Favorites March 17th 2023

Homes, infrastructure, and drive-thru coffee

Japan, May 2018

Alec Stapp @AlecStapp

Not sure many people realize just how strict the "Buy American" provisions were in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that passed last year...

One commenter says "A Jones Act but for all infrastructure."

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

New YIMBY bill just dropped — would greatly expand infill housing development in California areas that towns have already certified as “climate-safe.” Critically, the Nature Conservancy is on board as an anchor member of this coalition.

California YIMBY @cayimby

Housing policy is climate policy. High housing costs have pushed Californians to live in areas at risk of dangerous wildfires. We're co-sponsoring #AB68 with @AsmChrisWard to address this. https://t.co/6eQCPUM09z

This is really great, I like the explicit linking of ministerial approval in walkable/transit-rich places with prohibitions on continuing development at the rural interface. In semi-related news, Newsom is deploying the national guard to build homes.

Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇦 @Noahpinion

This is just an incredible graph. India is making absolutely amazing strides against poverty. (ht @scienceisstrat1)

And here's the breakdown across multiple income levels. Really impressive progress.

Nimbee @TheNimbee

Two options for how 30 people can order coffee, but only one of them has green space and electric vehicles that save the environment.

Threads

• Thread of gorgeous city designs generated by Midjourney V5, although in a related thread, one commenter reminds us that Philadelphia exists.

• Thread discussing why Ukraine has decided to continue to defend Bakhmut instead of abandoning it. best I can tell, TL;DR: they have to fight Russia somewhere, and as long as they don't get surrounded, Bakhmut is as good a place as any. Relatedly, there are reports that Russian losses are as high as 1500 per day in recent fighting.