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Adrian Pietrzak

@zoningwonk.bsky.social
346 followers 323 following 232 posts

PhD student at Princeton studying urban politics and how to make our cities fairer and more affordable. He/him 🏳️‍🌈 apietrzak.org

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Reposted by Adrian Pietrzak
Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
In addition, the Reimagining Regional Rail master plan has been released! We finally might get the S-Bahn Philadelphia deserves. Read now: wwww.septa.org/initiatives/...
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Converse (1964)
Philiip Converse, author of "The nature of belief systems in mass publics" (1964), with laser eyes
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Adrian Pietrzak @zoningwonk.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Many Americans have already driven in vehicles with built-in speed governors! That cars can go 100mph despite it being illegal to do so literally everywhere is what is actually crazy here.
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Reposted by Adrian Pietrzak
Gersh Kuntzman @realgershkuntzman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
More and more neighborhoods are asking @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social to reduce the speed limit in their area. Here's our interactive map: datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Evk0t/24/
datawrapper.dwcdn.net
Slow But Sure
More and more community boards are asking the Mamdani administration to use Sammy's Law to reduce car speed limits to 20 miles per hour.
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Reposted by Adrian Pietrzak
Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 28/08/2026
In some big cities—like New York, Seattle, DC, Boston, SF & Portland—commuters are less & less likely to drive to work. The transformation was underway pre-Covid. The share of commuters driving in Seattle declined from 58.7% in 1990 to 36.6% now! www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-...
Share of commuters traveling to work by driving alone, 1980–2024, New York, Seattle, DC, Boston, SF, and Portland.
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Jason Rabinowitz @airlineflyer.net · 28/08/2026
“and a new fleet for commuters travelling between New York and Philadelphia. The Acela Corridor is now officially only between NYC and Philly.
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Adrian Pietrzak @zoningwonk.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
New working paper from me, @alexandersahn.bsky.social, and Jacob Brown (offline): how do voters react to new homeless shelters and supportive housing built in their backyards? We find voters living nearby new facilities *increase* their support for more spending on homeless services.
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Reposted by Adrian Pietrzak
Kevin Collins @kwcollins.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
I strongly recommend this report from over a decade ago on how measurement error in large sample surveys leads to this kind of the mistaken estimate in this new Census report. cces.gov.harvard.edu/news/perils-...
cces.gov.harvard.edu
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Adrian Pietrzak @zoningwonk.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Totally not suspicious at all that they don't provide the threshold nor define "high-confidence"
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Darin Self @darinself.com · 19/08/2026
Congrats to all the methods students who will get this on their final question set
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Jarrett Walker @humantransit.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
US high schools are routinely located as though they were prisons. -- Cut off from the community. -- No way for people to walk/bike in or out. -- Maximum congestion. -- No way for transit to get there efficiently. -- Nothing but barriers in all directions. Nashville, TN H/t @thetransitguy.com
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Blair Lorenzo / The Fox and the City @thefoxandthecity.com · 18/08/2026
I think it's time for the LIRR to bring back this logo.
A square manhole with an incredibly intricate LIRR
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Seems like half the development stories i've been writing recently are somehow connected to the Philadelphia Housing Authority www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
inquirer.com
New York developer proposes 129 affordable apartments near Temple University
The majority of the units — 61 apartments — will be affordable to those making just over $44,000 for a one-person household.
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Reposted by Adrian Pietrzak
Saad Asad @realsaadasad.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
In tiny Rehoboth Beach, Del., planners didn't just ask older homeowners about zoning reform; they surveyed seasonal tourism workers. Standard hearings skew toward homeowners with free time, missing the renters most squeezed by housing shortages. www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hu...
smartgrowthamerica.org
Ensuring community voices shape zoning reform efforts in Rehoboth Beach - Smart Growth America
About us
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Kevin Wilson @kwilsonhfx.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Shocking.
NTSB graph showing the relationship between miles biked per person per year and cyclists killed per billion miles biked. There's an obvious negative trend (people bike more in place where it's safer to do so.
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 01/08/2026
A big reason for this is that buses stop way too often in North America, so each stop doesn’t have enough riders to justify the expense of a shelter (on top of that, the excessive stopping slows trips, which further depresses ridership generally)
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Adrian Pietrzak @zoningwonk.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
The last NextGen Acela I was on was 1.5 hours late (because doors wouldn't close in Boston - 2 Regionals passed) and I had to walk 4 cars back to find a bathroom that worked (and the sink still had no running water). Needless to say, I only book Regionals now.
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Reposted by Adrian Pietrzak
Next door in Silicon Valley @nextdoorsv.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Speaking of property taxes, I feel compelled to show you this Silicon Valley house that has a market value of $4,313,755, and an annual property tax bill of $2,551 - an effective rate of 0.06%
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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 17/07/2026
