A blistering critique of UVA’s presidential search process that also raises some serious concerns about Beardsley’s resume. That guy has got to go.
augustafreepress.com/news/vanishi...
In Tanzania the bicycle was both a declaration and an instrument of independence. In “Nyerere’s Bicycle of Self-Reliance,” Frank Edward reveals a familiar pattern by which cycling began in Dar es Salaam as a ruling-class import and developed into a practical local tool. ...
I point to clips from the town halls in “Parks And Rec” as a scarily real example of why they’re terrible from a meeting design standpoint.
I’m a planner and I hate this shit. Incidentally, it always seems to be engineering firms that trot this out and then act like they’ve reinvented and improved the quality of engagement. My brother in Christ, you’ve just made it harder to actually learn anything
Lmao the NORMAL scenario involves the University of Virginia Cavaliers making the College Football Playoff
youngkin serving the commonwealth by conspiring with the white house to destroy one of its flagship educational institutions
A great cautionary tale in drawing a line on a map. A fun fact: the name “Eastern Avenue” does not comply with the county’s road naming manual.
PURE DUVAL
It is awful but for right now, DUUUUVAAAALLLLLL
Governor Youngkin, Winsome Sears and Jason Miyares won't acknowledge it but the media sees what's happening to the NOVA economy which is 42% of the states General Fund
@bluevirginia.bsky.social
cardinalnews.org/2025/10/01/t...
Whoa, it has been a while and crazy to see this. Love what you’re doing - let’s catch up!
For @thenation.com i wrote about how I think Trump’s ballroom is vaporware and also about the 80s lore behind his choice of architect www.thenation.com?post_type=ar...
the thing everyone is going to have to accept is that the post-trump period, whenever it comes, will not and cannot be a project of national unity, it must be a project of partisan project of renewal, in the same way that reconstruction and the new deal were partisan projects of renewal.
Hell yeah Cabs. Speaking of drum corps - what I would give to have the 1980 Bridgemen’s sonic power destroy my hearing and peel paint off nearby surfaces youtu.be/oiPoaOg5dxs?...
“Wilderness for white people”
The latest on TS Chantal today, but more importantly, we take a deep dive into the causes and forecasts leading up to the horrific flooding tragedy in Texas. A lot to unpack today. open.substack.com/pub/theeyewa...
the president does not actually have the power to fire a university president or a museum director, but if elites simply roll over under pressure, then effectively he does
what is fascinating to me is the number of people whose “knowledge” of government appears to just be an accumulation of cliches and stereotypes + an inchoate sense that if something is big and costly then it must necessarily be “wasteful”
Fascinating to watch this race. Shreve wasn’t here during the 1970s environmental-exclusionary coalition, but ASAP can trace its roots back to Citizens for Albemarle and Zero Population Growth. As the coalition’s membership ages, I wonder how many more times we’ll see this type of candidate
The direction of the administration re: emergency management is becoming clear. Let us tour the changes to the hazard mitigation plan process.
#1 - no longer need to document engagement with representatives of NGOs or CBOs working with underserved communities and socially vulnerable populations.
Should go without saying, but nearly 800,000 Houstonians now face taxation without representation because of Greg Abbott.
Talked to Tim Walz as he campaigned in Wisconsin. Thought his answer to one Q I'd had for Dems - if you come back in 2028, do you rebuild everything DOGE broke? - was interesting.
"I think it's an opportunity."
www.semafor.com/article/03/1...
That’s honestly a solid BOS vote given the disincentive for a supervisor to vote for a controversial proposal in their district, so the advocacy is definitely impressive. Gotta keep pushing for a fourth vote to incorporate this level of nuance into future policy so staff can fully support it.
There is such strong “don’t build housing here” language in the rural areas policy that it is really tough to argue for it. The design exceptions have a bit more judgment IMO but definitely risk-averse.
When I wrote the Yancey School Community Center analysis, I REALLY had to argue to apply a single objective related to crossroads communities to Esmont because it was an established community in order to find a favorable factor for rural area services. I had the benefit of it being a county project.
Having written staff reports based on this plan and code, staff recs are 90% based on plain language of Board-adopted policies, and maybe 10% independent interpretation and professional judgment. The rural area and growth management policies definitely stack the deck against housing or services.
Cville is more courageous although imperfect. The rural political calculus and general resistance to change has really hurt the county’s ability to lead on urban issues. The growth management push really started with the 1975 BOS elections and 50 years seems short in the local political memory.
Like yes, you need to keep up with the streets, sidewalks, and buses - and SCHOOLS! Denying rezonings because capacity isn’t online is a total own-goal in the long run because growing further out costs more. Living in an urban area costs money - gotta figure out how to pay for it.
Counties definitely struggle with infrastructure - in the other areas this is a water/sewer issue (I don’t envy the Greene/Madison/Orange/Rapidan water supply issues) but urban transportation is definitely an area where the lack of authority due to VDOT control doesn’t help.
Albemarle’s scale makes it into a regional issue, but IMO both city and county share the same biggest governance failures - a lack of discipline to actually plan for and fund urban infrastructure, and the lack of political will and courage to actually *legislate* for urban land uses through rezoning
