Ben Raderstorf
@braderstorf
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policy advocate @protctdemocracy / author / co-prez @SacYIMBY / consigliere to @emily_estus / pug dad / rash opinions my own
Beamtown
Joined October 2010
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We've posted a lot of good stuff on . This might be my favorite piece yet:
@emilize
&
@jessmarsden
on how the US is more prepared for this election than any presidential election in history
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🚨 BREAKING: Sacramento City Council just voted to enact the most ambitious pro-housing zoning reform in California history.
What does this mean? A thread:
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This is how the housing crisis ends.
A primo studio in one of my favorite buildings in basically the best possible location in Sacramento (15th and K), pets allowed.
Two years ago: $1,418
Today: $1,126
(And it's been listed for almost two weeks!)
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First, Council voted to eliminate unit caps citywide, period, and move to a form-based code (FAR). This is the holy grail of housing reform.
More than just ending single-family zoning, this ends the notion that housing should be blocked based on units, not scale, ever.
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If you proposed either of these things in SF or LA, literal violence might ensue. At the very least, it would probably be the most heated vote in that city's history.
But in Sacramento?
UNANIMOUS SUPPORT. And not just 9-0 on Council, but 30-0 from public comments.
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This is HUGE: cities building lots of new apartments — often decried as "luxury housing" — are seeing Class C and Class B (more affordable) rents decline *even faster* than Class A (less affordable).
Here's, for me, the biggest surprise turn of the U.S. apartment sector in 2023:
Class B apartments have been more impacted by supply than even Class A. In high-supply submarkets, Class B rents are down more than 2x Class A. Yet in no-supply submarkets, they're equals.
I was
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Second, Council voted to significantly increase development intensities within 1/2 mile of transit, setting Sacramento up to be a transit-oriented development powerhouse — a *huge* step for climate and sustainability goals.
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NEW: 200+ eminent scholars call on Congress to adopt multi-winner elections in the US. "Our winner-take-all system — where each U.S. House district is represented by a single person — is fundamentally broken." via
@NYTBlake
@protctdemocracy
@FixOurHouse
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WE DID IT.
Sacramento has done what no other city in the US has done: purged exclusionary zoning in every single way, shape, and form. More affordable, sustainable, multi-family housing is legalized citywide.
The new general plan we adopted tonight makes us the most pro-housing city in the country. This plan represents the true progressive values of
@TheCityofSac
- housing for all.
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This will not only help solve the housing crisis now, but it helps future-proof the city against the next housing crisis, and the one after that.
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I knew the Peskin downzoning was awful. Did not realize it was literally about protecting the views from his 1.5 million dollar hilltop house. Egregious.
@maxdubler
I did a quick mock up of Aaron’s house and a 270 foot residential tower within the district, to better illustrate the grift
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The collapse of the Colorado River water supply is one of those boring-sounding things that will dramatically reshape an entire region of the country
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — U.S. officials say Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will get less Colorado River water after reservoir levels hit critical low.
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Oh, and the Kings came from behind to stomp the Warriors in the most important game of the season so far.
This Beam's for you, Sacramento. You are amazing.
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Don't look now, but Sacramento is showing California how to beat the housing crisis. The city is throwing the kitchen sink at "build more of everything." And it's working.
My
@SacYIMBY
op-ed in the
@sfchronicle
today:
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Sacramento rents are down over 8% since last year — and unlike other cities, it's not people fleeing! (the Sacramento region is by-far the fastest growing in the state)
The city simply made it really easy to build apartments. Build housing.
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Quick story: last night, Sacramento made history with the most pro-housing zoning reform in the country. It almost didn't happen. (the "most" part, I mean)
At a key junction, the "default proposal" was suddenly, accidentally, scaled back — on par with Minneapolis' or Portland's
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🚨🚨🚨 Most important poll of the year just dropped!
No, not NYT/Siena.
@EchelonInsights
multi-party poll. This sound nice to you? Consider proportional representation.
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SACRAMENTO! Huge news: the city is out with a draft of a transformative "streets for people" plan, with hundreds of miles of bike lanes & other improvements. (Here is *just* the *protected* bike lanes and paths in the central city.)
But we need your help to make this happen! 1/
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Extremely grateful for our visionary City Council -
@CM_LisaKaplan
@CMSeanLoloee
@CM_Talamantes
@CMKValenzuela
@CaityMaple
@EricZGuerra
@RickJenningsD7
@CMMaiVang
- plus the wizards on city staff & planning commission.