US homeownership rate is conventionally described as being ~ 65%. But that measure fails to take into account the large number of adults living in homes where *other* adults actually own the homes. People like young adults, elderly, friends. Once you account for that, the rate declines to… 53%.
minneapolisfed.org
New homeownership measure puts people first | Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
An alternative way of calculating the homeownership rate tells us how many individuals own their homes—something the most commonly used metric fails to track
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Michael Hankinson @hankinson.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Can you pay NIMBYs to say yes to housing? Rogé Karma covers my ongoing work with Glaeser, Gyourko & Davis in The Atlantic. Most people have a price — it rises with proximity, project scale, and suburbia. And cash beats parks funding, though local legislators prefer the reverse. Gift link below.
theatlantic.com
A Perfectly Crude Solution to America’s Housing Shortage
If you can’t beat the NIMBYs, pay ’em.
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Adam L @adam-lg.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Crazy to think the bad AQI day we're having today in NYC was just "normal" for summer in the 80s-90s. (Note that 2001-5 overlap across the two plots). Data via www.epa.gov/outdoor-air-...
AQI for NYC: 1980-2005Daily AQI data for NYC, 2001-2026
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Phil Rocco @philiprocco.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
I don’t think people really understand how bad the OMB proposed rule is going to be for state and local govt. We’re talking about putting a full third of state budgets under the explicit control of Russ Vought. (1/2) www.bondbuyer.com/news/cities-...
bondbuyer.com
Cities, states warn of credit impact from proposed federal grant rule
Discretionary termination of grants allowed under the rule would pose a particular risk, issuer advocates said.
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Blvd Subway @blvdsubway.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
The Washington Ave Connector is a beautiful thing to see done. Philadelphia be positive a better city is happening!
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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Yet another societal benefit of congestion pricing: Better emergency care New paper credits NYC's congestion pricing program for a 5-6 percent reduction in emergency response travel time. www.nber.org/system/files...
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 29/06/2026
I would reverse Bill de Blasio and the hotel union’s ban on new hotels in New York City
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gamera obscura @ohrobin.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
This Danville, VA city council candidate made a very dramatic video about sidewalks and public safety, and I love it and him. Worrying about a possible milkshake duck situation, I looked at his FB page, but he seems ok. Juneteenth celebrations, community outreach, Methodists. A solid old gent.
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California YIMBY @cayimby.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
1633 Valencia cut SF affordable housing costs ~50% via four levers: (1) reused permitted plans from a prior project (2) design-build so construction started earlier (3) prefab components (4) flexible private capital upfront www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/a...
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 16/06/2026
Damn, those bulb-outs suck. I don’t understand why DOTs build them on streets with unprotected bike lanes. Isn’t it obvious that they’re going to be protected one day and the bulb-outs will just get in the way?
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Adrian Pietrzak @zoningwonk.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Did Iran hire the same lawyers that tried to defend Obamacare's individual mandate in court
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Adrian Pietrzak @zoningwonk.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
The problems of transit in the U.S. make a lot more sense when you consider that most politicians - even in the most transit rich state (!) - consider transit to be either (a) a jobs program or (b) a welfare program (or both)
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Reposted by Adrian Pietrzak
Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
A new @pewresearch.org study finds that infill housing near jobs, stores, and transit costs governments ~$21,000 less per home to serve, cuts long term infrastructure maintenance costs in half, and generates 13% more in annual property tax revenue per acre than sprawl.
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 06/06/2026
I appreciate @agounardes.bsky.social standing strong as the ONLY Dem in the entire New York State legislature to do the right thing and vote against enshrining operational inefficiency on the NYC Subway by banning OPTO expansion. If this bill becomes law, it’ll make IBX significantly less useful
amny.com
Subway staffing: State Senate and Assembly pass transit union-backed bill to make two-person crews permanent | amNewYork
The state Senate and Assembly this week passed a measure that would require the MTA to maintain two-person train crews on every subway line that currently has
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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Gelman absolutely on fire on the blog statmodeling.substack.com/p/13-aspects...
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Adrian Pietrzak @zoningwonk.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
This discourse is crazy because a *majority* of New Yorkers are not from NYC! Nearly 40% are immigrants! Moving to NYC is kinda NYC's whole thing!
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Adrian Pietrzak @zoningwonk.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
The city proposed pairing protected bike lanes with loading zones on every block to avoid traffic, but that didn't stop dissent and lawsuits because everything is about parking. Priority of society hill NIMBYs is: parking > loading zones > (big gap) if cyclists live or die
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Sad to see CBS3 stoop down to both sidesism on bike lanes, but lack of loading spaces has nothing to do with the bike lane! Only in Philly do we let drivers get away with usurping travel lanes for as long as they like
However, some residents argue the redesign has created new challenges, particularly when vehicles stop in the travel lane.

