Preston

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@shift_in2_turbo You get offended by some seriously mild stuff. Like thinking pico de gallo is spicy.

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@ZephyrTeachout "The madness"?

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@elsathora Did they lose ten players to crocodiles?

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@BeachLifenCafe @JustEsBaraheni Has Donald Trump ever given respect? Earned it?

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@SadieSam1 @DemocracyDocket I agree

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@leftist_lawyer @Wilson__Valdez @katz_morris Great plan, champ.

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@DanJenkins8 @JDScholten You seem normal

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@AzizSunderji @mattyglesias Seems like a good idea to upzone if it conjures new rich people to fill the apartments.

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@TaxFoundation Sounds like the perfect tax.

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@goatpurple1 @mattyglesias Got a source?

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@lymanstoneky Why is hurting other countries good?

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@TheAtlantic What about at ground level?

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@FreeRangeKids @FamStudies Honestly, I'm skeptical

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@DavidSacks Winning the AI race by giving China chips in exchange for soybeans

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@KarmaKontrol @HumanProgress That is a naive view of genetics

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@ChiomaWard7 Ignoring over a thousand words of policy analysis to focus on the one word you don't like smells like a deflection.

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@amconmag What a fraud

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@Caffeindated @mattyglesias https://t.co/q85UFZ1afk

[Alicia, Courtyard Urbanist @UrbanCourtyard]

Notice how some buildings on these Berlin blocks have scaffolding or construction wrap while neighboring buildings continue operating normally. That's because the block is not one massive asset that needs to be maintenanced or renovated by a single owner all at once. It is a decentralized, anti-fragile urban organism: many buildings, many owners, many timelines, many options for repair, reinvestment, conversion, and renewal.

This is instructive at a moment when commercial real estate news is now a rolling train wreck of dinosaur assets being taken into special servicing, emptied out, sold at foreclosure, or written down at staggering losses. And when these gigantic, functionally obsolete buildings fail, they drag down city centers, tax bases, and public life ... during a housing crisis, no less.

“Many buildings, one block” LOOKS better aesthetically, but it also creates the conditions for incremental renovation, adaptation, and flexibility over time. A courtyard block can change building by building, parcel by parcel, owner by owner. One building can be renovated while the rest of the block continues functioning. One facade can be restored, one roof replaced, one ground floor converted, one unit mix adjusted, one ownership structure changed without requiring the entire block to be recapitalized or rebuilt at once.

So it behooves us to focus on the building types that actually retain value over time: medium-sized buildings with shallow floorplates, flexible plans, durable street relationships, and manageable renovation cycles. These are buildings that can be adapted to changing circumstances without requiring Herculean capital infusions every time the market shifts.

[Preston @mrtuffguy]

@nayrpat @mattyglesias It has a bunch of useless greenspace that could be put to better use if buildings weren't dropped in haphazardly.