2026May
"Where Are the Economies of Scale in Homebuilding?"
Over the last few months we’ve examined the extent of the construction industry’s productivity problem. We’ve looked at a variety of construction productivity metrics, both for the US and for countries around the world, and found that construction productivity almost always rises much less in construction than it does in industries like manufacturing;
...More"Step-Up Housing Award"
Designed for local nonprofit, BOSS – Step Up Housing provides 39 units of supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness along a centrally-located stretch of downtown Berkeley.
Step-Up Housing redefines the classic SRO by creating a model for the 50×100 Californian lot in Berkeley.
"San Francisco rents are soaring, but city report finds that building housing still isn’t economically feasible"
San Francisco has seen demand for space explode in the past three years. Amid an ongoing artificial intelligence boom, office vacancy has finally begun to fall, apartment rents are hitting records and demand for single-family homes has exploded.
...More"New Gateway building creates dedicated campus hub for AI, computing"
The state-of-the-art facility will be the new home of the UC Berkeley College of Computing, Data Science, and Society, promoting cross-collaboration and accelerating AI-driven discovery.
...More"Washington Passes First Statewide Scissor Stair Reform"
The measure ushers in more light-filled, infill-suited apartment homes—and sets a model for other states.
...More"My illegal neighborhood"
From May 2017: For many years I lived in Northwest Portland, Oregon.
It was a part of the city first settled by white pioneers in the 1860s, but development really took off when the streetcar arrived in the first half of the 1900s. (A century later, the old streetcar tracks had to be dug up so they could put down the new streetcar tracks.)
...More"America’s Driving Mandate: Don’t Call It “Freedom”"
There is a story Americans like to tell about ourselves: that we love our cars, our cul-de-sacs, our three-car garages and two-car commutes. That we “chose” this. That suburban sprawl is the natural expression of an American preference for space, privacy, and the open road, and that anyone who suggests otherwise is a coastal scold trying to force us into a crowded apartment over a noisy bar.
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