John J. Parman

Writer and editor

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

In local news: hypocrisy.
https://t.co/MTFyZQh1pJ

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

Yes In Your Backyard.

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@markasaurus The demolition today is of a different order, but no less insidious.

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@markasaurus "Shoveling" is a loaded word. A lot of cities lived to regret paving over its own heritage. If SF can avoid that, it will be lucky. And this is peanuts, frankly, in the context of the city's budget, cuts or no.

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@CSElmendorf @Ahlfeldt See "California Forever," for example, for the likelihood of urban boundaries holding.

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@big_pedestrian In Berkeley, however, a class war has broken out about exactly that corridor, plus the shuttered racetrack, now slated to be a park.

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@CSElmendorf What's happening in SF and Berkeley is redevelopment that's narrowly focused on generic market products and crassly disregarding of the surrounding context, thanks to the post 2016 legislation. They're comparable to the plastic apartments of the 1960s & '70s, only larger.

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@Scott_Wiener @GavinNewsom @AGRobBonta That photo doesn't exactly scream low density.

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@CSElmendorf Great that your posting these!

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@Nick_Davidov At every level, they will be paying for bloat and stupidity on an epic scale.

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@GuyOron This is definitely a good way to do it.

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@markasaurus @CSElmendorf That's what I thought.

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@CSElmendorf So, it's a union issue?

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@CSElmendorf I remember once at breakfast in Tokyo figuring out that a piece of land in Aoyama the size of a placemat was worth around $10k.

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@uhshanti "Mission Local" thinks she'd be wasted in DC. Keep her in SF, it argues.

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@CSElmendorf I think the issue here is a funding crisis that forces the working parts of local government to subsist on fees, thanks to the steady erosion of the general fund. Permit reform may be needed, but it's a symptom, not a cause.

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@CSElmendorf But doesn't by-right come down to that? That if a project complies, it can be built? If it doesn't comply, that's another matter. The problem was a default to case-by-case, not local zoning per se. The 2016+ legislation reflects who was bought, cities or the state.

[John J. Parman @j2parman]

@CSElmendorf @ezraklein Mahan calls for reviving the redevelopment agencies, which I think would be a good idea. Interesting that Arreguin is backing the trades. They must be backing him. This was recently an issue in Berkeley, too. Wicks should focus on scaling up below-market housing.