Most people rejected his message Market rate housing lowers costs for everybody Shut up! They hated Jesus because He told them the truth
This is what it's like to be a YIMBY giving public comment at a Land Use committee meeting
For many Americans, buying and owning a car has become harder than it’s been in decades. Buyers are taking on larger loans than ever before, with the average financing for new vehicles rising to $42,647 in the third quarter, up from $40,713 at the same time last year. Coupled with eye-watering numbers of delinquencies and repossessions, the car financing market is raising economic warning signs.
The share of subprime borrowers — those with credit scores below 670 — who are at least 60 days late on their car loans reached its highest point since the 1990s earlier this year, according to Fitch Ratings. Those borrowers make up a growing percentage of all car loans, at 14.2 percent in September, according to Cox Automotive. That number has grown, in part, due to the millions of Americans whose credit scores were downgraded because of student loans last year, industry experts have said.
This year is also expected to see more borrowers in default lose their cars than at any point since 2009, according to industry publication CU Repossession. More cars have already been repossessed this year compared with all of 2023.
It's worth remembering that we were already in the midst of a massive spike of auto loan delinquencies *before* this spike in gas prices (and everything else). The myriad costs of car dependency are just destroying people.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/04/b...
I’m very supportive of unions and unionizing in all sectors and I have a feeling that not too many municipal officials are going to feel the same 🫠
I’m busy reading budget stuff and agenda items and don’t have time to get in the weeds with General Assembly stuff this year. But, I did just take a minute to email @amylaufer55.bsky.social @katrinacallsen.com and @creighdeeds.bsky.social to support the collective bargaining bills.
"In the next 20 years, I envision a Charlottesville region where affordable housing becomes the launching pad for economic mobility." A vision for the #next20 years by Sunshine Mathon:
It’s usually coming from staff or various organizations, so so far yes! I’m also learning how to ask good questions ☺️
So far my #1 favorite thing about this gig is being allowed to ask for information and then getting it. It’s almost like having a research assistant 🤗.
My second favorite thing is talking to people and getting to know so many different types of people. It’s so fun 🥰 and people are generally cool.
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Conference at PVCC to help families plan life after high school >>>
https://www.29news.com/2026/03/06/conference-pvcc-help-families-plan-life-after-high-school/
Poster with a list of Collective Wins over the last year
Man accepting award
Audience facing a screen with a person speaking
What I really loved was the presentation about how outdoor recreation is economic development, the slideshow of collective wins over the past year - there were so many! and seeing @whatthecarp.bsky.social get an award for his work with the e-bike lending library!
Outside view of brick building with outdoor seating and cozy lights
Table with fliers and stickers
Poster for PIEDMONT MOBILITY ALLIANCE The Piedmont Mobility Alliance is a coalition of organizations that share a vision of a better-connected community for walking, biking and other forms of active transportation in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Get involved! BIKE LANE Add your organization or business AHEAD Piedmont Environmental Council Join the Charlottesville / Albemarle Greenways group on Facebook Learn more at pecva.org/mobilityalliance
Poster about walk/bike/ride
Had a great time at the Active Mobility Summit tonight. Was really great seeing so many familiar faces and government staff.
Part 2 - why I pulled the Affordable Housing funds from the consent agenda.
BOS recap! Update on zoning, smart scale, and my take on the budget.
Part 1 sped up for Bluesky limitations; full, slower version at IG - www.instagram.com/reel/DVg2Jsr...
We had a lot of great comments today at BOS but this one at 1:00 from Neil made me laugh out loud and hopefully the mic didn’t pick it up 🤣
freeenterpriseforum.wordpress.com/2026/03/04/a...
Really grateful for our local journalists!!
It's kind of a big day for housing in Albemarle County, at least at the Board of Supervisors meeting - approving $3.6m in projects through the affordable housing fund, zoning modernization work session....and, of course, Da Budget. I plan to be there for the budget public comment this evening.
I personally don’t think we should count the rollover money 💀 I think we should spend to zero every year
Correct
Ok, I spent the afternoon reading and emailing and doing math 😵💫😵💫😵💫 and I think I was wrong. There is also a 3.7 million transfer to AHIF in this year’s budget, and the total we get from the .4 tax is 1.3. And then there’s 1.3 leftover from last year’s AHIF.
so rn, there would be 6.4 in it
Tomorrow night, 6:00 - it’s the public hearing on the budget. Come give us your thoughts!!! You can also email them!
The second one is this really great Story Maps put together by the Jefferson School - I just taught on this last week and we took 2 days to do it because the kids were so into it.
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/096a...
Oh! I forgot two more cool things - 1 is the Visions of Progress exhibit about the Holsinger photos curated by @johnedwinmason.bsky.social
virginia.app.box.com/s/xve79fgmge...
In 2020 we sat down with Mayor Nikuyah Walker to talk about where Liberation & Freedom Day came from and why it was important:
The numbers are staggering:
Rent is now unaffordable for a record *half* of U.S. renters.
Some 30 million jobs pay less than $15 an hour. The average wage needed to afford a one-bedroom apartment has climbed to $28.17 — nearly four times the federal minimum wage, which hasn't gone up in 16 years.
This day is a good corrective to traditional history, and is also a handy reminder that the loudest voices are not always the correct ones 😉
It is also not lost on me that so much of the post-bellum Black history is located in the Jouett district, which was also where the first urbanization of the county occurred. There’s a reason we have the oldest neighborhoods and housing stock in the urban ring. 🤨
Another great book to pair this with is Hidden History. Lots of stories about investigating cemeteries in the county.
lynnrainville.org/publications...
This history is important in its own, but it is also a reminder that when people today say they don’t want anything in the rural areas to change - it has always been changing!
Happy Freedom and Liberation Day!
There is a fantastic book about Black history in Albemarle, Freedom Has A Face.
www.upress.virginia.edu/title/3533/
