So many regulatory processes, from local zoning to federal rule-making, rely on public comment, and comments are treated as submitted in good faith. I've heard anecdotal cases of comments being written by AI, but not astroturfing-as-a-service.
Consistently, in survey after survey, housing availability and affordability is THE number one issue facing Massachusetts voters.
A ‘status quo’ approach to housing from any elected official, of any political party, should be considered malpractice today.
A new poll from @abundanthousingma.org & YouGov finds 58% of voters support legalizing starter homes on 5,000sf lots. Just 21% oppose it.
Legalizing smaller homes, instead of locking communities into 40,000sf+ mansion zoning, makes the American Dream more attainable in Massachusetts.
It's only two weeks into 2026, but I'm pretty sure The Raven Scholar is going to be the one of the best books I read this year.
Is there an incompleteness or impossibility theorem about this? It's impossible to prevent hallucinations, and any model that reviews models to detect hallucinations is also vulnerable to hallucinations?
How to fix America's gerrymandering problem? @benschneer.bsky.social and I wrote in Time today about a solution we developed (with @cantstopkevin.bsky.social). time.com/7309565/amer...
See our website, www.definecombine.com, for more, including an article summary and an interactive simulation where you can try DCP yourself.
Instead, we believe it is possible to make reforms that keep the current electoral system while also overcoming some of its flaws. We’ve developed a process-based solution that has a number of appealing properties. It’s inspired by the problem parents face when dividing a cake between two children. How can they make sure everyone gets an equal slice? One child cuts the cake in two, and the other child chooses between the two pieces.
Our approach, which we call the “Define-Combine Procedure,” splits the map drawing process into two simple stages. First, one party divides the state into twice the number of needed districts—for example, 20 sub-districts for a state that needs 10 congressional seats. Then, the second party pairs those sub-districts into the final 10 districts. The result is a fairer map than either party would have drawn on its own. Instead of mutually assured gerrymandering, this approach leads to mutually assured representation.
The Define-Combine Procedure allows both parties to act in their own partisan interests but produces a fair map by dividing map-drawing power between both parties.
The redistricting battles evoke the cold war: "unilaterally disarm," "nuclear option," "mutually assured gerrymandering." We call our solution "mutually assured representation." bsky.app/profile/atru...
This piece builds on our paper in Political Analysis, “A Partisan Solution to Partisan Gerrymandering: The Define-Combine Procedure.” cup.org/471aVyW
How to fix America's gerrymandering problem? @benschneer.bsky.social and I wrote in Time today about a solution we developed (with @cantstopkevin.bsky.social). time.com/7309565/amer...
I've been thinking through the implications of extreme gerrymandering for several years now.
Today I wrote an article in Time that lays out the problem and describes one solution.
We think that we need a "partisan" solution to partisan gerrymandering.
time.com/7309565/amer...
You may have noticed things are happening fast in the world of redistricting…
I along with @maxwellpalmer.com and @simko.bsky.social wrote an article last week (though published today) that analyzes the changes to the congressional district map in Texas, and particularly San Antonio.
Blocking new development doesn’t “preserve” your town—it drains your wallet.
No new homes = no new taxpayers… but guess what does grow? School budgets, potholes, annual maintenance costs and legacy pension requirements.
Fewer people to split that bill = higher taxes for you.
Please check out the thread and paper @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social, @maxwellpalmer.com, and I wrote below. We started this project a LONG time ago, and could never have anticipated exactly how timely it would be when it finally was published.
What happens when immigrants and their descendants enter the halls of power? Does family history matter for policy on a contentious topic like immigration? @benschneer.bsky.social, @maxwellpalmer.com, and I wrote a post for the LSE United States Centre about our forthcoming @qjeharvard.bsky.social
NYT spelling bee, rejecting the word “monotonic.”
Really?
A truly depressing account of the enormous time, effort, & resources that go into building *anything* in blue cities.
Can not be exaggerated how much this phenomenon is crippling blue politics in the US.
www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
Screenshot from The New Yorker: One morning a few weeks ago, I met de Blasio at his regular coffee shop in Park Slope. He had just come from the gym—the same one that he’d insisted on commuting to every morning from Gracie Mansion, no matter how much grief the press gave him for it—and was wearing sweats. He held forth among his fellow-patrons with a spirit of magnanimous, possibly unreciprocated camaraderie, greeting a startled man by the door with a familiar “How you doing, brother?” and ordering his breakfast (scrambled egg whites, cheddar, ham, and tomato on multigrain toast) as “mi sandwich especial.” These days, de Blasio most often makes the news for his love life or for such momentous moves as dyeing his salt-and-pepper crewcut. But he’s sensed a bit of de Blasio nostalgia creeping into town. “Since I left office, the No. 1 thing that people come up to me on the street and talk about is pre-K,” he told me, lacing his iced espresso with a heavy pour of simple syrup. “The No. 2 thing that people talk about is that Onion headline.” He quoted it for me, savoring every word: “Well, well, well, not so easy to find a mayor that doesn’t suck shit, huh?”
bill de blasio in park slope, ordering his breakfast sandwich as “mi sandwich especial” and quoting the onion headline omg
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Boston's Zoning Board of Appeals, in a 5-2 vote, rejected plans for 70-units of new housing, just 0.3mi to the MBTA's Andrew Square station, to replace a 2-story industrial building.
US Congressman Stephen Lynch (D) sent an aide to read a letter opposing the development for lack of parking...
This is great music for grading midterms.
New: Johnston, R.I., has formally taken ownership of 31 acres of land through eminent domain as it moves forward with plans to build a new Town Hall and police and fire stations there, thwarting a proposal seeking to build affordable housing at the site.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/17/m...
Also, for traffic, I think in the Boston area traffic comes up in every conversation, regardless of topic.
I think we see schools mentioned more around large developments, especially affordable housing developments. Since we included every multi family development in our sample, that might affect our results.
This is not helping my productivity on a day when I need to finish a report with PDF graphs.
I am confident that this will be the best thing I read today.
This story underscores just how much communities are willing to spend to avoid building more housing. @maxwellpalmer.com and I find that communities buy land, sometimes to block affordable housing, with no plan or capacity to maintain/redevelop the property.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/05/m...
I just completed all 25 days of Advent of Code 2024! #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com