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‼️‼️‼️
Sacramento rents are down more than 10% in real terms in the same period because the city is building new housing. When you build more homes, fewer people have to go without them.
BREAKING: Sacramento homeless population drops 29% since 2022. There are now roughly 6600 homeless people here, according to new PIT report.
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Don’t build housing = spiraling rents + aging homeowner class = young families leave = enrollment drops = schools close.
Don’t like school closures? Build housing.
BREAKING and EXCLUSIVE: San Francisco poised to close some schools by 2025 amid loss of 10,000 students
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More importantly, this is entirely credit to the hundreds of voters & activists who have worked tirelessly to make this the most pro-housing city in the country.
@SacHsngAlliance
@ecosacramento
@UnitedLatinos1
@CivicThread
and so, so many others.
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Hard to explain to other Californians how culturally YIMBY Sacramento is. Market rate mixed use 5 story project going up on a culturally significant site (o.g. Tower Records) literally next door to single-family homes in Land Park and this is what guy-walking-his-dog thinks.
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Forget the noise, the questions to ask around a potential Trump indictment are clear: what's the evidence, and would someone else be charged for the same crime? Excellent analysis by
@KPNatsFan
and
@ianbassin
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No one:
Me: Sacramento really should run ads in BART stations.
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This week, the Sacramento planning commission voted to NOT require dormered third stories for new missing middle housing for everywhere within 1/2 mile of transit (light pink and greater in this map).
This seems small but it's a big deal! ⏬
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And of course, the gang at
@SacYIMBY
-
@kevindumler
@ansellundberg
@anniekeys11
@louismirante
@UrbanLandRent
& hundreds of others.
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I think California Forever should take their millions and build a giant
@culdesac
in
@thesacrailyards
. huge brownfield parcels surrounded by Amtrak, multiple light rail lines, riverfront parks, and <10 min walking to downtown employers and entertainment.
California needs toms of investment into
@culdesac
pilots, not California Forever. Transit accessibility is a must for major new development.
Vallejo is right next door and check out all the parking lots next to the Ferry line. Financing 1-2 developments for comps is enough to
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Pro-tip: if you're describing new affordable housing as a "startling," "preposterous," "insidious threat," you may want to pause to consider if you're actually the bad guy in all this
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I say this as a new homeowner who theoretically benefits:
The mortgage interest deduction is an unthinkably insane policy & should be eliminated and redirected to affordable housing funding. (Want to make homeownership easier? Subsidize supply, not demand.)
Taxpayers only receive the MID if they itemize their taxes. It is only worth it if they have a HUGE home, especially when interest rates are low.
In 2018, taxpayers earning over $200,000 make up 34% of claims and take 60% of the benefits. Lower incomes, not so much.
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So frustrating that so many reporters buy the lie that opposing new housing is "progressive."
Creating an artificial scarcity of a basic human right to inflate property values & protect the views of wealthy homeowners is as regressive as it gets!!!!
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Sacramento when SB 969 passes
I introduced new legislation to allow cities to create outdoor entertainment zones, where bars & restaurants can sell food & drink & people can enjoy themselves in activated outdoor spaces. SB 969 will help SF & other cities energize downtowns & provide folks with a fun time.
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@thekc23
Yep. If LA would just follow the Sacramento strategy of "making it *way* easier to build housing of any kind, including market-rate" and maybe they'd be seeing the same affordability gains
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Half of all *market-rate* rental housing built since 2010 in Sacramento is affordable at 80% AMI and fully 9 out of 10 units are affordable at 120% AMI.
We should be honest that "workforce" affordable housing programs are almost certainly a distraction
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Sacramento’s landmark pro-housing reform is officially out of the 30-day CEQA lawsuit window.
Exclusionary zoning is now and forever dead in California’s capital, the first city in the state to do so.
@SacYIMBY
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In the European context, Helsinki. In the U.S. context, Sacramento. In the Canadian context, Calgary. In the Australian context, Brisbane. In the South American context, Medellin, even though it gets a lot of attention.
Good question. What’s YOUR most underrated city?
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Sacramento is eating San Francisco’s lunch by building an inclusive & welcoming city—and it’s only poised to accelerate.
As much as I’d like to gloat, this isn’t a contest and the suffering is real. SF must change its act. Great
@emily_hoeven
piece:
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This is — no exaggeration — the best single explanation of the why & how of zoning reform that I have *ever* seen.
