iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Haley Lemieux

Dan Keshet @dankeshet.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

Today it's official! Governor Abbott has signed SB840, Texas' residential-in-commercial zoning bill. It is not too dramatic to say that this bill will reshape the physical and economic geography of all major cities in Texas. (Linked article for information: natlawreview.com/article/texa...)

natlawreview.com

Texas Multifamily Revolution: Governor Abbot Considers Texas Senate Bill That Could Transform Zoning for Mixed-Use Residential / Multifamily Developments

Introduction to Texas Senate Bill SB 840

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Haley Lemieux @haleylemieux.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

“Voice is not in & of itself a way to weigh tradeoffs. Progress involves ratifying tradeoffs that distribute burdens across communities, fair & unfair. Gov’t needs to be able to make decisions that impose costs & voice should not give any figure the ability to hijack process.”

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Haley Lemieux @haleylemieux.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Alright, a (long) 🧵with some reflections on the 2025 Maryland General Assembly session’s impact on housing stability. TLDR: Important progress, with the status quo also proving tenacious. (As always, these are personal views only).

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Haley Lemieux @haleylemieux.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Maryland polls conducted this winter have consistently emphasized that voters want solutions to the housing crisis. New polling today from @ggwash.org confirm support for solutions in @govwesmoore.bsky.social's Housing for Jobs Act - 79% agree gov't should stick to clear/objective criteria.

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Haley Lemieux @haleylemieux.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

I'm not saying anything new here, but the mortgage interest rate deduction (1) is very regressive (benefits folks with the largest, most expensive homes the most); (2) has no actual demonstrated impact on homeownership for families; while (3) costing a LOT of $$. t.co/raMeEEBnM9

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Haley Lemieux @haleylemieux.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

“Our high affordability requirements only penciled at 6 stories and that was our baseline.” The people of Cambridge are lucky to have a city council that cares seriously about the impacts of housing costs - and are willing to act.

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Reposted by Haley Lemieux

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 17/01/2025

HUD is withdrawing its proposed AFFH rule, literally 2 years after putting it forward for public comment. Rule would have required jurisdictions to develop equity plans to demonstrate fulfillment of the desegregatory policy of the 1968 Fair Housing Act. Trump ppl have stated opposition to AFFH.

novoco.com

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Haley Lemieux @haleylemieux.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

In very exciting news, Maryland was awarded $6.9M in funds from the HUD PRO Housing grant. This money will go directly towards supporting local gov’ts across the state to reduce barriers to housing production. It will also fund TA & a statewide convening on best practices.

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Haley Lemieux @haleylemieux.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Allowing more diverse housing types is a great solution to provide more homeownership opportunities for more income ranges. In Montgomery County, sales prices vary significantly by home type (Redfin, Nov 2024): - $791K single family home - $500K townhouses - $270K condos/coops

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Reposted by Haley Lemieux

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Spokane passed a bunch of housing reforms recently—eliminating parking minimums, increasing height maximums, reducing lot minimums, allowing more missing middle, & expanding property tax exemptions for new multifamily projects—and now they're building record amounts of housing

a graph of Spokane housing permitting over time, showing it spike in 2023/2024

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Reposted by Haley Lemieux

Patrick Siegman @siegman.biz · 11/12/2024

“If state legislators had to pick just one…the winner was clear: Fully flexible parking resulted in more new homes than legalizing granny flats & larger multifamily buildings near transit combined, even when every new building still included some amount of parking.” www.sightline.org/2024/12/10/p...

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Reposted by Haley Lemieux

Corey Husak @chusak.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

Worth reading this in the context of the Chicago budget debate. Besides the opportunity + segregation arguments, if Chicago had more widespread growth and development, the city would likely not be painfully debating $300 million in tax/fees and spending cuts www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

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Reposted by Haley Lemieux

Riordan Frost @riordanfrost.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Happy #MapMonday! (A former Twitter tradition that I'm happy to revive in this cheerier place). Here's a state map showing how much immigrants make up the construction trades workforce around the US, which is substantial in many high-demand states. Source: ACS 2023.

US map showing the immigrant share of the construction trades workforce by state. Shows lower shares in much of the northern part of the country and higher shares in the Sunbelt and high-demand states like New York, California, Texas, and Florida.

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Haley Lemieux @haleylemieux.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Early thoughts on the Scott Turner HUD appointment are that my personal concerns on 2.0 are mostly reaffirmed. The vast majority of HUD’s work is providing long-term federal subsidy to house low-income people through rental assistance, public housing & homeless assistance. (1/)

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Haley Lemieux @haleylemieux.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Was very excited to see Baltimore City expand local investment in housing. Uses won’t be finalized until FY26 & 27 budget adoption, but the current CIP forecasts the following: 🏗️ $13M Affordable Housing Trust Fund 🏠 $6M LIHTC gap financing 💵 $1M Perkins Somerset Choice neighborhood match

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Haley Lemieux @haleylemieux.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

In Arlington, population growth + housing density + public transit → a reduction in traffic AND incredibly low traffic fatalities. “Since 1980, 82% of new housing units have been in buildings with 5+ units” www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Graph shows cumulative average weekday traffic counts at 25 intersections in Arlington declining over time from a peak in 2000

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Haley Lemieux @haleylemieux.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

I do think this chart is more interesting about the 15 metros on the list vs. those not on the list. More frequent assessments in a high existing tax rate environment (like TX) will capture higher ↑. Reassessment in eg NJ is a LOT less frequent - so full post-2020 home price ↑ aren’t captured.

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Haley Lemieux @haleylemieux.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

👋 building a feed & starting to migrate over here

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