Dave Levine

Every family deserves a fair trial.
Every family deserves a place to live.

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

What could go wrong? We already know the answer. History has seen this pattern before. But it’s rarely seen it unfold with this much speed—or this little accountability. 4/4

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

Dr. Richardson’s letters keep getting longer—because the news keeps getting darker. Being a watchdog is hard enough. Being one who understands history must be exhausting. But history also gives language to what we’re witnessing.🧵1/4

https://t.co/07i1kCF83s

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

This is what imperial decline looks like in real time: hollowed institutions, factional infighting (Hegseth vs. Duffy), unchecked ambition (Rubio’s portfolio expands absurdly), and a world on edge—with India and Pakistan teetering on conflict as the U.S. recedes as a broker.3/4

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

Big thanks to @realsaadasad for the nudge to write this and the heads up that it ran.
You’re building a real community of housing advocates — and I’m grateful to be part of it.

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

Grateful to have a letter in the Union-Tribune this weekend.
https://t.co/Gawn1IMOso

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

San Diego’s bonus ADU program needs thoughtful refinement—not a reactionary rollback.
We can shape policy without shutting down one of our only working tools for affordable infill.Changes to ADU program should be measured, not precipitous

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

@realsaadasad Thanks for the nudge to write this and the heads up that it ran.
You’re building a real community of housing advocates — and I’m grateful to be part of it.

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

Just published: A Lens Refracted — a loving continuation of the conversation started by @ezraklein & @DKThomp in Abundance. Written with admiration—and just a slightly refracted lens.
https://t.co/nNWvgXG28j

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

https://t.co/XVnRfAiY3z

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

We’re being governed by bullies.

They don’t want policy. They want parades. They don’t want truth. They want obedience. Rubio made a deal with the devil—and he's not alone.

I hated bullies when I was 5. I hate them at nearly 50. I know they’re often products of their own pain.

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

But that’s no excuse when they set fire to democracy for ego and power.

Bullies don’t win in the long run. But they can burn a lot down in the meantime—unless we stand up.

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

They’re not afraid of laws. They’re afraid of footnotes. Nobody wants to be the next Ehrlichman. May 1, 2025

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

Only Waltz gets punished—for letting Jeffrey Goldberg into the Signal chat. The crime wasn’t the conversation. It was inviting someone who might remember it.
https://t.co/dZivN2RdC9

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

@YIMBYDemsSD “Support our teachers” means housing our teachers. Normal Street isn’t radical — it’s rational. It puts educators where they belong: in our neighborhoods, not on the freeway. Want better schools? Start with better zoning.

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

If we want stability in classrooms, we need stability in housing.

Teachers shouldn’t have to commute 90 minutes just to afford rent.

The Normal Street project isn’t a luxury — it’s infrastructure for equity.

#YIMBY #WorkforceHousing #SanDiego

[YIMBY Democrats of San Diego County @YIMBYDemsSD]

Teachers priced out of San Diego deserve workforce housing like the Normal Street project.

Quality education requires educators who can live near schools, not commute hours away.

A solution good for students and communities.

https://t.co/MWE9yhFPov

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

@ZephyrTeachout It’s not either/or. Process can be used to entrench fossil fuel monopolies and block a 5-unit housing project. @ezraklein's point isn't that grumpy progressives cause the problem. It's that they often unwittingly protect the same machinery that Chevron and Caruso exploit.

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

@ezraklein point isn't that grumpy progressives cause the problem. It's that they often unwittingly protect the same machinery that Chevron and Caruso exploit.

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

Zephyr's right that billionaires use process as a weapon. But it’s not either/or. The power of process is its flexibility — it can be used to entrench fossil fuel monopolies and block a 5-unit housing project in Berkeley.

[Zephyr Teachout @ZephyrTeachout]

The core issue with Ezra's argument *on his own terms* is that bad obscure processes that actually jam up government and keep it from being dynamic come from the Chamber of Commerce, billionaires and monopolists and SuperPACs not from a few grumpy leftists in Park Slope.

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

San Diego needs more homes — not more excuses.
Let your voice be heard: support pro-housing policy, not neighborhood vetoes.

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

Opponents say: too tall, too many, too fast.
But in a housing crisis, delay is denial — and exclusion is exclusion, no matter how nicely it’s phrased.

[Dave Levine @jddavelevine]

We can shape these rules.
We can refine these rules.
We can improve these rules.
But we can’t afford to abandon them.