Patrick Sisson

Rising Progressive Star Shakes Up Race for Los Angeles Mayor

Breaking News: Nithya Raman, a rising star among West Coast progressives and a Los Angeles City Council member, said she will run for mayor. Her announcement presents a significant challenge to the incumbent, Mayor Karen Bass.

From a “Symphony in Concrete” to a New Urban Vision for L.A. The 1970 Sunkist building next to the 101 Freeway in Sherman Oaks was the quintessential Southern California landscape. But now surrounding that Brutalist icon are paseos, a riverfront park, and grass...

Late last year I drove to the Valley to check out a fascinating landscape project: turning the old Sunkist HQ & its Brutalist office into an apartment complex & park. A great example of walkable infill design in LA for Landscape Architecture Magazine landscapearchitecturemagazine.org/citrus-commo...

A staggering statement from former Washington Post editor Marty Baron: "This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations."

YouTube video by Bo Burnham - Topic Bezos I

Always a good day for this banger, today especially. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Ee...

Aerospace Manufacturing Space Demands Surge With Federal Spending, Industry Innovation A boom in aerospace demand is creating new demand for factory construction and second-order real estate development.

Global demand for planes and new technologies have created an aerospace boom: how industrial real estate can take advantage of a push to build “some of the biggest buildings in the world.” www.bisnow.com/national/new...

“We have a workforce filled with people who weathered COVID in a nursing home. This is no small thing. And now you’re saying they don’t deserve to be in this country? I don’t think so,”

How Businesses Are Manipulating ChatGPT Results You’ve long heard about search engine optimization. Companies are now spending big to feature prominently in the output of AI chatbots. It’s called GEO.

How Businesses Are Manipulating ChatGPT Results

You’ve long heard about search engine optimization. Companies are now spending big on generative engine optimization.

my latest for @wsj.com

🎁🔗
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-w...

A coworking space for the 1% of workers Industrious Reserve brings private club exclusivity and perks to coworking, from pre-Zoom barbering to caviar tastings. What's it cost? If you have to ask . . . .

Can coworking for the 1 percent work? The new Industrious Reserve product, launching inside the landmark Lever House in Manhattan, thinks there’s a market for renting offices for CEOs with caviar tastings and concierge services. My latest for @fastcompany.com www.fastcompany.com/91483735/a-c...

If You Entitle It, They Will Come: How Powered Land Plugs CRE Into The Data Center Boom Powered land has emerged as a growing asset amid the massive data center development frenzy.

Powered land—acerage prepped w/entitlements & power hookups for data centers—has become a hot asset class as the AI boom shows no signs of stopping. “30 years ago, the constraint was the building. Today, the constraint is megawatts & entitlements.” My latest for Bisnow www.bisnow.com/national/new...

LA County considers plans to remove unhoused people and clear encampments around Olympic venues L.A. County officials have issued a strategy report advising local governments on how to clear people from encampments near major events.

"Efforts to remove unhoused people will focus on the security perimeters of Olympic venues, according to the report."

For many of the major venues, what's been discussed has been a one-mile radius. For the Figueroa/Expo Park cluster, that would encompass huge sections of downtown and South LA

Data Centers Are Driving a US Gas Boom Gas projects in the US pipeline explicitly linked to data centers increased by almost 25 times over the past two years, according to new research from Global Energy Monitor.

i was actually shocked to see the numbers on new research from Global Energy Monitor on new gas projects in the US: nearly 100 gigawatts of power—enough to power tens of millions of homes—are currently in development explicitly to power data centers. At the end of 2023 that number was 4 gigawatts

Fraud Alert: How Scammers Are Now Impersonating City Governments Planning departments are rethinking digital security as a swarm of imposters scrape public records to send city clients fake invoices.

NEW: City planning departments nationwide have seen a rise in a troubling type of scam; phishing attacks impersonating city officials, using increasingly realistic fake emails to bilk builders w/fake fees. Many suspect AI is involved. My story for APA: www.planning.org/planning/202...

Anti-pop and an alien sigil: how Aphex Twin overtook Taylor Swift to become the soundtrack to gen Z life online The mysterious Cornish electronic music pioneer has gained an extraordinary second life in the TikTok era. Writers and musicians explain why his glitchy slipperiness is so in tune with life today

Does this mean my kids think I’m cool? www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...

I think I saw a Billy Bragg song, too — full compilation by end of week

Uber’s founder wants to disrupt your apartment As more young, wealthy people choose to rent, Sekra aims to give them what they want: luxury living, game nights, and blackout shades.

Tech bros want to disrupt your apartment. Sekra, a new multifamily brand by Uber founder Travis Kalanick & Habitas’s Oliver Ripley, seek to “build a global brand that sits at the cross section of community, culture, and longevity and wellness” www.fastcompany.com/91482125/ube...

