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The history of urban development is often defined by how communities interact with the cities around them. A compelling argument emerges here regarding the distinct difference between historical ethnic enclaves like Little Italy or Chinatown and modern developments that appear to intentionally isolate themselves. The core of this perspective lies in the concept of assimilation—how earlier immigrant groups actively integrated by participating in public education, civic life, and welcoming outsiders into their traditions. By contrast, the speaker challenges the narrative surrounding current exclusionary zoning and community practices, questioning whether certain projects truly serve the greater good or if they deepen societal divides. It’s a provocative look at how neighborhood dynamics shape our collective culture and the responsibilities that come with building a community within a city. #UrbanPlanning #CommunityIntegration #CityLife #SocialCommentary #CivicEngagement
The history of urban development is often defined by how communities interact with the cities around them. A compelling argument emerges here regarding the distinct difference between historical ethnic enclaves like Little Italy or Chinatown and modern developments that appear to intentionally isolate themselves. The core of this perspective lies in the concept of assimilation—how earlier immigrant groups actively integrated by participating in public education, civic life, and welcoming outsiders into their traditions. By contrast, the speaker challenges the narrative surrounding current exclusionary zoning and community practices, questioning whether certain projects truly serve the greater good or if they deepen societal divides. It’s a provocative look at how neighborhood dynamics shape our collective culture and the responsibilities that come with building a community within a city. #UrbanPlanning #CommunityIntegration #CityLife #SocialCommentary #CivicEngagement
Despite systemic exclusion, Black professionals reshaped cities anyway. In Los Angeles, Paul R. Williams designed more than 2,000 buildings. He even learned to draw upside down so white clients would not have to sit beside him. In Cleveland, Garrett Morgan redesigned the traffic signal in 1923, adding a warning phase that made streets safer. General Electric bought the patent. His name rarely gets mentioned. Urban planning often centers Jane Jacobs. But many of the ideas she described were already present in Black neighborhoods. Eyes on the street. Mixed use blocks. Short trips. Community trust. These were not theories. 📚 They were necessities. 🔑 Cities work best when they are designed around how people actually move. That knowledge has always been there. #BlackHistory #UrbanPlanning #CityDesign #UrbanHistory InclusiveDesign
Despite systemic exclusion, Black professionals reshaped cities anyway. In Los Angeles, Paul R. Williams designed more than 2,000 buildings. He even learned to draw upside down so white clients would not have to sit beside him. In Cleveland, Garrett Morgan redesigned the traffic signal in 1923, adding a warning phase that made streets safer. General Electric bought the patent. His name rarely gets mentioned. Urban planning often centers Jane Jacobs. But many of the ideas she described were already present in Black neighborhoods. Eyes on the street. Mixed use blocks. Short trips. Community trust. These were not theories. 📚 They were necessities. 🔑 Cities work best when they are designed around how people actually move. That knowledge has always been there. #BlackHistory #UrbanPlanning #CityDesign #UrbanHistory InclusiveDesign
You can blame the banks and politicians for segregation that occurred in the 30s and you can thank them for the segregation today. Redlining is technically illegal in 2026 but it still happens and the results of redlining very much still exist.
You can blame the banks and politicians for segregation that occurred in the 30s and you can thank them for the segregation today. Redlining is technically illegal in 2026 but it still happens and the results of redlining very much still exist.
Yesterday, WUWM interviewed me about my project "REDLINED: The Shape of Inequality," which I built using Claude Code and a variety of data from cities, universities, the US Census, the CDC, and more. REDLINED: The Shape of Inequality is a 3D, map-based web experience that visualizes Milwaukee’s 1938 Home Owners’ Loan Corporation redlining zones as extruded colored blocks, from “Best” (green) to “Hazardous” (red). It shows how those government-backed neighborhood grades shaped and still influence patterns of racial segregation, disinvestment, and inequality in the city today.