One of the most common complaints is that the lane configuration can lead to significant traffic backups. Critics say congestion can stretch from Market Street to Pine Street when a vehicle stops to unload or make a delivery.

"I have absolute fright to come home and unload my car," said Judie, a Society Hill resident.
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Adrian Pietrzak @zoningwonk.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
My guess is that if anything this hurts the GOP in the long run because voters can't have their cake (vote their nationalist, white identity) and eat it too (get the liberal economic polices they also want, like minimum wage)
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Adrian Pietrzak @zoningwonk.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Was this bill specifically written for @aarmlovi.bsky.social?
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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Reams of data show that this argument is baseless
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Effective Transit Alliance @etany.org · 29/05/2026
This is the wrong decision for transit in New York. Existing rights-of-way that travel through dense, under-served neighborhoods do not grow on trees, and it's a massive own goal for any city to not take advantage of them. No plan does this better than @queenslink.org.
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Adrian Pietrzak @zoningwonk.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
MBTA is a great case of why speed =/= ridership. The green lines CRAWL through downtown and yet they have more than double the ridership at a third of the track miles compared to zippy SEPTA trolleys
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terra firma, terra eterna 🚱🌉 @kavi.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
It is so gd slow to go through western Connecticut on Amtrak I get surprised by this every single time They should just stop serving the Connecticut stops on the NER until Connecticut agrees to fix the track issues
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Adrian Pietrzak @zoningwonk.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
just saw the amtrak bag policy actually enforced for the first time. employee didn’t let a couple down the stairs with a big luggage and asked them to check it in 3 minutes before departure
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 26/05/2026
Looks like Eric Adams really delivered on housing production with City of Yes newyorkyimby.com/2026/05/new-...
newyorkyimby.com
New York YIMBY’s 2026 First-Quarter Construction Report Tallies a Dramatic Increase in Development - New York YIMBY
YIMBY has revealed its report on construction permit filing activity for the first quarter of 2026 across the five boroughs.
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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 24/05/2026
The thing about the US is that we can’t even build a single high-speed rail line and the department of transportation of the largest, wealthiest state wants to waste people’s time by studying a fake mode of transportation. These two facts are related.
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 21/05/2026
Great video about how moving chains work, with a real example youtu.be/QQYMUMTI7fk?...
youtu.be
Building More Housing Creates 'Moving Chains' of Affordability
YouTube video by Pew
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
"He [Bob Brady] has led the party since 1986 and said he intends to seek another four-year term. The leaders who represent the city’s 66 geographically based wards will vote to select a chair next month." www.inquirer.com/politics/phi...
inquirer.com
Philly DA Larry Krasner calls on city committee chair Bob Brady to resign: ‘There needs to be some new leadership’
Krasner’s call for Brady to step aside comes after State Rep. Chris Rabb, a democratic socialist, won the Democratic nomination to represent the 3rd Congressional District.
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 22/05/2026
After aggressive land use reforms aimed at increasing supply, 20% of New Zealand townhouses resales are now at a loss www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...
rnz.co.nz
Almost 20% of townhouses selling for a loss
Cotality says there are now 242,000 townhouses across the country, 48,000 more than eight years ago.
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Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈 @maxdubler.com · 21/05/2026
This columnist starts by whining about how her BART station is raising commuter parking prices in response to demand, then immediately pivots to venting her frustration about not being able to find a spot at current prices. She does not make a connection between these issues. Remarkable stuff!
sfgate.com
A lot of people use my Walnut Creek BART station. We're being punished for it.
"I was still getting used to $7.80, BART!"
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Adrian Pietrzak @zoningwonk.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Oh my god they made the onion article a real thing
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