Kirsten Bladh
@kerstanley.bsky.social
Policy @ Open New York. She/her. Cargo bike mom. Bassist for Leggy in my former life. NYC via LA via Cincinnati. Left urbanist 🚆
I've heard that kate inherited a brownstone in new york, but I don't know if that's been confirmed. certainly checks out, though.
November 26, 2025 at 6:13 PM
I've heard that kate inherited a brownstone in new york, but I don't know if that's been confirmed. certainly checks out, though.
Amazing how these people never consider that homeowners have material real estate interests.
November 26, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Amazing how these people never consider that homeowners have material real estate interests.
That’s correct. The UES has experienced a net loss of housing over the past decade because there’s zero new housing built while the existing multifamily is converted into mansion units by the uber rich.
November 26, 2025 at 5:50 PM
That’s correct. The UES has experienced a net loss of housing over the past decade because there’s zero new housing built while the existing multifamily is converted into mansion units by the uber rich.
Yeah, I just meant relative to the other Ohio metros. As a Cincinnatian, Columbus has always seemed more white collar.
November 25, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Yeah, I just meant relative to the other Ohio metros. As a Cincinnatian, Columbus has always seemed more white collar.
Yeah, Columbus would be the much better example in Ohio. Higher income, and growth that rivals a sunbelt city.
November 25, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Yeah, Columbus would be the much better example in Ohio. Higher income, and growth that rivals a sunbelt city.
Thinking that a city is superior due to certain physical characteristics is not nazism.
November 25, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Thinking that a city is superior due to certain physical characteristics is not nazism.
I don't think that believing NYC offers my ideal lifestyle due to its abundance of transit options and cultural institutions is at all the same logic as believing that midwesterners are the master race, actually.
November 25, 2025 at 7:48 PM
I don't think that believing NYC offers my ideal lifestyle due to its abundance of transit options and cultural institutions is at all the same logic as believing that midwesterners are the master race, actually.
Yes, they are choosing the low-cost option!
November 25, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Yes, they are choosing the low-cost option!
But I do think the fact that we are *losing* housing units in UES is not good. There are plenty of places there to upzone without even touching the brownstones.
November 25, 2025 at 7:09 PM
But I do think the fact that we are *losing* housing units in UES is not good. There are plenty of places there to upzone without even touching the brownstones.
Totally agree! Which is why I think the number one priority for upzonings should be anywhere near a subway station that is R1-R5.
November 25, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Totally agree! Which is why I think the number one priority for upzonings should be anywhere near a subway station that is R1-R5.
The rules very much stop transit, renewable energy, and infill housing. Things that are actually bad for the environment, like highways and now data centers, have never really been subject to the rules. And that was by design.
November 25, 2025 at 6:56 PM
The rules very much stop transit, renewable energy, and infill housing. Things that are actually bad for the environment, like highways and now data centers, have never really been subject to the rules. And that was by design.
My actual job is to undo the Bloomberg admin's downzonings and other horrors.
November 25, 2025 at 6:23 PM
My actual job is to undo the Bloomberg admin's downzonings and other horrors.
JD Vance's home county, too.
November 25, 2025 at 5:54 PM
JD Vance's home county, too.
Fortunately my job description does not include resolving all of the scenarios you've made up in your head to get mad about.
November 25, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Fortunately my job description does not include resolving all of the scenarios you've made up in your head to get mad about.
All of the pink areas are lots with nothing but a single-family home (and probably the world's best access to transit, jobs, and greenspace).
November 25, 2025 at 5:24 PM
All of the pink areas are lots with nothing but a single-family home (and probably the world's best access to transit, jobs, and greenspace).
And the median voter does not understand that the levers are local, so Kamala had to tout down payment subsidies as the solution.
November 25, 2025 at 5:04 PM
And the median voter does not understand that the levers are local, so Kamala had to tout down payment subsidies as the solution.
Allowing balconies that are big enough to support a heat pump is another one
November 25, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Allowing balconies that are big enough to support a heat pump is another one
I think people would be pretty shocked to learn how many single-family lots there are on UES and UWS. I know I was!
November 25, 2025 at 4:25 PM
I think people would be pretty shocked to learn how many single-family lots there are on UES and UWS. I know I was!
And that’s already happening in some places. I found a NY jurisdiction that is keeping a small solar project in SEQR hell but they let a data center skip SEQR entirely to install six diesel generators in an endangered species habitat area.
November 25, 2025 at 4:20 PM
And that’s already happening in some places. I found a NY jurisdiction that is keeping a small solar project in SEQR hell but they let a data center skip SEQR entirely to install six diesel generators in an endangered species habitat area.
God this shit makes it so much harder to do permitting reform for actually good things. We’re gonna get permit expediting for data centers while transit projects are still held up in environmental review for a decade.
November 25, 2025 at 4:08 PM
God this shit makes it so much harder to do permitting reform for actually good things. We’re gonna get permit expediting for data centers while transit projects are still held up in environmental review for a decade.
We finally have a wonk with rizz and it’s breaking people’s brains.
November 25, 2025 at 2:10 PM
We finally have a wonk with rizz and it’s breaking people’s brains.
For sure, but even symbolic allyship with pro-housing groups is a bold gesture for a DSA candidate. Just imagine if SF elected a DSA mayor who then appointed Hanlon to a transition committee.
November 25, 2025 at 1:58 PM
For sure, but even symbolic allyship with pro-housing groups is a bold gesture for a DSA candidate. Just imagine if SF elected a DSA mayor who then appointed Hanlon to a transition committee.
I got the same heat from centrist Zohran skeptics. But I was confident he’d be pro-housing bc it’s fairly obvious from Zohran’s interviews that he’s a policy nerd, and policy nerds always get to YIMBYism eventually.
November 25, 2025 at 1:51 PM
I got the same heat from centrist Zohran skeptics. But I was confident he’d be pro-housing bc it’s fairly obvious from Zohran’s interviews that he’s a policy nerd, and policy nerds always get to YIMBYism eventually.