Favorites July 13 2021

Jerusalem @JerusalemDemsas

This is a really good post but another thing I've been thinking about is how the majority of affordable housing exists bc of "filtering" (new houses becoming old and cheap). Cheap, manufactured housing could allow lower-income ppl to live in *new* homes for the first time.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

The most expensive places to live in America are cities and their inner-ring suburbs, so the housing supply conversation tends to focus on them. But barriers to manufactured housing in lower-density areas matter for costs too. https://t.co/TXFExnyeiu

Normally "new homes" are the same as "luxury homes", time is what makes affordable homes. But the angle of building stuff much cheaper is an important one I haven't thought about much before.

Kim-Mai Cutler @kimmaicutler

Death cult. https://t.co/lFMRvnhexC

Brett Kelman @BrettKelman

SCOOP: Tennessee Department of Health halts all vaccine outreach to kids – not just for COVID-19, but all diseases – amid pressure from GOP. Staff ordered to remove the agency logo from any documents providing vaccine info to the public, per internal dox. https://t.co/PX0Rvpc6Ot

Welp, next thing you know, we’ll have measles outbreaks to go with our covid outbreaks.

NickBastone 🌁 @NickBastone

SF spends $1 million+ per year to maintain an antiquated call box system that one fire department worker says has been used to initially report just one fire in his 22-year career🤦‍♂️ sfgate.com/local/article/…

sfgate.comSF still can’t decide what to do with its historic fire boxes’We cannot find a single incident that has been reported from any of them in the last...

Something tells me that the likelihood of this system being useful is only going down. Because, you know... cell phones? Also, according to the article, the system depends on little notecards that help determine which firetrucks to deploy based on which box was activated.

Kim-Mai Cutler @kimmaicutler

I stayed out of stupid space race billionaire Twitter this week, but I fully endorse clean aviation billionaire Twitter. https://t.co/DEdt1q3PQG

Bill Gates @BillGates

I’m excited about @Breakthrough Energy Catalyst and think it can help make clean-energy innovations more available and affordable for everyone. https://t.co/59eVhOSrGC

I think I also stayed out of Space Race Billionaire stuff, but I want clean-energy planes, as a treat.

Sammy Roth @Sammy_Roth

California's power nearly toppled into chaos on Friday night. Why? Because of a wildfire in Oregon. Here's my play by play for @latimes:

latimes.comHow an Oregon wildfire almost derailed California’s power gridKeeping the lights on is getting harder as the American West grows hotter, drier and more flammable.

When they were right on the edge of running out of power, we avoided disaster: "nothing else went wrong. Gas plants kept generating, the wind kept picking up, and California’s single-largest energy source, the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, kept humming. The lights stayed on"

Maybe we shouldn't shut down Diablo Canyon? Just maybe?

July 2021, Mountain View

By the way, the Zoning Tax study had a resurgence of discussion again today, and it’s a big deal, but I already shared it with you back on the 5th!