M. Nolan Gray 🥑

Frankenstein? You mean like, the Netflix film?

Thank you to Senator Caballero for passing the bill, thank you AlphaX for pioneering the development, and thank you to City of Campbell for leading on implementation! The full stack of reform: legalize, streamline, build! Now what do I do with this golden shovel?

Campbell Fast-tracks Townhome Development, First in State | KQED The Silicon Valley groundbreaking marks potentially the first construction under a new law, promising middle-income families a faster track toward homeownership.

On Friday, California YIMBY celebrated the groundbreaking of one of the first SB 684 projects: six townhomes, selling at 40% of the local median price, on a 10,000 sqft lot. The first of many, key for building the next generation of California homeowners!
www.kqed.org/news/1207568...

Me at El Cerrito Plaza TOD construction site, smiling wearing BART and El Cerrito pins

El Cerrito Council and staff breaking ground with shovels at El Cerrito Plaza TOD construction site

Construction equipment at El Cerrito Plaza TOD construction site

Related shovels in dirt at El Cerrito Plaza TOD construction site

Today’s groundbreaking ceremony for El Cerrito Plaza BART TOD was exciting!

It will be transformative for our small city, with 743 homes, major bike/ped improvements, and hopefully a new library.

I’ve worked on this project for a decade and couldn’t be happier that it’s now under construction.

What kind of a Game of Thrones ass name is "Markwayne"

At best, I gather that it subsidizes a handful of marginal projects. At worst, it wipes out an entire segment of new production. Whatever the concerns about institutional ownership of housing, it's just flat out not the source of the shortage.

Senate bill to help Americans afford housing nears the finish line The U.S. Senate is moving ahead with a bipartisan package to bring down housing costs, including new grants and a ban on large institutional investors.

Now that incentives for zoning liberalization are out, and build-to-rent single-family housing is effectively banned, I think the ROAD to Housing Act might do more harm than good.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Not even one. Sacramento doesn't have BKIZ. (Burger King Inclusionary Zoning)

Interesting parallel between the failure of DC's H Street streetcar and CalHSR: both gambled on prioritizing the least value segments on the idea that the full project would need to be completed, only to have the whole thing go bust.
thetransitguy.substack.com/p/why-the-dc...

A parking lot turns into 20 homes in Sacramento. (2020➡️2025)

The less intellectually satisfying and bleaker reality is that all of this is basically happening for no reason.

In general, reaching out to your representatives is usually the play. Share your frustration with the study and desire for reform. Ask if the legislature will direct BSC to make the change.

What's going on? Best case: They're all impulsive idiots. Worst case: They're trying to break as much as possible knowing they're going to jail in three years under normal conditions. Terrifying either way. They must lose Congress in November.

A few months ago, acquiring Greenland was an existential priority. (We didn't acquire it.) A few weeks ago, regime change in Venezuela was an existential priority. (There has been no regime change.) Now what?

A lesson learned for advocates:
1. Sometimes studies clear the runway. But sometimes they just waste time and resources.
2. If you're going to pass a study bill, have it be done by an agency with (a) research capacity and (b) an ability to make objective assessments.

California’s fire safety regulators are finally out with a 'single stair' report. They don’t love the idea California’s fire safety regulators were asked to study whether mid-rise apartments can go with a single staircase like other countries.

The legislatively-authorized CalFire report on single-stair reform came out two months late, lacks any actual research, and seems to be brushing off the clear intent of the legislature by blithely calling for a one story increase.
calmatters.org/housing/2026...

As Arlington booms, traffic drops Traffic on several Arlington roads is lower today than decades ago, despite huge increases in density and activity.

An oldie, but an important lesson: Arlington added 50,000 residents. Traffic fell.

Wilson Blvd (its main street): –23%.
Transit ridership: +34%.

When you build housing around transit, people drive less. @ggwash.org

ggwash.org/view/35122/a...

Every Google product has been turned into complete junk by AI, and it's coming for every software you use.

You best start believing in agglomeration economies...you're (hopefully) in one.

A long-vacant lot turns into 68 homes over shops in Sacramento. (2015➡️2025)

Remember back in the day when you could just call a restaurant, place an order, and their guy would have it out within 30 minutes? We live in the ruins of a fallen civilization.

Literally every time I've ever ordered using Uber Eats, nearly always for work:

1. "Pay $4 extra for 11:30am arrival!"
2. *pay it*
3. "Your latest arrival time is 12:45pm. You can't change your order, by the way."

My read of the polling is that he remains far more likely to be able to beat Collins than Mills. I think Democrats should be optimizing around that.

Yet more SB 684-1123 projects starting entitlement in Sacramento. In this case, it's being uses to do the exact sort of thing intended by SB 9. Why did it work? Doesn't have the SB 9 owner-occupancy poison pill.

Yes, locals talk about "the grid," "living on the grid," "never leaving the grid," etc.

I do know this. It was all revealed to me in a dream

As with all ice-based sports, I gather that the main constraint on producing more great athletes is ice availability. This class went from 9:30pm to 11:15pm on Saturday. The curlers tell me they get six hours on the ice a week, and it's straight into competitive play. New players are mentored.

Took a curling class tonight. It's not easy! I like the team dynamic.