@ByRobinEpley
nails it. Whoever you are, whoever you live, *read this*
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This is nuts. This paper finds the
@TheCACoast
Commission has increased housing prices by 20% and significantly reduced density in the coastal zone — thereby increasing VMT & emissions. Yikes! Via
@cayimby
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I love
@CapitolCorridor
so much.
With catenary electrification (hydrogen is a scam!) and a new transbay direct route to downtown SF through
#Link21
, it could easily be the best train route in the western hemisphere.
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Staff heard the message loud and clear and went back to the original task — designing reform that was more, not less, than others had achieved. Last night Council passed it. And it did so *unanimously.*
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Then, in a remarkable moment—this one—
@CaityMapleD5
and the rest of Council said hold up. "Because something has been done in the past, it carries forward. And at some point we have to stop and ask ourselves — was this a good policy in the first place?"
Think your council is pro housing? Sacramento heard the staff proposal to scale back zoning reforms and impose 4-6 unit caps across 70% of the city last night.
Here were all five of the comments from the dais, each expressing a desire to increase density or do away with the caps
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Sacramento! Listen up! 📢
This is exactly the sort of missing middle project that Sacramento's general plan is poised to unlock — although there's a hiccup in the plan!
Bear with me:
Our Spokane 6 project (about to start framing!!!!) also fits on a 50' wide lot--we're eager to export this design to your town or city, so get in touch!
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If you are an elected official (or if you work for one or you're friends with one or you know one from the farmers' market), I wonder: when was the last time you stopped to ask, like
@CaityMapleD5
, is the status quo good policy in the first place?
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Really baffled to see
@Flo4Sacramento
suddenly coming out full Bay Area-style left-NIMBY. Not sure what the thinking is here? Such a shame
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A truly remarkable investigative piece from
@JTanfani
,
@nedmparker1
&
@byPeterEisler
at
@Reuters
. One of the most important stories of the year so far. Our judicial system is under unprecedented attack:
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Wild how much the Sacramento food scene is thriving even as every other city I go to feels kinda floundering.
*Just in my neighborhood,* here are some of the places opening soon or just opened recently that I'm extremely jazzed about, in no particular order [a thread]:
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Sacramento after we invoke the Defense Production Act to build housing
Our subsidized housing system should frankly shift from a social service posture to an industrial policy posture. We should be going full war economy mode on housing construction, if for no other reason, for climate sustainability purposes.
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With
@Timodc
's away,
@amandacarpenter
stole the show — and brought me along for the ride! Such a blast to be on the best podcast in the business,
@BulwarkOnline
:
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Hey
@EricSchucht
, asking with humility — any chance you all can stop using this as your headline convention for when drivers hit children with their cars?
(Unless the kids are literally running into stationary cars. But if so put that in the story.)
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I'm convinced 90% of disagreement on housing policy is just because this sh*t is super confusing.
So I tried to break down my understanding of how housing works as simply as I can.
I give you: "Housing Affordability 101"
@SacYIMBY
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Why do so many Californians — from landlords and homeowners to progressive activists and housing lawyers — assume it’s an iron law that rents always go up?
PEOPLE!!! THIS ISN’T TRUE! THIS IS A POLICY CHOICE!
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As most people know, I'm *so* excited about Sacramento's historic pro-housing reforms to allow small multifamily across the city.
That said, I'm concerned that nitty details—especially a complex geometric "bulk control" measure—could hamstring the reforms. [1/2]
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It wasn't a *bad* proposal! It just was no longer cutting-edge.
And in local politics, scaled-back ambition is usually a one-way ratchet. The "default" is extremely sticky — once we anchor on less, it's so much harder to push for more.
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Now you can build small apartments + townhomes without the extra 10-20% cost of dormers/gables anywhere walkable to transit. (We currently confine this stuff to the pink/black areas of downtown)
Some examples from my neighborhood. These will now be legal in much of the city!
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With the stories of mundane, senseless murder this week, I keep thinking about
@petersagal
's heartbreaking piece on Isabella Thallas, killed for walking a dog — and one of thousands of gun deaths every year that pass unnoticed
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Ok, seriously how do we do Measure HLA in Sacramento? I’m ready to knock doors
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I agree with
@NoLabelsOrg
, our two party system contributes to our democracy crisis.
But the only way to fix it is bottom-up reform. A top-down presidential run not only won't work, it could lead to a constitutional crisis. My piece w/
@amandacarpenter
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@youknowkempa
Hey Dave! Totally respect and anticipate we may have differences of opinion — always happy to talk about them — but just for the record
@SacYIMBY
is 100% volunteer & unfunded. Our few expenses (e.g. yard signs, web hosting fees) are paid out of pocket by board members.
