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Barbara Samuels

@bsamuels72.bsky.social
573 followers 284 following 3.3K posts

Unleashed, not retired. Fair Housing & Affordable Housing attorney. Orioles, Ravens true believer. WV mountains, Cape waters, but Baltimore is still home. Repost is not endorsement etc

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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Central NJ Yimby 🏗️🚲🚇🇺🇸 @princetonyimby.bsky.social · 21h
New blog by me: Toll Brothers is hoping for a use variance to construct 28 townhouses, of which six would be designated affordable homes, at a site off Terhune Road in Princeton. walkableprinceton.com/2026/10/02/t...
walkableprinceton.com
Toll Brothers Seeks To Build Inclusionary Townhouse Development at “Princeton Italian-American Sportsmen’s Club” Site
Proposed layout of townhouses at Founders Lane in Princeton Toll Brothers Inc is seeking permision to build a development of 28 townhouses at the site of the old ‘Italian-American Sports Club…
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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Alessandro Rigolon @alerigolon.bsky.social · 18h
People seem to confuse, “I own my property,” with “I own my neighborhood.”
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Should be a wake up call Maryland. We ate one of the states where high housing costs are driving poverty—especially child poverty. Can we really afford to ignore the harm done by restrictive zoning & out of date growth boundaries like the URDL that suppress housing supply & drive up housing costs?
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Actually read it & this story of how Google & Bay Area lost its “Dont be evil” motto & culture portrays the Bay Area as world apart. Economists love to tout benefits of agglomeration (tech, AI in Bay Area; finance in NYC) to country as a whole. This seems to be a counterpoint.
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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Welcoming Neighbors Network @welcomingneighbors.us · 01/10/2026
Talk about an appetite for more home choices! Among NH voters: ➡️ 74% say YES to starter homes ➡️ 63% say YES to zoning reforms that allow more homebuilding ➡️ 74% say YES to smaller lots Build the homes, NH.
wmur.com
New Hampshire poll shows strong support for increasing availability of starter homes
A new poll from Saint Anselm College shows that nearly 74% of New Hampshire voters want to expand opportunities to build starter homes.
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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
YIMBY Action @yimbyaction.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We don't have to choose between filtering and building affordable housing. 🏠 We need both. Build affordable homes directly. Build more market-rate homes. Legalize ADUs, duplexes, starter homes, and small apartments. We need to say yes to ALL kinds of housing.
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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Jayne Miller @jemillerbalt.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
How do you knock down barriers to affordable housing. Zoning. Stigma. Layers of regulation. My latest podcast from Maryland Capital - the affordability campaign underway in affluent Howard County MD. Where most teachers can't afford to live where they work. open.spotify.com/episode/0DT2...
open.spotify.com
How to Fix the Affordable Housing Gap
Maryland Capital with Jayne Miller · Episode
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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Kim @kimoco.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
When people tell me things are different in cities of red states I agree to a large extent. But the Republican party is doing all it can to prevent any cities or counties to pass progressive laws and honor civil rights and doing so across the country, especially in Texas.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Some NYC districts have little Affordable Housing. Now proposed projects in those districts w/ affordable apartments will get a fast track approval process if they need a land-use change & bypass NIMBY politics of City Council. To produce more housing for everyone, should be rule everywhere.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
“Mamdani has excelled at conveying how the government should work for the people while also demanding that those who have benefited the most financially from it pay their fair share toward the collective good.” Hardly radical, but a concept lost in this era of self-centered politics & policy.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
In MAGA group think, up is down, segregation is not a problem & remedies for exclusion & discrimination are “reverse discrimination.”
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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Stateline @stateline.org · 01/10/2026
Voters in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Rhode Island will weigh affordable housing ballot measures this fall. stateline.org/2026/10/01/v...
stateline.org
Voters to weigh different approaches to housing affordability in November • Stateline
Voters in four states will decide housing-related ballot measures in November, providing testing grounds for different strategies to boost affordable homes. The six measures across California, Hawaii,...
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
A different take on Nikole Hannah Jones essay: If you believe poor children should be afforded equality of opportunity, large, integrated public schools that educate all the children in a community (even if they include internal tracking) are better than small schools that segregate poor children.
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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Integrated Schools @integratedschools.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
"The fact that wealthy families have always been able to buy their children out of public schools is not an argument for extending that buyout with public funds." ... Full blog post: integratedschools.org/yes-some-dem... #IntegratedSchools #SchoolVouchers #PublicSchools #SchoolChoice #Democracy
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Wonder why Affordable Housing is so costly to build? Delays & legal fees due to NIMBY opposition a big part of the reason.
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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Daniel Kay Hertz @danielkayhertz.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Come work with me! Impact for Equity is hiring Polikoff-Gautreaux fellows, a two-year fellowship program for people who have (or will have) graduated law or policy school in the last five years: impactforequity.org/get-involved...
impactforequity.org
Fellowships | Impact for Equity
Impact for Equity works with other organizations to offer fellowships and opportunities to post graduate students and individuals interested in change.
