To balance this out, I believe that planners who thanklessly work behind to end exclusionary policies are unsung heroes. They know their power is limited, and the risk of getting fired so great, yet many nonetheless do the right thing.

I believe the phrase is, "just following orders."
bsky.app/profile/tomo...

In a span of barely five years, @opennewyork.org went from a band of ragtag volunteers to a professional organization driving a strong pro-housing agenda in Albany and New York City. If you aren't already involved, get involved!
www.onyeducation.org/membership/

The rare highly blessed back door smoker station.

Fall in Sacramento is such a funny season. On the one hand, the shorter days mean all the deciduous trees are dying. On the other hand, it marks the the first rain in six months, such that the underbrush and grasses start going wild. You get this really nice blend of orange and green.

I wonder whether drivers go slower when leaves or snow create narrower vehicle travel lanes like this. Also note how the pedestrian islands serve to practically narrow the travel lanes far beyond their physical footprint.

Nature craves boulevards and bump outs.

Absolutely love it when the vegetation envelopes the sidewalk and creates a sort of green arcade.

This is not a scholarly work. I really am a big baffled as to why this was published by an academic press. I read lots of books I dislike, and never call them out. But this one was breathlessly promoted on the podcast circuit and it has the sanction of Oxford, and so must be called out.

We need more positivity in urbanism spaces!

Yeah, we're trying to keep that separate and ideally be a global fix.

I wonder why e.g. Jersey City, San Diego, Sacramento, San Jose, etc. are so much more pro-housing than their peer cities, but I think it's just a case of second cities having better politics in general—it's helpful to have a bit of an inferiority complex.

...It's great that Zorhan finally recognized the importance of supply and endorsed the charter amendments—even if somewhat flippantly, and on election day. But the weight of his comments on this make it obvious anything he does on zoning will be business-as-usual "everything bagel" politics.