Yesterday, WUWM interviewed me about my project "REDLINED: The Shape of Inequality," which I built using Claude Code and a variety of data from cities, universities, the US Census, the CDC, and more. REDLINED: The Shape of Inequality is a 3D, map-based web experience that visualizes Milwaukee’s 1938 Home Owners’ Loan Corporation redlining zones as extruded colored blocks, from “Best” (green) to “Hazardous” (red). It shows how those government-backed neighborhood grades shaped and still influence patterns of racial segregation, disinvestment, and inequality in the city today.
Energy poverty often gets talked about like it’s just high energy bills, but that’s only one layer. When you look at it through the lens of residential retrofit, it becomes clear how much more complex it is. It’s the condition of the building, how people actually live in those spaces, and their wider socioeconomic reality. Which means there isn’t one fix, it’s multiple, often overlapping solutions. The challenge is that retrofit processes are often structured in a fairly cookie cutter way, with different stakeholders responsible for tightly defined parts of the journey. What stood out here is where things start to break down. In the planning phase, you often see real effort. Professionals go beyond their remit, engage residents, and try to connect the dots. Then implementation hits, and it slips back into silos. The collaboration fades, the feedback loops disappear, and the more complex, lived injustices that don’t fit neatly into a single scope of work start to fall through the cracks. They don’t disappear, they just lose a clear pathway for resolution. Seen, but not owned. Recognised, but not acted on. That feels less like a technology problem, and more like a systems design problem.
Energy poverty often gets talked about like it’s just high energy bills, but that’s only one layer. When you look at it through the lens of residential retrofit, it becomes clear how much more complex it is. It’s the condition of the building, how people actually live in those spaces, and their wider socioeconomic reality. Which means there isn’t one fix, it’s multiple, often overlapping solutions. The challenge is that retrofit processes are often structured in a fairly cookie cutter way, with different stakeholders responsible for tightly defined parts of the journey. What stood out here is where things start to break down. In the planning phase, you often see real effort. Professionals go beyond their remit, engage residents, and try to connect the dots. Then implementation hits, and it slips back into silos. The collaboration fades, the feedback loops disappear, and the more complex, lived injustices that don’t fit neatly into a single scope of work start to fall through the cracks. They don’t disappear, they just lose a clear pathway for resolution. Seen, but not owned. Recognised, but not acted on. That feels less like a technology problem, and more like a systems design problem.
Why does the racial wealth gap still exist? The answer is built into our neighborhoods. 🏠📉 This clip from Race – The Power of an Illusion breaks down how post-WWII housing policies—like the FHA’s “redlining” maps—provided a fast track to the middle class for white families while systematically denying those same opportunities to Black families. The impact? ❌ Black families were denied mortgages. ❌ Neighborhoods were strictly segregated by law. ❌ Generations of equity were lost. Today, the average white family has 8x the wealth of the average Black family. To fix the future, we have to understand the blueprints of the past. 🏛️ Key Details from the Footage Used: • Levittown: Mentioned as the archetype of the “suburban dream” that was restricted to white residents. • FHA Underwriting: The video explains how the government institutionalized segregation through its appraisal system. • Equity: The focus is on how homeownership is the primary driver of wealth in the US. #Redlining #HousingJustice #AmericanHistory #WealthGap #Equity 🎥: Race – The Power of an Illusion (YouTube)
Why does the racial wealth gap still exist? The answer is built into our neighborhoods. 🏠📉 This clip from Race – The Power of an Illusion breaks down how post-WWII housing policies—like the FHA’s “redlining” maps—provided a fast track to the middle class for white families while systematically denying those same opportunities to Black families. The impact? ❌ Black families were denied mortgages. ❌ Neighborhoods were strictly segregated by law. ❌ Generations of equity were lost. Today, the average white family has 8x the wealth of the average Black family. To fix the future, we have to understand the blueprints of the past. 🏛️ Key Details from the Footage Used: • Levittown: Mentioned as the archetype of the “suburban dream” that was restricted to white residents. • FHA Underwriting: The video explains how the government institutionalized segregation through its appraisal system. • Equity: The focus is on how homeownership is the primary driver of wealth in the US. #Redlining #HousingJustice #AmericanHistory #WealthGap #Equity 🎥: Race – The Power of an Illusion (YouTube)