Hotline operators report flood of calls for rental assistance as residents hide during ICE surge 211 calls from Spanish-speakers have increased more than 1,600 percent and requests for rental assistance have more than tripled, according to Greater Twin Cities United Way. Local officials are pushi...

Minneapolis has seen a stunning 1,646% spike in calls from families who can't pay rent because they're afraid to leave their homes to work.

This is state violence manufacturing housing precarity in real time.

People should not be facing eviction when their city is under occupation.

Gladys West, mathematician whose work paved the way for GPS, dies at 95 A self-described "little farm girl" in the Jim Crow Era, Gladys West's complex and pioneering work for the U.S. Navy helped to improve billions of lives — and keep us from getting lost.

A self-described "little farm girl" in the Jim Crow Era, Gladys West's complex and pioneering work for the U.S. Navy helped to improve billions of lives — and keep us from getting lost. n.pr/3YVSGJK

Don't just freak out about the headline! Today we're talking about the Fed, interest rates, corporate landlords, fair housing, evictions, rents, abundance and more:

LA transit agency seeks to override state law allowing more homes near train and bus lines The L.A. Metro Board of Directors voted to oppose implementation of SB 79, calling for a countywide exemption.

L.A. Metro, the main transit operator for Los Angeles, just voted to oppose SB 79, a law legalizing the construction of housing near stations. You can't make this stuff up. Legislators should remember this the next time they come to Sacramento begging for more money.
laist.com/news/housing...

Permitting for Housing Construction in Washington, DC, Has Declined Since 2022

We conducted our research in the context of a major collapse of housing permitting in DC.

Since 2023, the number of housing units permitted in the city has fallen off the cliff.

The city needs new approaches to add housing, particularly affordable units.

We're taking applications for this position for another couple of weeks! I really can't say enough good things about working at IW, we have incredible benefits and fantastic pay and a really positive and healthy workplace culture. Apply and spread the word!

Data Centers, Immigration Action Add To Construction Labor Shortage Associated Builders and Contractors predicts the construction industry will need 349,000 net workers to meet demand in 2026, then 456,000 more in 2027.

Data centers, ramped-up immigration enforcement and longstanding gaps have created a huge gulf in the construction labor force. This year, the U.S. needs to hire 349,000 new workers. Last year, we only added 14,000. For Bisnow, I look at the gap and its economic impact www.bisnow.com/national/new...

World-Class American Transit Transportation for America's analysis shows U.S. transit falls far short of global peers and what it would take to close the gap

Priorities: Per new Transportation for America report, U.S. would need to spend $4.6 trillion over 20 years to build, operate, and maintain a world-class transit network. Sounds like a lot? We’re spending $6.3 trillion on highways over the same period. t4america.org/resource/wor...

Texas solar power surpassed coal in 2025 for the first year ever. Here's why. In 2025 — for the first year ever — solar arrays provided more electricity to Texas’ main power grid than coal-fired power plants.

Renewable energy is saving Texans. “If not for the growth in solar and (battery) storage, we would have seen numerous conservation alerts or probably even blackouts,” Rice’s Daniel Cohan said.
www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...

Satellite Images Reveal Venezuela’s Massive Methane Problem Data shows millions of tons of methane spewing from the nation’s decaying energy infrastructure, underscoring how much work is required to revive production.

Satellite images of methane plumes above VZ are a climate horror show (gift link)

Safeguarding Fire-Prone Homes Is a Collective Action Problem

As wildfires risks increse, communities are faced with a challenge: figuring out how to inspire collective action to protect neighborhoods from the next blaze. For @nytimes.com I looked at a few efforts to protect homes and minimize skyrocketing insurance costs www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/r...

The 'Lost Year': How LA's Devastating Fires Deepened Its Economic Woes Fires claimed 31 lives and thousands of structures as Los Angeles tried to regain its footing after the pandemic.

For Bisnow, I teamed up with my colleagues to look at the long-lasting impacts of the LA Fires, and how after the smoke cleared, the torturous rebuilding process can feel like ”walking through landmines” www.bisnow.com/los-angeles/...

A map of the US with each 2025 billion-plus dollar weather and climate disaster geo-located on it. Source: Climate Central

After the US admin cancelled the $B Climate + Weather Disaster dataset, @climatecentral.org hired the scientists who ran it and set it back up.

Now the 2025 numbers are in: it's 3rd highest year on record and highest year w/o land-falling hurricanes.

More: www.climatecentral.org/climate-serv...

'A Big Problem': For Women Brokers, Becoming A Mom Often Means Lost Pay, Clients As contract employees, brokers are often ineligible for maternity leave benefits.

For Bisnow I looked at the tricky issue of maternity leave for contract employees in commercial real estate. Thanks to everyone who shares personal stories with me www.bisnow.com/national/new...

Fire-Prone Areas Try Carrots and Sticks to Boost Home Upgrades

For @nytimes.com I looked at new schemes to tackle one of the toughest challenges of fire resilience — the collective action problem www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/r...