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Henry Grabar

@henrygrabar.bsky.social
7.9K followers 403 following 910 posts

my next book is about why it's so hard to build. send me your thoughts!

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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 8h
Pittsburgh's Hill District is one of the most dramatic examples I've seen of Strava's poverty mapping
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
this is wild to see -- sort of the opposite of the situation in the US politics w/r/t cities and states
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Reposted by Henry Grabar
Emily Hamilton @ebwhamilton.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
TIL Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence from a short-term rental founders.archives.gov/documents/Je...
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Reposted by Henry Grabar
Tyler, from the Internet (Haunted) @tylerfromtheinternet.com · 05/10/2026
the differences in sports across the pond is always interesting. look how the brits do bowling. totally different than how we do it
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Attention Berlin: I am giving a lecture next Tuesday as part of the Leibniz Center's series on automobile infrastructure. Please come, tell your friends etc! zzf-potsdam.de/wissenstrans...
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Reposted by Henry Grabar
Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I used to post pictures of a very similar arrangement in the rural US under the tagline #smalltownbigbypass. In many cases, the bypass sucked all the commercial activity out of the old downtown. See Vinton, IA
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Interesting study on how anti-Muslim animus gets laundered through parking gripes, with new mosques earning 16-18 percent more parking complaints than new churches news.ucsc.edu/2026/09/park...
news.ucsc.edu
Parking policy masks anti-Muslim discrimination for communities building new mosques
New research shows that disputes around parking during the urban planning process are disproportionately used to fight the construction of mosques across the country
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
sounds pretty reasonable when you put it that way
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
dorothy rabinowitz, i owe you an apology.... www.latimes.com/california/s...
latimes.com
The biggest donor in L.A. mayor's race runs a hedge fund — and wants more bike lanes
Hedge fund manager Aaron Sosnick gave a combined $4 million to two independent expenditure committees backing Nithya Raman's mayoral campaign.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
a classic three-beat dating profile: "He told me that he loves jazz, and onetime Slate staff writer Jamelle Bouie, and that he hated my longform feature about the Creed cruise." slate.com/life/2026/09...
slate.com
Slate’s Commenters Have Been Trolling My Writing for Years. I Finally Asked Why. I’ll Never Look at Them the Same.
A story of love, death, and unlikely friendship.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
le code c'est moi! bsky.app/profile/carl...
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Tom Broderick @trumbullbrod.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The most @parkingreform.org coded headline/lede in journalism history 😂 Let me answer this for Norwalk: no, parking is not as important as heat, electricity, or water!!!!!!! www.nancyonnorwalk.com/is-parking-a...
NORWALK, Conn. - Is a parking spot as essential as heat and electricity? That question is now at the center of a dispute over rent at a downtown apartment building.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Slate is 30! That's pretty cool. slate.com/briefing/202...
slate.com
Here’s How to Celebrate Slate’s 30th Birthday!
Take a trip back to 1996.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
great story. i'm glad that the International Blueberry Organization is on the case www.wsj.com/business/dri...
wsj.com
Driscoll’s Gave China Its Blueberries—Then China Swiped the Secret to Growing Them
The California grower’s expansion into China ignited local competition and widespread intellectual-property theft. Private investigators went undercover at nurseries.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
an extra year of permitting time for multifamily is associated with a 39-percent increase in median rent -- relationship is just as strong as with prior measures of land use regulation
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
fascinating new paper on permitting speed -- another hidden barrier to housing abundance t.co/i5hfoCRXsY
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
seriously folks, this is a great read that covers a lot of ground: housing, transportation, governance, public safety and more.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
thanks alan!
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
this is a true delight; neighborhood writing at its best www.curbed.com/article/murr....
curbed.com
In Defense of Murray Hill
Life in a neighborhood that’s become a punch line.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Another cyclist killed on Memorial Drive. There but for the grace of God go I... www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/03/m...
bostonglobe.com
MIT professor hit while riding his bicycle in Cambridge last month has died, university officials say - The Boston Globe
Thomas Rose, 37, joined MIT in January and was set to begin teaching courses this fall.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
my editor used to take the train from NYC to Stamford and rent a car there lol
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I once hitchhiked from the Amtrak station on Lake Champlain to my friend's place in the Adirondacks. It can be done! But there was probably a classy stagecoach plying that route in 1920.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
don't get me wrong i do this kind of shit too but it's not for everyone
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
you always know when the headline is from the athletic
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