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JJ Cutuli @jjcutuli.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
New coverage of the Trump administration's move away from housing first for folks experiencing homelessness: apnews.com/article/trum...
apnews.com
Trump’s shift from 'Housing First' is causing upheaval for homelessness programs and many they serve
The Trump administration is shifting federal policy and dollars away from the “Housing First” approach that has been at the heart of federal homelessness policy.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Why has development of multifamily & commercial projects like Harborplace2 slumped across US since 2023. Insights from 2 MD projects: Spiking interest rates, tight lending, reluctant equity investors & competition for capital (& labor) from data centers. www.thebanner.com/economy/grow...
thebanner.com
Baltimore’s Harborplace developer also behind massive Montgomery County project
Baltimore-based MCB Real Estate has two of the most ambitious real estate projects in Maryland. Now it needs to find the money.
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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 21/09/2026
i mean, just look at how the populists talked about the railroad barons and others like them. "The fruits of the toil of millions are boldly stolen to build up colossal fortunes, unprecedented in the history of the world, while their possessors despise the republic and endanger liberty."
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
“The Lowest-Income Renters Face the Most Acute Shortage of Affordable and Available Rental Homes” per nlihc.org & PUMS data. There are 99 affordable & available homes for renters at 100% AMI. That drops to 54 affordable & available homes for renters at 50% AMI & just 35 at 30% AMI.
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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"Are we kinda being pricks?" Volume 2. The Winthrop Edition.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Were the experts just asked to assume maintenance of high poverty schools & then rate these narrowly school-based mitigation strategies? Because most experts will tell you that academic & econ mobility outcomes improve more when poor kids enabled to live & go to school in mixed income environments.
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Maya Rockeymoore Cummings @mayarockeymoore.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Housing is never just about where we live. It shapes wealth, education, health, safety, opportunity, and political power. When housing determines access to the conditions people need to thrive, it becomes a democracy issue. Housing policy is democracy policy. #RAGEism #HousingPolicy #Democracy
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Eviction Lab @evictionlab.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“Nearly 28% of lower-income renters said they were unable to pay for housing sometime during 2025, a gradual increase from around 24% in 2019.” www.npr.org/2026/09/23/n... By @npr.org’s @marissajae.bsky.social
npr.org
It's getting harder to afford rent in the U.S., even for middle-income families
Housing affordability challenges are spreading to higher income brackets, according to new research, which found one in five renters struggled last year to pay for their housing in full and on time.
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Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
So much of what we are confronting today is best understood by the actions undertaken by white communities in response to integration orders. White supremacy is a form of democratic nihilism. Every institution, norm, and value of democracy will be sacrificed for it. calendar.eji.org/racial-injus...
calendar.eji.org
Sep. 27, 1958 | White Little Rock Voters Choose to Close Public Schools Rather Than Integrate
Learn more about our history of racial injustice
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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
imkeefSaltySoCal @imkeefsaltysocal.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Trump ILLEGALLY Uses Rare ‘Pocket Rescission’ to ILLEGALLY Cancel $810 Million in Federal Funding, ILLEGALLY Targeting Immigration, Education, and Housing Programs.
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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Idothethinking @idothethinking.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Its insane how much housing isnt getting financing right now because lenders just dont want to fund it over other shiny object initatives. Truly bizarro world.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
“Land use and zoning is upstream of everything.” www.realtor.com/news/real-es...
realtor.com
Fed Official Sounds Warning on Housing as Affordability Hits 21-Year Low
Fed Gov. Michael S. Barr highlighted the growing disconnect between everyday Americans' earnings and housing expenses.
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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
Fietser @americanfietser.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
When there's a housing crisis that has gone on for decades, but the tech oligarchs control your entire government with their influence.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Yes! And if your goal is restoring economic mobility in the US, legalize apartments & build them everywhere so poorer kids can develop cross-class relationships.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
True. “TNR’s Monica Potts says “abundance” liberals who praise red states for affordable housing are missing the broader story.” Despite lower housing costs in Texas or West Virginia, Massachusetts & Maryland offer a better quality of life, and politics is only part of it.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Yes on Q7 allowing SF homes to be built on smaller (5000 sq ft), more affordable lots in any residential district w/ public water/sewer. Doesnt solve problem of affluent towns that refuse to build infrastructure to limit new homes, but a key 1st step to ending exclusionary large lot zoning.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
True.
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Reposted by Barbara Samuels
dharmalee3❌👑 @dharmalee3.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
LIVE from Madrid as housing activists take to the streets over Spain’s worsening housing crisis, calling for stronger protections and renter laws. Protesters are demanding action on housing affordability, rents and tenant rights. Watch live coverage of the demonstrations, key demands & development..
youtube.com
LIVE: Housing Activists Take To Madrid Streets Over Spain’s Housing Crisis
YouTube video by Hook Global
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
But rather than piss off their local tech oligarchs (who find Trump a useful idiot) or wealthy NIMBYs for the nat’l slump in new housing construction, SF scapegoated affordable housing & cut its IZ requirement to a token 5%.