Building affordable housing under a million dollars means creating smaller apartment buildings that double current density. We need to bring back the 'missing middle' with 4-6 story wood-frame structures. Let's put this housing on quiet, leafy streets, not busy arterials, for cleaner air and better living. #AffordableHousing #SingleStair #NoAssemblyRequired #UrbanPlanning #MissingMiddle #HousingCrisis #SustainableCities #RealEstateDevelopment #CommunityLiving #CityPlanning
Building affordable housing under a million dollars means creating smaller apartment buildings that double current density. We need to bring back the 'missing middle' with 4-6 story wood-frame structures. Let's put this housing on quiet, leafy streets, not busy arterials, for cleaner air and better living. #AffordableHousing #SingleStair #NoAssemblyRequired #UrbanPlanning #MissingMiddle #HousingCrisis #SustainableCities #RealEstateDevelopment #CommunityLiving #CityPlanning
The racial homeownership gap in America is wider than it was a generation ago. Despite decades of policy, the divide remains a structural fixture of the U.S. housing system. In 1994, the gap stood at 27.7%. Today? It’s 28.4%—higher than it was in 1960. Because homeownership is the primary driver of American wealth, this gap fuels multi-generational inequality. We’re breaking down the data and the economic stakes in our latest Special Report: Racial Inequities in U.S. Housing, 2026.
The racial homeownership gap in America is wider than it was a generation ago. Despite decades of policy, the divide remains a structural fixture of the U.S. housing system. In 1994, the gap stood at 27.7%. Today? It’s 28.4%—higher than it was in 1960. Because homeownership is the primary driver of American wealth, this gap fuels multi-generational inequality. We’re breaking down the data and the economic stakes in our latest Special Report: Racial Inequities in U.S. Housing, 2026.
#redlining #housing
#redlining #housing
10% of the country should not be able to drive policy for the other 90%. That is exactly why so many leaders underestimate what is happening around immigration enforcement. Project 2025 reflects a fringe ideology, yet its ideas are moving into the mainstream faster than most institutions are prepared for. One of its clearest examples is the push for a 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 through ICE. This is not abstract policy. It is showing up in cities, in communities, and in the daily reality of people trying to live normal lives. In Minneapolis, the impact has been impossible to ignore. Leaders who think this is only a political issue are missing the operational one. When ideology turns into enforcement, every organization in that environment inherits the consequences: → workforce fear → community distrust → reputational exposure → leadership silence that gets interpreted as consent The question is why so many people still think extremism stays on the fringe when it's at their doorstep.
10% of the country should not be able to drive policy for the other 90%. That is exactly why so many leaders underestimate what is happening around immigration enforcement. Project 2025 reflects a fringe ideology, yet its ideas are moving into the mainstream faster than most institutions are prepared for. One of its clearest examples is the push for a 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 through ICE. This is not abstract policy. It is showing up in cities, in communities, and in the daily reality of people trying to live normal lives. In Minneapolis, the impact has been impossible to ignore. Leaders who think this is only a political issue are missing the operational one. When ideology turns into enforcement, every organization in that environment inherits the consequences: → workforce fear → community distrust → reputational exposure → leadership silence that gets interpreted as consent The question is why so many people still think extremism stays on the fringe when it's at their doorstep.
Why you can't afford a house today 🏠💸 The Tragedy of the Anticommons explains why rent, subways, and medicine cost so much. When too many people have the legal right to say no, the entire economic system paralyzes just like medieval toll castles. #economics #housingcrisis #realestate #urbanplanning #history
Why you can't afford a house today 🏠💸 The Tragedy of the Anticommons explains why rent, subways, and medicine cost so much. When too many people have the legal right to say no, the entire economic system paralyzes just like medieval toll castles. #economics #housingcrisis #realestate #urbanplanning #history
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