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@UrbanLandRent
“Things just haven’t been the same since the Alfalfa’s Organic Market got bought by Whole Foods. All the dot-com-era techies have been priced out!”
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@SacAppraiser
Spokane is probably the best comparison.
@spokanerising
can definitely answer questions! Portland and Minneapolis have done similar things to great success--although Sacramento's will go beyond those in some ways.
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There are literally no reasons to not do single-stair in Sacramento — the perfect complement to the GPU.
SINGLE STAIR REFORM
The comment period for Austin’s amendments to the IBC (international building code) ends tomorrow! If we can convince them that single stair reform is important, this could unlock tons of housing!
Please help us with a comment! 👇
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You can find an apartment in my neighborhood for less than a thousand bucks again.
We’re winning. Let’s keep going
@SacYIMBY
@SacHsngAlliance
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How can anyone watch this video and not immediately do everything in your power to make
@CapitolCorridor
electrification happen
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I don't think people understand the tidal wave of new, infill multi-family housing in Sacramento basically just waiting for interest rates to fall.
Crunching the numbers from
@bdavissacbiz
, this is what the unit pipeline looks like just in central city.
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Watching YIMBYism go from an insurgent movement to a dominant electoral force in California politics in <5 years is such confirmation that democracy works & can solve hard problems.
@SacYIMBY
@cayimby
A reminder that Senator Wiener wins elections by consistently larger margins because voters resoundingly support the work he does on housing and he’s one of the most popular politicians in California. *Not* voting like Senator Wiener on housing is now the political liability.
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This is a hilariously bad “study” — what’s more likely: that 311 usage rate indicates whether a city’s residents are complainers? or if a city’s 311 system is easy and responsive?
(Hint: Sacramento’s 311 system works great!)
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Free idea for
@RideSacRT
— a vibe-y, well-branded, extended-hours circulator bus ("The Grid Wheel" or whatevs) on these routes.
-Easily conect basically all major attractions with each other
-Short route means easy to maintain short headways
-People would actually take it
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@sullydish
@ThePlumLineGS
Factually, empirically, obviously untrue.
"The Founders" debated a supermajority requirement and decisively rejected it. This is Hamilton in Federalist 22:
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Huge credit to the planning commissioners who voted 10-1 for this change, and especially
@DovKadin
, Maya Wallace, Kendra Macias Reed, and Erin Reschke who led the charge!
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Yikes. Even under the best conditions, IZ costs 4-5 market-rate units for every below-market unit it delivers.
You have to be pretty damn skeptical of filtering (a position which is empirically harder and harder to justify) for this math to work out.
4. Holding TOC bonuses constant, higher inclusionary zoning requirements come at significant cost. At best, every below-market unit produced by IZ reduces market-rate production by more than 4 units. At higher IZ, this "exchange rate" climbs to almost 9-to-1.
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Most people assume No Labels will fail and might spoil things in Trump’s favor.
True. But if they succeed —and actually win states— that could be even worse for democracy. (Yes, somehow it can be worse.)
@amandacarpenter
& me in
@BulwarkOnline
:
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SACRAMENTO!
Tonight is the night. We permanently, fully end exclusionary zoning. The most consequential and important zoning reform anywhere in California. Be there in person to push it over the finish line!
@SacYIMBY
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Insane story in downtown Sac/Mansion Flats tonight. [Thread]
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We may have been the first city, but we won't be the last.
Huge congratulations to all the people who helped Sacramento change the arc of housing history. Such a joy to celebrate the best city with the best people at the
@SacYIMBY
"good neighbor" awards.
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For at least six months there was an RFK Jr. table at the Sacramento farmers market.
For some reason, they've stopped showing up...
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Today,
@protctdemocracy
released one of the most important products in our seven year history. A robust summary of what an autocratic presidency could (would?) look like in 2025, and what to do about it.
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I used to be an e-bike skeptic (still prefer my muscle-powered cruiser bike, personally) but it's become pretty much irrefutable that they're amazing at getting people to ride more.
The “E-Bike Effect:” Those who bought e-bikes increased their average daily bicycle use from 2.1km (1.3 miles) to 9.2km (5.7 miles), a 340% increase. The e-bike share of all their transportation increased dramatically too; from 17% to 49%. Via
@Treehugger
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I'm convinced there's no finer place in the world on a Saturday in April than Sacramento, California.
