Travis Thompson

The days of affordable housing and infrastructure in California being blocked by endless delays are finally over.

I just signed a historic package of laws that simplifies building, cuts timelines, and will help make it more affordable to live in the greatest state in America.

#sanfrancisco #nokings today

If you go out the union square exit it does

CA won’t comply w/ orders targeting/criminalizing trans people, their families or teachers.

CA won’t be part of Trump’s deportation machine.

CA won’t avert our eyes in the hope he doesn’t notice us & isn’t antagonized.

CA knows you don’t give the bully your lunch money. You punch him in the face.

It’s only 6 average American driving years, but your point still stands. It’s a lot of fuel for a very small number of people.

Capital Coridor 2/19/25 CTA Capitol Corridor Board Meeting 2/19/25 10 AM Agenda/Staff report link Slides Capitol Corridor’s 2016 Vision Plan and the 2024 State Rail Plan called for overhead electrification (OCS) and 150 mph ser...

Action Alert: Capitol Corridor is once again hearing a presentation considering hydrogen trains. The long term plan includes electrification and frequent service, so tell the board to stick to the plan and move towards electrification on 2/19 at 10 AM! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

A couple updates:

A newly rebuilt escalator at Civic Center Station connecting the platform to the concourse level is now open!

Plus, a brand-new canopy opened at Embarcadero Station. The canopy protects the entrance on the north side of Market Street near Drumm Street.

I can’t believe it - after years of advocacy, exclusionary zoning has ended in Cambridge.

We just passed the single most comprehensive rezoning in the US—legalizing multifamily housing up to 6 stories citywide in a Paris style

Here’s the details 🧵

This is a word of warning to all of us. Left, right, or anything else.

Constantly reevaluating and learning.

I honestly believe our most powerful position in a toxic time that feeds on cynicism, apathy,& despair is to genuinely care and act for a better world.

Cynicism is our enemy. We should check it, incl. on the left. It’s not intellectually superior. It’s the virus they’re trying to infect us with. NO

If you are a federal worker being offered a buyout, I would advise against taking it.

Of course, this is a personal decision for everyone and it’s your choice.

But these offers are a rush job. The legality is questionable and this admin does not keep to its word.

They aren’t firing for a reason.

...check up on yo strong friends...

Valencia bikeway appeal rejected, construction to begin in February The Valencia Street bikeway will move from center to curbside, per a unanimous decision by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors today.

An appeal against the new Valencia bikeway was rejected today.

Construction is set to begin in early Feb.

via @yujie-z.bsky.social

missionlocal.org/2025/01/vale...

The Legacy Trains are running once again!
 
We teamed up with Rapido Trains, Inc. to create the definitive, museum-quality model of the iconic trains.
 
Preorders are shipping this week!
 
Extra inventory will be made available for sale on railgoods.com next week. 

Stay tuned for more info!

The plan was always to flood the zone with shit.

Not everyone can respond to every outrage. That's on purpose. But no need to get mad at someone for focusing on stuff *you* don't think is important. Let everyone focus on what they want to focus on.

Here's the actual, correct summary of Biden's domestic presidency:

He entered office with very narrow legislative margins, made worse by the fact that two of his key votes were deeply intransigent. Nonetheless he was able to consistently pass sweeping legislation.

this is incredible stuff. most state DOTs would spend tens of billions on highway expansions to try and see numbers like this (that wouldn’t even pan out anyway thanks to induced demand lol)

2024 Muni Rider Survey Shows Big Improvements

Transit priority lanes, and improved on time performance of the muni subway.

www.sfmta.com/blog/2024-mu...

We absolutely need to make it easier to build new high density housing. In my neighborhood it took over 7 years to get a 100% affordable housing building approved because of neighborhood opposition. Fortunately state laws are changing and as of this election BoS has changed significantly

Most of the city was downzoned to SFH with setbacks and everything in the 70s. The building I live in is non compliant and could not be built today. It’s so expensive here because we basically stopped building new stock outside of a few neighborhoods.

Yeah, nationally things are a mess, but when it comes to zoning and how we design our streets, has very little power. It’s definitely disheartening for many other things, but focusing on local issues can produce a lot more real change for the better.

Agreed. YIMBY movement is slowly having success pushing back at a grass roots level, with bipartisan support in some places. But the biggest push back comes at a local level from older people who love their cars and SFH, and don’t want density or improved transit.

At the local level voting makes a huge difference, where I live voting has resulted in laws around zoning changing, the entire city being upzoned, and the permitting process streamlined. It’s also resulted in transit getting much better. It’s slow but incrementally improving.

The auto industry absolutely needs to be reigned in, but if the majority of people actually voted to make things better, they'd start to change. YIMBY movement is starting to have some success on these fronts, but there is a lot of resistance from people, not just corp lobbying.

Yes and no. Corps do the emitting on our behalf. Yes we need a strong regulatory environment to enforce emission standards, but we also have to stop living in car dependent areas, or we'll never stop emitting so much.

That's great! I also ride the bus / train as much as possible. Unfortunately giving up flying is hard when it's the only viable option to see family on the other side of the country / world.

I don't think anyone is arguing this isn't an issue, but to ignore that the average american lifestyle is unsustainable is just putting your head in the sand. You could get rid of every billionaire and we'd still be emitting more than the earth can sustain.

So you're willing to give up your single family home and car? And not fly anymore?

We gotta reject “Well, RFK jr. is right about some things” and accept “if we don’t confront the real problems with our systems, it becomes much easier for con artists like this guy to manipulate people.”