Jenny Schuetz

My husband and I both have October birthdays. This pumpkin fudge torte (via NYT cooking) has become one of our favorite birthday cakes.

Kalorama reliably has lovely front porch gourd displays. How do they discourage squirrels from eating them?

Pre-election vibe check from a McDonald’s in Harrisburg PA: two guys having breakfast and complaining about gas prices. “I don’t give a damn who’s in the White House. They’re all assholes.”

This event is being held in a city that has removed all minimum parking mandates, citywide. Journalists should attend and see if there is chaos in the streets.😊

Hey housing friends! Have you registered for YIMBYtown yet? We'll be in Raleigh Nov 17-19 talking about how to make it easier to build homes of all shapes & sizes, the cool things happening from local to state to federal policy, and how to keep the momentum going! Come join us! yimby.town

Fall gardening. We accidentally grew an ornamental squash vine (remnants of last year’s decoration that the squirrels ate). This year squirrels also picked two little ones before we could. Can’t really blame them, the gourds are cute.

Today on Volts: the new federal permitting bill is 417 pages long. Some people love it, some hate it, some are just confused. With Daniel Palken, I methodically walk through why it's happening, what exactly is in it, & the political rationale for doing it now. This one is epic & fairly technical.

Friday 10/9 is the deadline to register for the housing policy simulator challenge! Play with data, make a cool model, solve the housing crisis, what could be more fun?

Spent today with a bunch of other housing policy wonks nerding out over better ways to measure housing production. 12/10 highly recommend

Embracing fall with pumpkin pecan oatmeal scones. 🍁

We believe in a portfolio approach: support a bunch of YIMBY orgs and increase the probability that several of them will get wins over a few years. (As they have.)

Who else is obsessed with the new species of cat? So freaking adorable.

Love this from @dylanmatt.bsky.social: "People not yet residing in a city have an interest in there being enough housing ...but they do not get to vote in city elections. Philanthropic support for YIMBY groups thus gives them influence they’d lack through formal democratic channels."

Progressive NIMBYs keep finding new coded ways to say no to more neighbors.

Homes are good! Windows and balconies, also good. Sidewalks and trees, love. (Are there people who *aren’t* interested in infill housing?)

"We have more homes per capita than any time in history, therefore we can't possibly have a housing shortage" without addressing falling household size is a pretty unconvincing take. Or highly self-motivated reasoning.

Yesterday I prepped (minimal cooking involved) this zucchini & chickpea salad. Whole thing is delicious, but the whipped cottage cheese w basil is addictive. cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7861...

Legalize Adorable Dragon Units everywhere.

Political problems—like the housing shortage—can’t be solved without winning hearts & minds. New technology & financial engineering can’t substitute for the human labor intensive work of connecting with other people, building trust, building relationships. Sadly, there is no shortcut.

Ahhh, the Berkeley special. "Equality and inclusion, but not in a way that changes my neighborhood."

Does your community or organization have an exciting new policy, program, or approach to making housing more affordable & abundant? Tell your story at @yimby.town! Today's the deadline to submit proposals - we welcome creative formats, including posters & workshops. yimby.town

DC friends, please be considerate of your fellow bus riders today. Wear deodorant.

Happy July 4th from Scotland! Thistles really do abound. And special shoutout to the wee fire truck that does just fine without requiring extra wide streets.

Making it easier to build homes of all shapes and sizes is good policy and good politics, on both sides of the aisle and all levels of government. Congress Clears Housing Bill, Cementing a Rare Bipartisan Feat www.nytimes.com/2026/06/23/u...

Elect more renters!

Housing friends! Has your community passed an exciting zoning reform? Are you experimenting with lower-cost ways to build homes of all shapes & sizes? Tell your story at YIMBYtown in Raleigh this November! Call for sessions closes on June 29: whova.com/call_for_spe...

Tried a new NYT cooking recipe: jalapeño cheddar zucchini bread. Very chunky consistency (an entire shredded zucchini & handful of scallions), nice savory flavors. Good for snacking.

Housing researchers, there's a Call for Papers from Cityscape for analysis on state & local pro-housing reforms! This is a great opportunity to share with a broad policymaker audience your insights on what's working and what's not. www.huduser.gov/portal/perio...

Yes, indeed. America Needs to Build More Housing www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

To hell with passive voice headlines. Driver kills 80-year old crossing guard and injures 3 kids. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/n...

The simplified version of "how a bill becomes a law" that I learned in high school civics class in no way prepared me for the 50 idiosyncratic Rube Goldberg machines that constitute state legislative processes.

Begging NYC & NYS policymakers to please fix your underlying property tax system. Set assessed values at accurate market value across all property classes. Set reasonable homestead exemption to protect moderate-income homeowners. Update annually. Higher tax rate on land highly encouraged.

Come join my team! We're hiring an Analyst to join AV's housing team. This is a great opportunity for early-career folks interested in the pro-housing ecosystem to support philanthropic investments, advocacy, and policy engagement. Details below: www.arnoldventures.org/careers/infr...

Project Row Houses in Houston is the perfect combination of history, architecture, art, and community. Love.

"Raise taxes on wealthy older adults" is terrible politics but good policy. Property tax exemptions for older homeowners stem from good intentions but are actually regressive, because they reduce the availability of homes for younger, less wealthy renters. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/o...

This post in my neighborhood listserv fills me w/ delight: "I would literally love to see more MF across the street from me. Cities should change & grow, they are interesting places to be because they are dynamic. I think more folks should be able to join us in our wonderful neighborhood."