycling than DC and NYC, by a reasonably large margin too. At least when comparing the three city propers.
Nah, driverless trains have 50 years of proven safe service moving literally billions of trips
November 26, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Nah, driverless trains have 50 years of proven safe service moving literally billions of trips
He served less than one year in jail
November 26, 2025 at 1:29 PM
He served less than one year in jail
Funny that he names colma, population 1k, as the residence for his 10k made up workers
November 26, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Funny that he names colma, population 1k, as the residence for his 10k made up workers
Mahmood said that he had received tons of constituent support and was working on building SFFD support for a bill, but wouldn't comment on a concrete timeline.
November 26, 2025 at 4:25 AM
Mahmood said that he had received tons of constituent support and was working on building SFFD support for a bill, but wouldn't comment on a concrete timeline.
My understanding is that it can be done at the city level but the sup's and the mayor won't do it without fires sign off. So anything that would get enough BOS votes and the mayors signature would be heavily marked up at SFFD and likely ineffectual.
November 26, 2025 at 4:23 AM
My understanding is that it can be done at the city level but the sup's and the mayor won't do it without fires sign off. So anything that would get enough BOS votes and the mayors signature would be heavily marked up at SFFD and likely ineffectual.
Might be better to wait till a clean bill is possible without a bunch of poison pills though
November 26, 2025 at 3:38 AM
Might be better to wait till a clean bill is possible without a bunch of poison pills though
I was told that it basically a non-starter at SFFD, and would be at least a couple years out
November 26, 2025 at 3:37 AM
I was told that it basically a non-starter at SFFD, and would be at least a couple years out
Imagine the huge social welfare implications of being able to move to double your income without doubling your costs.
Consider the political implications of Americans dreaming about moving to cities for a better life, as opposed to the exurbs for cheaper housing.
Consider the political implications of Americans dreaming about moving to cities for a better life, as opposed to the exurbs for cheaper housing.
November 26, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Imagine the huge social welfare implications of being able to move to double your income without doubling your costs.
Consider the political implications of Americans dreaming about moving to cities for a better life, as opposed to the exurbs for cheaper housing.
Consider the political implications of Americans dreaming about moving to cities for a better life, as opposed to the exurbs for cheaper housing.
A coffee in SF costing 10$ is partially due to high cost of labor, but also there's lot of people with fucktons of money who can buy expensive coffee. That means that the buissness is viable paying their workers 16$ a hour.
The same is true about nurses, teachers and other non tech jobs.
The same is true about nurses, teachers and other non tech jobs.
November 26, 2025 at 1:57 AM
A coffee in SF costing 10$ is partially due to high cost of labor, but also there's lot of people with fucktons of money who can buy expensive coffee. That means that the buissness is viable paying their workers 16$ a hour.
The same is true about nurses, teachers and other non tech jobs.
The same is true about nurses, teachers and other non tech jobs.
The median person can double their income by moving to one of the first three cities you've listed. That's because aggolomoration of high skilled jobs leads to supralinear productivity gains, which leads to tons of local money to spend on services.
November 26, 2025 at 1:55 AM
The median person can double their income by moving to one of the first three cities you've listed. That's because aggolomoration of high skilled jobs leads to supralinear productivity gains, which leads to tons of local money to spend on services.
You just have the worst takes about urbanity and American cities, working off some really questionable sources. Stick to the political communication discourse.
Did you even gut check this list? Charlotte? Baltimore? These are cheap ass cities affordable to most Americans already.
Did you even gut check this list? Charlotte? Baltimore? These are cheap ass cities affordable to most Americans already.
November 26, 2025 at 1:43 AM
You just have the worst takes about urbanity and American cities, working off some really questionable sources. Stick to the political communication discourse.
Did you even gut check this list? Charlotte? Baltimore? These are cheap ass cities affordable to most Americans already.
Did you even gut check this list? Charlotte? Baltimore? These are cheap ass cities affordable to most Americans already.
This could be the 38R but we're playing
November 25, 2025 at 12:44 PM
This could be the 38R but we're playing
Tech and other white collar salaries are sky high, everyone else either lives frugally or commutes from further out.
November 25, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Tech and other white collar salaries are sky high, everyone else either lives frugally or commutes from further out.
The path dependency that led to Red Vienna (massive depopulation from the collapse of the austro-hungarian empire) isnt available to us currently. And a different route would require both sustainable sourcing of public funds and building a lot of new apartments
November 25, 2025 at 9:01 AM
The path dependency that led to Red Vienna (massive depopulation from the collapse of the austro-hungarian empire) isnt available to us currently. And a different route would require both sustainable sourcing of public funds and building a lot of new apartments
Ok, cool. Im pro social housing. But I'm answering the hypothetical of what would happen if you put a 100% tax on property.
November 25, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Ok, cool. Im pro social housing. But I'm answering the hypothetical of what would happen if you put a 100% tax on property.
Im guessing there's probably less painful ways to start up a large social housing program in your town
November 25, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Im guessing there's probably less painful ways to start up a large social housing program in your town
At some ridiculously high level of taxation you would get property abandonment and decay, ultimately eroding your tax base.
The average rent would be cheaper, but if you wanted things like "four intact walls" or "electricity" you would pay the value of the tax and more in rent
The average rent would be cheaper, but if you wanted things like "four intact walls" or "electricity" you would pay the value of the tax and more in rent
November 25, 2025 at 3:01 AM
At some ridiculously high level of taxation you would get property abandonment and decay, ultimately eroding your tax base.
The average rent would be cheaper, but if you wanted things like "four intact walls" or "electricity" you would pay the value of the tax and more in rent
The average rent would be cheaper, but if you wanted things like "four intact walls" or "electricity" you would pay the value of the tax and more in rent
The east-west split across the bay is pretty dramatic with this metric
November 25, 2025 at 2:26 AM
The east-west split across the bay is pretty dramatic with this metric
Yes, the US outside of NYC and Seattle requires apartment buildings over three stories tall to have two seperated interior stairwells. And yes, it makes apartment buildings like yours infeasible to build. And no, it doesn't reduce fire deaths in a meaningful way.
November 24, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Yes, the US outside of NYC and Seattle requires apartment buildings over three stories tall to have two seperated interior stairwells. And yes, it makes apartment buildings like yours infeasible to build. And no, it doesn't reduce fire deaths in a meaningful way.