Rob

Father | Portland Land Bank Commissioner | Portland Parks Commissioner | Litigation Editor at Thomson Reuters Practical Law | Small School Advocate

[Rob @rjfos]

The virality of this “explainer” surely has nothing to do with NYAA pushing Albany to let vacant rent-stabilized units reset to market, creating billions in paper gains overnight. No new housing or repairs needed. Just a rule change and a giant windfall.

[Emma Camp @emmma_camp_]

Can rent control fix the housing crisis? No. In fact, it could make things a whole lot worse.

Find out more in my latest for @WSJFreeEx

[Rob @rjfos]

@OnlyInBOS Too bad Northeastern doesn’t actually care about sports history, hence its eagerness to tear down Matthews Arena.

[48 Hills @48hills]

Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco have found that constraints on development have little or no impact on housing prices. Sorry, Yimbys.

https://t.co/GsO7mUcTs8

[David Sirota @davidsirota]

that thing Abundance Bros don't want you to know

[Amy Nixon @texasrunnerDFW]

Possibly the most shocking housing stat I’ve seen recently:

The median age of a renter in the United States was 42 years old as of 2024, up from 33 years old, just THREE YEARS PRIOR

(Source: Zillow)

[Rob @rjfos]

This has always been the case. But an army of lobbyists and dogmatists would rather you believe that all housing demand is the same.

[John Wake @JohnWake]

"What drives home prices? Conventional wisdom says it's all about supply and demand. I'm not so sure.

In a recent analysis for Home Economics, I showed that household incomes play a significantly larger role in determining home prices than the availability of housing.

Across U.S. counties, variations in local incomes explained more than half of the differences in home prices"
https://t.co/x4bPeGQarJ

[Rob @rjfos]

Calling major capital projects “conceptual,” right up until the date of groundbreaking is a tactic to suppress community engagement here in Southern, Maine.

[Rob @rjfos]

If Portland is gonna rent out its public parks for pricey, private music festivals, the collected fees should go directly to the City, and not be funneled through a private, third-party nonprofit without public oversight. There’s no reason for middlemen.

[Rob @rjfos]

YIMBYs pivoting to outright rural land speculation now. So much for the narrative that they cared about protecting open space vis-à-vis densifying within city boundaries. Growth and inflating land value seem to be the only consistent tenets of their “movement.”

[YIMBYLAND @YIMBYLAND]

Stop scrolling and listen to me very carefully:

You need to buy land here asap.

[Rob @rjfos]

@DaveEidWGME @BUTtweetz @hearts_sc For how long? Don’t they need to formalize an agreement with the City in the next year or so to widen the field and remove the track though?

[Patrick Condon @pmcondon2]

It’s all about the dirt.

[Rob @rjfos]

Interestingly, the regional high schools from which @hearts_sc ownership graduated all currently have prominent logos on their turf:

1. Gabe Hoffman Johnson (Falmouth HS)
2. Jonathan Culley (Cape Elizabeth High School)
3. Tom Caron (Lewiston HS)

[Rob @rjfos]

@hearts_sc will remove the multi-use lines and PHS bulldog logo at Fitzpatrick stadium this week.

Sure, the logo was a bit pedestrian. But this will render PHS one of the only regional high schools without a prominent team symbol on their turf.

[Rob @rjfos]

@Turbosloth3 @PippengerHarlo Predictable for the president whose entire cabinet was chosen by CitiGroup.

[Rob @rjfos]

It’s silly for an account that pushes a land value tax to also fetishize the right to do what you want with your own land.

[FuckCars @FuckCarsReddit]

Daily Reminder

[Rob @rjfos]

Do people know that Portland has one of the only intact stands of old growth white pines in the entire state of Maine?

Unfortunately it’s on private property. But it’s a special site that would be a great addition to Portland’s Land Bank (and is currently a “priority parcel”).

[Rob @rjfos]

The zoning theory of everything is such a YIMBY trope. Could it possibly be that Japan is a significantly more equal society than the US and doesn’t suffer from paralyzing class immobility?

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

If we want better fashion culture in the US, we have to lower the cost of housing and commercial real estate, support independent craftspeople, build denser neighborhoods, improve walkability, and get rid of overly restrictive zoning laws. Let kook culture thrive.

[Rob @rjfos]

Fitzpatrick Stadium (formerly the Portland High School Athletic Field) has been encircled by a running track for *at least* 95 years. Keep this in mind as the Hearts of Pine push the City to relocate the track so they can widen the field.

[Rob @rjfos]

This isn’t the section of Forest Avenue that needs the most help. Is it just a coincidence that Developers’ Collaborative recently acquired and is rehabbing a whole block smack dab in the middle of this?