Dom

I've been working with @dbecon.bsky.social to work out some figures on Brisbane's zoning and we started looking at character restrictions.

Within 5km of Brisbane's CBD, a whopping 64% of all residential properties have some kind of character restrictions. That's 57% of land or 2,204 hectares.

Would be great to have you involved! We put on very relaxed drinks last Wednesday of the month at the Aurora near central- great way to meet the team and always a very friendly crowd

I am sorry but the study you are citing is just appallingly bad. The quantitative claim it actually makes is that "after controlling for one measure of rents, more international students are not associated with increases in another measure". It would fail an undergrad econometrics course.

I strongly support immigration. I think that the impact of especially international students is overrated as a factor in housing costs.

I do not think making the claim that "immigration requires building more homes" is blaming immigration for rising housing costs, it is acknowledging reality.

I asked you a question?!?

Genuine question- is your position that immigration has, all else equal, no impact on housing costs?

Before PIA or any of the other ticket clippers are allowed to whinge about a 'planner shortage', can we try not needing:
- 60 pages of documentation
- a month long notification period - a public panel meeting

To permit a restaurant to convert to a bar, with the same operating hours!

How Paul Krugman changed the public face of economics He's a great economist, but he also changed how we talk about the subject.

By far the best thing Noah Smith has written in a while. Krugman's simply the best to ever do it, and a role model for us all to aspire to

There is not a Party in Australia which is honest with itself about housing. The Libs just want the money tap to flow votes forever. Labor wants prices to rise and come down at the same time. The greens want massive public housing builds but without actually altering any suburbs. None of it is real

We’re going to fall well short of our housing accord target and DPHI is responding by watering down their reforms to the consistency of skim milk.

People are sleeping in their cars and they’re handwringing over whether four storey apartments are “discordant” with $3m terraces adjacent to the CBD.

Planning is all about matching development to infrastructure capacity- that's why we build all our housing out West where half the kids are in demountable classrooms and don't build where principals are desperate for more kids.

Canberrans are also good citizens

is this a.... special?

this despite almost zero actual enforcement! we are a moral, high trust people

possibly the thing I am most smug about Sydney relative to other cities is that almost everyone taps on the bus

Multiple university faculties, multinational companies, large local businesses, sizeable professional firms.

All incapable of doing the right thing! I don't think Australian minimum wage standards are too high, but they're clearly too complex.

Today I crossed an important milestone- every single employer I have ever had (except for my current one) have now backpaid me for paying under the award. 5 from 5 baby!

The acre of flat land next to the station should touch the face of god.

I'm strongly anti online and sports gambling. Casinos I see as just formalising something that's always going to exist, and this is a fine enough building to put one in

I'm far from an expert but to my untrained eye, compared to 75% of the buildings in the cbd, the casino is pretty good!

Never really understood the hate it gets. Nice public foreshore, reasonably attractive design. It's fine!

There are two trains both going to Newcastle on opposite sides of the platform and people have been shuffled between the two about 5 times. Not optimistic about my chances

Attempting a Mariyung gunzel trip this evening, currently a v set and an oscar have been sitting on the platform for 20 minutes

3) Check your fucking code.

Australian banks today are infinitely leaner and more efficient than they used to be, which has occurred in response to their margins getting absolutely battered since the 90s.

This is a good thing. Cheap loans are more important than wasteful branches for boomers.

Appalling stories from the Northern Beaches Hospital. It shouldn't be surprising that they're struggling with staffing when the only housing nearby are $4m mansions and public transport options are pathetic.

If we want to fix our hospitals, we need to build homes for staff to live.

Fewer more cursed phrases in the English language than 'Freakonomics Analysis Needed"

Great paper on a rare topic: impact of planning changes in a city without a critical shortage of housing

Working class people not being able to afford the birthplace of the Labor Party? Not important to heritage.

Some green paint on a 1990s supermarket? Foul desecration

"Get a fucking grip"

There's a bloke who's now on his 5th day in a row posting multi paragraph screeds in the Balmain facebook page about how this building being painted green is an affront to the priceless heritage of the area.