Jeff Ericson

I’m seeing more posts recently about cities and city-things (housing, policy, etc). I’ve worked on cities as long as I can remember - I’d like to share a bit of what I’ve figured out over the last 30+ years. (‘city’ here generally means any organized settlement). Thread. 1/

@gas_biz Best way to get my kids to the dinner table is my homemade chicken curry.

@ruima My 16yo just left high school after 10th grade - taking classes at community college where he learns the same thing in 1/4 the time and he uses the free time to buy, fix and flip motorcycles. Making real money and not even getting on the treadmill. Jobs suck - don’t get one.

Last week, the WSJ reported on the decline of tech jobs, particularly entry-level and recruiting roles, suggesting they might be gone for good. I initially thought it was exaggerated, but then saw a UC Berkeley CS professor mention that even his top students are struggling to get job offers. That’s concerning. My kid is far from college, but I’m curious—how are parents of high schoolers approaching career guidance for their kids in light of this?

@DannyMagazu School bus? The hours suck and it’s Lord of the Flies in there. They should put tvs in the buses with Nickelodeon to calm the monsters and find some way to make a shift long enough to justify the time (partner with a complementary business for example).

My friends family owns a bus company. They are struggling to get bus drivers. The pay is 32 an hour. I have a feeling that “a bus driver” may have a negative stigma which may lead to a lack of interest. Any ideas to get more applicants in the door?

@Espngreeny Higher up than that. There’s a reason some organizations will never have good teams. Letting orgs like Cleveland and Chicago damage the best new talent is a real shame. The qb’s should do what Elway did.

If you don’t think coaching is everything in the NFL, then you aren’t watching Malik Willis or Sam Darnold or Justin Fields play. (*or a half dozen others too.)

@danorlovsky7 It’s really sad how we let bad organizations like Chicago and Cleveland harm the careers of great quarterbacks.

Justin Fields Don’t listen to all the dog trash that so many other said Always believed in the kid. Always. Too talented and too hard working to not be good. Good for him.

@sensorystories_ When I say I’m right it’s because I am objectively right and have done the work, so when they don’t believe me I get frustrated. It feels like an insult.

I think autistic people are often mistaken for being argumentative or "needing to be right" when, in reality, it's more about FEELING right and needing the other person to understand why.

@dtmorgan18 Do you have any woodworking photos to post?

I have absolutely fallen in love with woodworking. What hobbies do you have to stay sane?

@girdley I have no idea what a cat cafe is and based on current news stories I’m afraid to ask…

I was just informed we chose an Airbnb based on proximity to a cat cafe.

We'll be relocating to Kansas City for 4-6 weeks so my son can do a pain rehabilitation program there at the Children's Hospital. Several questions: 1) What's the best KC BBQ place? 2) What is your favorite Chili's location?

@tomfgoodwin I’d say that’s aspirational and sometimes true. More often today it’s a tool to inflate prices without increasing value.

The real value of brands is stopping us from buying cheap junk, and instead having the confidence to spend more, or fewer things, that last way longer and give us more joy, in ways we can't really explain. That we can probably resell for 40% of the cost in 10 years.

@realEstateTrent Dad’s job is to raise up a little man. Sometimes we forget and the remonder is welcome.

Little league this morning in NYC. Seven-year-old leaves with his parents after the game. Coach sees kid’s dad carrying kid’s bag. In front of everyone: “Who played baseball today, you or dad? Carry your own bag!” Good or bad?

@mysteriouskat I’ve learned that every real issue today is complex. Anybody who acts like things are simple or the solutions are simple is automatically untrustworthy. Period.

How do you determine who you trust in this age of low trust?

@JulieChangRE We’re well into ‘conspicuous consumption’ territory here. And the plumber’s laughing all the way from his new boat.

Exposed plumbing right over the mirror? And to think they paid extra for this custom work Hmm. Is this an example of more money than sense? Or do you like it- would?

@MrZachG It just doesn’t work. We just let my 16yo start community college instead of Junior year high school. His idea. He was in all the college prep and AP and gifted and they move so freaking slow it was painful.

I get that schooling is full of compromises but accepting that students who already know the material or learn at a faster pace should be held back throughout their education to be "class helpers" for other people's children is something I just don't understand.

@sweatystartup I’ll pay for the gas and beer. And I’ll clean up. Still be a fraction of the cost of owning.

Pro tip: When a friend lets you ride on their boat, you pay for the fuel. Easy way to get invited back.

@realEstateTrent For most of them, that’s the only way they’ll get rich. The old fashioned way (work hard, save, invest) won’t get them there anymore. They know it.

I worry about the get-rich-quick mindset the crypto generation’s growing up with.

@LinkofSunshine The Zoning we have today was created specifically to get rid of low-income housing. That’s why zoning exists.

Its genuinely insane Single Room apartments are illegal basically everywhere in America We basically decided homeless was more moral then bad housing

@Carnage4Life An AI produced status report deserves an AI status report reader. Skip the humans altogether. Do people actually sit in offices reading this stuff?

@girdley Isn’t that the deputy Chief of Staff? Unless it’s a hospital then it’s Deputy Chief of Staph. They have all the tongue depressors.

It's not a serious company unless the Chief of Staff has a Chief of Staff. Ideally, more than one.

@tomfgoodwin My bag has been here for 4 weeks. They have no clue. Not sure how to get it back besides going there myself.

AirTags are a great way to see quite how lousy an airline is and shine a light into how inept customer service systems are But a terrible way to actually find your checked bag , since no airline has the ability to hear from a customer

@jasoncoxnc And I’ve said it a million times already - planning doesn’t exist to make great cities. At all. That’s not even a goal. Planning exists to make manageable cities. Period.

Dug through 2 city’s master plans from the 1st to today’s. 1. The idea of master planning an entire city’s future land use is relatively new. 1st plans range from mid 50’s to 1970. 2. Every building, public space broadly considered beautiful/of high value predates the city’s 1st comprehensive master plan. 3. Many such places that existed formerly were removed in service of a future master plan. Outcomes speak for themselves; it’s hard to find a simpler indictment of the modern version of city planning.