H. Pike Oliver
@urbanexus
Interested in how built and natural environments can coexist. Learn about 6.5 decades of master-planned development and preservation on the Irvine Ranch in Southern California at . See other blog posts at .
From the ECONOMIST, approval for POUTUS 47 is at the lowest point so far.
9 August 2026 is the 83rd anniversary of the execution of Franz Jägerstätter in Germany
The ECONOMIST notes that most deaths from wildfires occur far away from the actual burning.
Right wing media influence is declining www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/u...
Matthew Dallek, a political historian at George Washington University, has this to say about POTUS47 in 2026.
The USA no longer provides support to Ukraine against Russia's aggression, though it still sells weapons, and SpaceX provides Starlink.
252 people from 55 counties of origin became citizens of the USA in this Fourth of July ceremony in Seattle.
Fourth trip over the European Alps in a year. This time in a beautiful train.
The Congressional Budget Office projects that publicly held debt will continue to grow and reach 175 percent of G.D.P. by 2056. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/16/b...
Excerpt from Diana Lind’s post at her Substack, The New Urban Order, on 2026-05-12. People now walk 15% faster, and solo walkers have increased by 68% compared to what Wm. H. Whyte measured in the 1970s thenewurbanorder.substack.com/p/8-things-t...
Honored to be one of four new Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners, who were nominated by the California Chapter of the American Planning Association — (L to R) Diego Velasco, FAICP, H. Pike Oliver, FAICP, Andrea Ouse, FAICP, Mark Rhoades, FAICP. #NPC26
Excerpt from Pau Krugman's post of 8 April 2026 paulkrugman.substack.com/p/ignorance-...
The final paragraph of Justice Gorsuch's concurrence in the SCOTUS tariff ruling handed down on February 20, 2026, is an excellent statement on the separation of powers and the importance of the legislative process. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
Wealth in America is now more concentrated in a few hands than it was during the Gilded Age of the late 19th and early 20th century.
There has been an explosion of billionaire money seeking to influence American elections. Since the Roberts Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” ruling, the percentage of total contributions accounted for by billionaire money has skyrocketed. paulkrugman.substack.com/p/billionair...
Gabriel Zucman, U.S. Distributional National Accounts Wealth Data, World Inequality Database at wid.world/data/. Chart derived from wealth‑share series for top 0.01%, 0.001%, and 0.0001% from downloadable tables; the specific 0.00001% series is calculated from these underlying distributions.
The backlash against Trump is showing up in hard data, not just polls. www.gelliottmorris.com/p/trump-back...
However bad you think the corruption and misconduct at ICE and CBP is, the reality is far worse per historian and journalist Garrett M. Graff www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/accountabi...
A steeper and quicker backslide into authoritarianism in the USA than in Hungary, Russia, Turkvey and Venezuela.
2026-02-02 The real reason ICE agents wear masks (ATLANTIC Adam Serwer) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Median weekly pay for white-collar jobs in the USA has increased by about 40% since the early 1980s, while blue-collar pay has remained stagnant. And white-collar jobs have more than doubled, while blue-collar jobs have essentially flatlined.