Michael C

🚨Issue 03 | Inflection Points | OUT NOW🚨
- Flavio Menezes
- Brendan Coates
- Matthew Maltman
- Travis Jordan

100$ for 3000 people to represent? Surely everyone can spare a dollar?

YouTube video by Justine Underhill The Common Sense Plan to Fix America

after MONTHS of work, I just released a new video about how America’s systems broke, who benefits from keeping them broken, and what we can do about it...
This should motivate everyone to VOTE on Nov 4
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MPE...

Australian cities need to build more homes in the places people most want to live. That's why states should introduce reforms to permit 3-storey townhouses or flats on all residential land in capital cities, and at least 6 storeys near to transport hubs and commercial centres. 7/

More homes, better cities: Letting more people live where they want Three-storey townhouses and apartments should be permitted on all residential land in all capital cities as part of a concerted policy assault on Australia’s housing crisis.

Housing in Australia is both too scarce and too expensive. Yet our major cities are among the least dense of their size in the world. Our latest Grattan report show how we can reform our urban planning rules to allow for more homes and better cities. 🧵

What's the single biggest driver of the housing crisis?

According to a new Grattan Institute report, it's our own urban planning rules. The path out of this crisis runs directly through bold reform of these rules.

A must-read. 👇

This new work from @grattaninstitute.bsky.social is nothing short of seminal.

For too long we have let our cities be locked up by bad, unjustifiable land use and housing policy. But the tide is turning on bad policy—and that is for the better.

bsky.app/profile/grat...

We cannot allow NIMBYism to continue to segregate our city.

A friend in Berlin just sent me this. Lovely buildings + policies that support the greening of frontages and streets 🏡

At night
During a hot day
In the early morning
In the late evening
On a gray / hazy day
When it’s raining
When there are trees equally tall
When you’re in a city

* all the times when a new building’s shadow isn’t an existential crisis

Solving the housing crisis is a marathon but a new law could be the first step The ACT government has passed legislation enshrining housing as a human right. What does that mean, and should other states follow?

The ACT has legislated housing to be a human right.
Zoning that restricts housing should be considered a denial of human rights. Hopefully it will be outlawed.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

Every sidewalk bicyclist is a vote for protected bike lanes.

New line, interchange at Victoria Street.

Placemaking: Public vs Private Realms and the Role of the Planner Knowing ones place in Planning to deliver desirable outcomes The frank discussions with Hamish Rennie over the weekend on LinkedIn about the National Standardised Zones got me thinking two things: …

What I said yesterday and also
voakl.net/2025/04/01/p...

To no surprise, vacancy myths are totally bogus

How the Hutt handled housing: The city’s bold intensification push Behind the arguments over ‘shoeboxes’ and property values, the council-owned Urban Plus shows another side to intensification — one of stability, affordability and a sense of home.

Removal of parking mandates and zoning restrictions in Lower Hutt Wellington led to a boom in housing including council owned rentals. www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3608...

Labor’s rank and file demand housing towers remain in public hands An emotive debate about social housing will shift from the floor of the state Labor conference to Jim Chalmers’ Economic Reform Roundtable.

Massive shout-out to Labor for Housing for their strong advocacy on getting CRA and GST reform for public housing on the agenda. If we want more public housing, we need to change the incentives!

www.theage.com.au/politics/vic...

We believe e-bikes should be allowed on public transport, if: There is space on public transport. They are not e-motorcycles. ‘E’ Safety is enhanced through improved import regulations and compliance efforts. Helping customers to use public transport remains the focus of staff. E-mobility is recognised as a part of the public transport system, particularly in growth areas. Government – including data and monitoring – should be transparent to help taxpayers better understand the issue. There is a proactive rather than reactive approach to addressing this issue.

🚆🛴🚲We don't think a blanket ban of e-bikes and e-scooters from trains is the best way forward. A more nuanced approach is needed, addressing safety but not losing the obvious advantages for first mile/last mile connectivity.
Have your say: engage.vic.gov.au/pu...

Will a CC-BY-SA 4.0 be okay?

Out of the blue ask, Ive been searching for a good photo to highlight Little Eveleigh St as a living street for OSM. Is it possible to get your permission to put your photo on the OSM wiki page for it? Its a nice photo showing the seamless connection between the street and station entrance.

Opinion: No reason why Vancouver can’t become a cycling city | Urbanized There is no good reason why Vancouver cannot become a proper cycling city. We need to stop our half-hearted approach.

“Contrary to common sentiment, the data also shows that businesses benefit from cycling infrastructure. If well-designed, a proper cycling network drives far more people to businesses than cars do.”

Bike-lanes mean business.

Via @dailyhivevancouver.bsky.social

🚨We’re launching the FIRST issue of Inflection Points 🚨
- Michael Brennan & Dan Andrews
- Katie Roberts-Hull
- Jonathan O’Brien
- Andrew Leigh
🧵

An op-ed version of one of our essays is an Editor’s Pick in the AFR today!

We look forward to more of this: providing long form and short form essays that bring important ideas and stories to the national conversation.

Talking about reform is our national ritual: white papers, inquiries, op-eds, post-election promises.

But too often, these calls create more process than progress.

So we’re launching Inflection Points—a new platform for longform policy writing that aims to cut through.

Mate you know this is not an economists entire job and a predicting the decision of a couple of people is enormously difficult for anybody.

Josh’s toll bill is about to rise 233 per cent. He’s not alone Motorists in western Sydney are set to feel the sting from the end of toll cap in January and they are left to guess what relief is on the way.

Gosh if only they built an alternative way to get from Kellyville to Martin Place.

www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

This morning, Alan Kohler published an article based on claims from a single conservative legacy planner.

Central to the piece is an assertion that Australia needs to develop 34 square kilometres of infill land each year. But it's based on some bizarre assumptions.🧵

Australia's cities have extremely low densities relative to their international counterparts. The idea that this low density is impossible to overcome is silly.

This type of conservative thinking is partly to blame for the housing crisis.

It's disappointing to see arbitrary protectionism continue to entrench itself within Australian governments.

The primary role of government should be the efficient delivery of infrastructure and services. Mandating localised inputs will only raise costs and lengthen timelines.

Less parking in new developments actually reduces car ownership and reliance on driving, shaping more sustainable transportation habits.

Reducing parking minimums is good for affordability and sustainability!