That's all.
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As a country, our two options seem to be:
1. Endure a messy, chaotic, years-long, and zero-sum political fight over census counts and redistricting.
2.
@UncapTheHouse
Take the shift in population since 2020, divide by 3 (average gain/loss) and multiply by 7, add that to the total. All hell breaks loose in that scenario. CA loses 5 seats, CO+1, DE+1, FL+4, GA+1, ID+1, IL-2, MI-1, MN-1, NY-3, NC+1, OR-1, PA-1, RI-1, SC+1, TN+1, TX+4, UT+1, WI-1
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At the very least, I really wish you all would bring the same level of zeal to enforcing speeding & traffic violence — which kills more people in Sacramento every year than homicides — than you do enforcing crimes of "looking suspicious to the Sheriff"
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Costco went from closing on the land to opening the Natomas store in 13 months.
We should put them in charge of High Speed Rail
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Got 'serious' & 'professional' headshots taken for the first time in my life.
Unrelated: my new book on how miasma theory explains the world economy launches at Davos, 2025
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Making it more expensive to build housing makes housing more expensive.
It's wild that this is such a controversial take.
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For about a dozen reasons, today is one of those "we need to make a lot more room for people in California" days
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"There's not a lot of places to live in Sacramento. We're running pretty low on that. Let's have a lot more places to live." --- literally this guy should be put in charge of most California local governments
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I know that "this report is really important" are the 5 words least likely to make you click. But seriously, this new report by
@leedrutman
is *really* important
We've been trying to fix democracy by crippling political parties. It's doing the opposite
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🚨 This new paper by Scott Mainwaring &
@leedrutman
is *huge*
For decades, the
#1
critique of PR is that it "doesn't work with presidentialism," stemming from one 1993 paper.
The author? Scott Mainwaring.
Safe to say—consensus has shifted.
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What happened in Tennessee mirrors similar tactics in Russia, India, and Hong Kong.
But why do authoritarians pull such brazen stunts? Because poisoning accountability tools today undermines accountability in the future. My take for
@protctdemocracy
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Hey friends -- very exciting news,
@protctdemocracy
is launching a new weekly email briefing on all the good work being done across the democracy movement, authored by yours truly. First edition out today. subscribe at
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Sacramento Pizza, ranked:
1. Supreme Being
2. Pizzasaurus
3. Majka (at the Crocker)
4. Majka
5. Fieldwork
6. Masullo
7. Anonimo
8. OneSpeed
9. Federalist
No apologies.
#Sacramentoisapizzatown
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One of the car industry paradoxes is they claim it's impossible to build a new car for anything less than a cost which demands high new car prices *AND* that by doing so en masse used cars dealers will start charging less than these costs.
One of the YIMBY paradoxes is that they claim it’s impossible to build a unit for anything less than a cost which demands high market rents in perpetuity *AND* that by doing so en masse landlords will start charging less then these costs.
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When it comes to housing, I’m convinced Sacramento has the savviest, boldest, and most effective city council anywhere in the country.
Thank you
@Mayor_Steinberg
,
@CaityMaple
,
@CMKValenzuela
,
@CM_LisaKaplan
for your leadership & remarks tonight!
@SacYIMBY
@SacHsngAlliance
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Great news. The negative externalities to driving vs. biking/walking/taking trasnit don't magically disappear on certain days.
New: To help the city close a budget deficit, Sacramento will soon charge drivers at downtown and midtown parking meters on Sundays and holidays, the council decided last night in approving the budget
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I voted for Porter because I didn't want Garvey in the runoff. I'm extremely disappointed by this. Exceptionally irresponsible when our democracy is under attack.
honestly, Katie, I'm glad you lost — which, yes, you *lost.* That doesn't make it "rigged."
Enjoy retirement.
Thank you to everyone who supported our campaign and voted to shake up the status quo in Washington. Because of you, we had the establishment running scared — withstanding 3 to 1 in TV spending and an onslaught of billionaires spending millions to rig this election. (1/)
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If there's one thing* wrong with American democracy, it's winner-take-all elections. They polarize us, quash minority representation, and allow a minoritarian autocratic faction to seize control. Must read by
@g_tudor
&
@btremitiere
*to be clear, definitely more than one thing.
NEW REPORT: “Towards Proportional Representation for the U.S. House: Amending the Uniform Congressional District Act” by Protect Democracy and
@uniteamerica
🧵
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