my takeaway: the northeast really needs some interurban-style mass transit investment. there's a non-zero number of people in the NEC who own cars just to go away for the weekend! www.nytimes.com/2026/09/02/t...
nytimes.com
An East Coast Summer Vacation, All by Public Transportation
A self-described transit romantic set out to visit prime summer destinations using only public transportation. Would getting there really be half the fun?
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I recall hearing similar stories about British tourists on their ski vacations in the Alps... driver impunity is a global quality
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
"The borough of Westminster, home to some of London’s toniest neighborhoods, said in a 2023 report that it sought to collect payment on 13,423 tickets issued to United Arab Emirates vehicles between 2018 and 2022. Only 1% paid." www.wsj.com/world/uk/lon...
wsj.com
Londoners Are Stewing Over Supercar Tourists Who Park Wherever They Want
Tony neighborhoods are clogged with Ferraris, Lamborghinis and McLarens bearing Middle East plates and tickets drivers won’t pay.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
a delight to be on Marketplace this morning, talking about some of history's Unusual Sources of revenue www.marketplace.org/story/2026/0...
marketplace.org
Before chasing quick fixes for the AI tax problem, look at Chicago's parking meters
If AI shrinks the workforce and tax base, a sovereign wealth fund could help make up the difference. But critics warn of unintended risks.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
a quietly important step in the direction of a non-functioning country, IMO
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
"It is also exceedingly rare for one governor not to act on a request from another to extradite a criminal defendant, as Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has done." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/u...
nytimes.com
ICE agent Christian Castro Released From Texas Jail After Minnesota Loses Court Fight
The state had sought to have the agent extradited from Texas to answer charges in Minneapolis related to an on-duty shooting that wounded an immigrant.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
helmet discourse... get behind me satan!
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
this whole thing feels like an April Fools Joke specially designed for @jakeanbinder.bsky.social ... how strong is our present wave of nostalgia that this oil company logo is getting this treatment www.bostonyouremyhome.net
bostonyouremyhome.net
Boston You're My Home
Boston You're My Home
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
on the contrary! -- the piece is a plea for reading MORE books, not neglecting TPB
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
"The federal interest in cities was already dead by the time Joe Biden entered the Senate; it is the seesaw of disinvestment and private capital, not overpowering government intervention, that has determined the shape of the urban landscape since."
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
slate.com/business/202...
slate.com
Read Another Book
The Power Broker leaves us ill-equipped to understand or confront the struggles that face the city today.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
One interesting side effect of rent control that I learned about in Matthew Lasner’s book High Life is that it created most of the apartment homeownership opportunities in New York — 85 percent of the city’s co-ops and condos in 1975 had been created thru conversion
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Meanwhile next door wbznewsradio.iheart.com/alternate/am...
wbznewsradio.iheart.com
The City Of Somerville Celebrates Four Years Without A Traffic Death | WBZ NewsRadio 1030
The City of Somerville has gone four years without a fatal crash. Mayor Jake Wilson said it is not a coincidence.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Lotta funny business going on in this town with bike lanes in the name of ”the community” mass.streetsblog.org/2026/08/20/a...
mass.streetsblog.org
Bucking Opposition From East Boston Residents, Boston Streets Commissioners Unanimously Vote to Eliminate Planned Bikeway Near Day Square - Streetsblog Massachusetts
Among the dozen people who testified at Thursday's hearing, the only people who spoke in favor of removing the proposed bike lane were City Hall employees.
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Patrick Cosmos @veryimportant.lawyer · 20/08/2026
“Naples, Florida-based Chicago radio host” probably the darkest phrase I’ll read all week
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
i assume there was more "square" there before they build the highway but... this has got to be the world's worst "square"
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
we'll see your piazza navona and raise you whatever this is
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
people think "square" and they imagine: plaza, trees, benches, grand public building, maybe a fountain. in boston, on the other hand, a "square" is when 11 busy streets come together in an intersection where it takes 90 seconds for the light to change.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
love this from Slate's "Party like it's '96" series. excited for the first challenge! slate.com/1996-sign-up...
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
slate.com/business/201...
slate.com
Chicago Dug the World’s Biggest Flood-Stopping Tunnel. What if the City Got It Wrong?
The Deep Tunnel was supposed to provide “a total solution to the flood problem.” It hasn’t.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
The Deep Tunnel!
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
frankly i'd rather ride in a boxcar than sit for 6 hours on I95
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
maybe we gotta do an "orthodox" thanksgiving that's just a few weeks different
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
this is mentioned in the piece. but the other data makes it clear this is not the only thing going on.
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
checking in on BOS-NY train fares for Thanksgiving week
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