The City Council probably doesn't care about you (and what you can do about it)

January 13, 2025

While specific Councilors have their own idiosyncratic beliefs, affinities, and political allies, as an institution the City Council has consistent,...

Part 2 + take action: Do new apartment buildings cause displacement?

January 7, 2025

In yesterday's email I talked about how we have displacement, and will continue to do so, even if we have no construction at all. But what happens if we...

Part 1: Do new apartment buildings cause displacement?

January 6, 2025

In much of Cambridge, including my neighborhood, the city's rules for new construction ("zoning") require that houses have strict height limits, and new...

Promising the impossible (and blaming city staff when that fails)

December 8, 2024

The City recently ran a survey of how city employees feel about their job. As residents of Cambridge, we're all better off with happy city employees; a bad...

Who should fund more housing in Cambridge, and why they won't

December 4, 2024

In the previous email I argued that we need more physical units of housing in the Boston area, including Cambridge, separate from affordability. It's worth...

Why Cambridge (and the Boston area) need to build vastly more housing

December 1, 2024

There are many ways to think about the problems of housing, and one model I like is thinking of housing through the lens of social provisioning: how do we...

The City of Cambridge is going to MURDERIZE A HUNDRED TREES!@!

November 21, 2024

Linear Park is the shared use path that goes from Davis Square to Alewife, through both Cambridge and Somerville. The City of Cambridge has plans to improve...

Let's change Cambridge: why local politics is a great way to start making a difference

November 17, 2024

Hi, You're getting this email because you either saw my post on Reddit about affordable housing and signed up for my newsletter, or signed my petition in...