Colin Parent

Graphic with the Slow Boring logo above the words “Slow Boring San Diego Meetup” over a faded San Diego skyline background. Event details at the bottom read: “March 10 | 5:00–7:30 PM | The Church by The Lost Abbey (Downtown).”

If you live in San Diego and read Slow Boring, this is your bat signal. I’m co-hosting a meetup(3/10) for readers of Matt Yglesias’s newsletter. Policy nerds, housing wonks, transit heads welcome. form.123formbuilder.com/6936107/slow...

@mattyglesias.bsky.social

Some news coverage of this weekend's East County Honors. I was proud to present the annual Don Parent Award, named for my late father. www.eastcountymagazine.org/east-county-...

America’s Annoyance Economy Is Growing The government should protect consumers instead of annoying them.

These sorts of scam-y business practices have no economic upside. There should be more effective regulatory efforts to prevent them.

Seem like good opportunities where the left and center left can agree on some populist-coded economic policy.

L.A. public defenders are on a win streak as Trump's Justice Department charges activists The federal public defender's office in L.A. was 5 and 0 against prosecutors in trials related to immigration raids and protests. Trial No. 6 was last month.

The right to counsel and trial by jury are bedrocks of American liberty.

The L.A. Federal Defenders office is on the vanguard, winning cases against Trump's unprecedented prosecutions. Juries aren't putting up with this either.

Annotating the Judge’s Decision in the Case of Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-Year-Old Detained by ICE Our critic annotates the barbed wordplay of a decision challenging the Trump administration’s theory of executive power.

Everyone has to do their part.
__
In Under 500 Words, a Judge Weaponized Wit to Free the Child Detained by ICE www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Hey La Mesa, let MTS know your thoughts about public transit. www.surveymonkey.com/r/LaMesaTran...

Certainly appears moms with whistles won the Battle of Minneapolis.

San Diego shows what happens when a city actually lets builders build Why does San Diego lead California in apartment construction?

San Diego's system of clear and automatic rules about how homes can be built are becoming seen as the model across the state. www.latimes.com/business/sto...

This emerging group of young transit advocates wants to reshape how San Diego gets around RideSD is becoming increasingly vocal and conspicuous as it lobbies for incremental changes and big-ticket items like a new trolley line.

Great to see some attention for RideSD!

Mamdani Said He’d Make Buses Faster and Free. Now It’s This Guy’s Job to Do It.

I'm grateful to Chairman Powell, the federal prosecutors who resigned in Minnesota, and the protesters in the street who are saying no to Trump's lawlessness.

Now is not the time for despair, but for standing up. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/u...

This week I'll be speaking on a panel about new state housing legislation, and their impact here in the San Diego region. Join us!

Yes, 'Marty Supreme' Is Based on a True Story. It's Also Insane. Meet the real-life ping-pong hustler Marty Reisman.

Pretty wild that Marty Supreme was based on a real person, but also the movie is mostly just made up.

The Tyranny of the Complainers - Marginal REVOLUTION Some years ago, Dourado and Russell pointed out a stunning fact about airport noise complaints: A very large number come from a single individual or household. In 2015, for example, 6,852 of the…

Dynamics described here are why the sentiments in local public meetings are so distorted. A very small number of people with very unusual views dominate participation.

The challenge is to preserve enough opportunity for ordinary views to be represented. marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevo...

Zohran Mamdani Is Surrounding Himself With YIMBYs Here’s why leftists should be happy about it.

Being pro-homes is a smart idea politically. That's true for moderates and progressives alike.

This weekend, I had an op-ed in the Union Tribune about how bonus programs have quietly transformed housing production in the City of San Diego.🏡

More than half of all housing permits in 2024 used one of these programs. Trading affordable homes for more market-rate units has been a win-win.

Ten things that are going right in America Is our society slowly putting itself back together?

Ten things that are going right in America

In the City of San Diego, bonus programs that trade permanently affordable homes for more development capacity have quietly transformed homebuilding.

Today I have a guest editorial in the Union Tribune.
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/12/26/o...

In the City of San Diego, bonus programs that trade permanently affordable homes for more development capacity have quietly transformed homebuilding.

Today I have a guest editorial in the Union Tribune.
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/12/26/o...

Michael Smolens: SANDAG leans into buses — a great idea Regional transportation agency looks to buses as a flexible, less-costly and more realistic way to help meet future needs.

SANDAG is being more realistic about its revenues. That means the transit network it plans must rely on more realistic transit, like buses and increased frequencies.

A great idea!

Joe Ely was one of the greatest. RIP.

Up in Sacramento for the day, serving on the Transportation Agency's Sustainable Communities Task Force. Trying to help SB 375 actually prioritize transit and climate goals.

Appropriately, I'm taking the bus from the airport.

Update: 60-year old man killed riding bike in San Diego's Rancho Peñasquitos; 2nd San Diego County bicycling death in 4 days - BikinginLA Just days after a man was killed riding his bicycle in Oceanside, another bike rider was killed in San Diego's Rancho Peñasquitos.

More tragedies on the City of San Diego's streets.

Is Times New Roman Better Than Calibri for the State Department? Type designers weigh in on the recent decision to replace Calibri with Times New Roman in official documents.

At @CirculateSD, our solution to this dilemma is to use Century Gothic, which has the accessibility benefits, and looks nicer than Calibri.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

My God. This keeps happening.

Rent payments will likely go up for thousands of low-income San Diegans The housing commission is trying to avoid taking vouchers away from vulnerable families.

This is the biggest story on housing in San Diego in years. A huge shift for thousands of renters. www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/12/11/r...

A Real-Estate Tycoon’s San Diego Exit Is Turning the City Upside Down Donald Bren, whose firm is the city’s largest landlord, concluded that the downtown market’s growth prospects were dim amid near-record-high office vacancies.

Downtown health in my favorite American city... h/t @colinparent.bsky.social

www.wsj.com/real-estate/...

The Wall Street Journal is saying clearly what few people in town have had the courage to admit.

I really like working downtown, and want for its success. But it's rough-going.
www.wsj.com/real-estate/...

Want Better Government? Philanthropy Can (And Should!) Help (SSIR) Funders need to take governing institutions seriously and invest in their capacity.

Effective advocacy that improves public policy is the highest return on investment philanthropy and even individual donors can make.

I think it's wrong to allow companies an unfettered ability to remotely reprogram or even disable consumer products.

One solution could be a "right to uninstall," remote updates. Could be fairly conditioned by an end to manufacturers' warranties.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/t...