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Jayne Miller @jemillerbalt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Goldman Sachs warned big tech companies like Meta have to generate $300 bil per year in AI services to break even on their capital spending... And $1 trillion to make meaningful profits. Unnerving investors.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Mike Elias has got to go. With his high draft picks regressing he wants to bring in a GM w/ player development skills. But GM’s #1 job is roster construction, not player development. Why would a top GM candidate want to defer to Elias on roster when last two years exposed that as his main failing?
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
How do locked in Baltimore, St. Louis or Detroit differ from growing cities like Houston, Atlanta, Indy or KC? Annexation after 1945 to capture outward growth & tax base was formula for urban prosperity. Not investment in core (often de jure Black) n-hoods petesaunders.substack.com/p/the-three-...
petesaunders.substack.com
The “Three Kansas Cities” Problem
Perhaps annexation can allow cities to run from their disinvested parts. But they can’t hide.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
MCB needs >$400M in public $$ for its Harborplace2 plan. Its citizens right to ask questions. Especially after the community’s warnings about Port Covington debacle proved correct, a bit of transparency from City & a less dismissive attitude from MCB is warranted www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/ne...
bizjournals.com
MCB pushes back on latest lawsuit over Harborplace project - Baltimore Business Journal
A war of words is heating up between Harborplace developer MCB Real Estate and a group of city residents who object to the massive overhaul.
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jmaddenmass.bsky.social @jmaddenmass.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Why I do what I do: families with 37 children can now live in walking to school, parks, and shopping on the outer Cape. Always a privilege to have an opportunity to contribute to creating homes. provincetownindependent.org/top-stories/...
provincetownindependent.org
37 Children Are Living at Wellfleet’s Lawrence Hill - The Provincetown Independent
WELLFLEET — Five months after the first tenants started moving into the 46-unit Lawrence Hill affordable housing complex in April, the apartments are officially full. Among the 91 residents of […]
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Some Falmouth Planning Board members balk at legalizing starter homes on small lots & complain “state overreach” is infringing on local control. Yet the homes located in some of town’s most in-demand n-hoods could not be built today because the lots deemed “undersized” by current zoning standards.
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macsmom.bsky.social @macsmom.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Everybody doesn’t like something…”Fear of Suburbia” villagegreentownsquared.blogspot.com/2026/09/fear... Village Green/Town² blog - - Schrodinger’s suburbia in Howard County.
villagegreentownsquared.blogspot.com
Fear of Suburbia
“Everybody doesn’t like something…” goes the old Sara Lee advertising jingle. I can’t argue with that. People in suburban Columbia don’t w...
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Shelterforce @shelterforce.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Charlotte lost more than 77% of its low-cost housing from 2015–2024. A $225M private-sector fund is trying to preserve thousands of existing apartments before they're lost to gentrification. 📖 buff.ly/Q6MAs7g #AffordableHousing
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Brad Ewing @bradleyewing.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Once you see how many local press outlets put their thumb on the scale for anti-housing coverage, you can't unsee it. Housing opponents flood the zone with arguments that are not grounded in data, and reporters and editors take these claims at face value.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Can anyone seriously contend that the Warren Road bridge & shortcut thru the watershed is a priority for limited local, state or federal bridge repair/replacement dollars? Maryland’s poor-rated bridges increase as highway funding faces cuts www.capitalgazette.com/2026/09/24/m...
capitalgazette.com
Maryland’s poor-rated bridges increase as highway funding faces cuts
The number of bridges rated “poor” on Maryland’s state highway system has increased for the first time in at least a decade, as transportation officials face competing demands for money to maintain ag...
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
And “No Transit” either. Project site is long dead strip shopping center adjacent toLight Rail stop. Litherville is one of most affluent & white areas of big, 45% minority suburban county surrounding Baltimore City.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Heads up Maryland folks! With action by the state, the Baltimore Metro & DMV can do better at building BOTH market rate & Affordable homes.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
W. Ellicott City NIMBY dispute exemplifies irrational HoCo zoning & PFA “Smart Growth” boundary. County blocks water/sewer service to limit new housing to pricey large lots. Abutters move to growing area then oppose new compact housing cause not on public water. But ok w/ building on one acre lots?
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Baltimore Co Council unanimously endorsed TOD for Lutherville Sta over NIMBY opposition. Enables project to pursue state & local $$ but still needs zoning approval. The mixed use project has already been shrunk to 325 homes from 600, trying to accommodate NIMBYs www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/ne...
bizjournals.com
Lutherville Station redevelopment clears major hurdle - Baltimore Business Journal
The project has been in the works for a decade and consists of 325 apartments and about 120,000 square feet of retail and office space.
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Barbara Samuels @bsamuels72.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Makes a differencevto have a pro-housing Attorney General who will enforce Fair Housing laws.
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