The YIMBYs try again at the Lege

Two years ago Austin YIMBYs made a big push to get pro-housing bills passed at the state legislature. Few YIMBY activists in Austin, the great majority of whom are firmly left-of-center, would have had much luck gaining traction with Republican legislators, but a couple groups emerged that aimed to use language (and money) that Republican leaders could appreciate, although they ultimately fell short of getting any of the key bills passed.

There's Texans for Reasonable Solutions, a group founded by Nicole Nosek, a former Democratic congressional staffer who now happens to be married to PayPal billionaire Luke Nosek, whose political contributions and associations are in line with fellow PayPal mafia alums Elon Musk and Peter Thiel.

And then there's Texans for Housing, a small group founded a few years ago by local urbanist Dan Keshet and now led by executive director Felicity Maxwell, another longtime urbanist activist.

Both groups are making another big push this year, aiming to get bills passed that pre-empt local barriers to new housing.

I talked to Maxwell earlier today, who told me that she is very optimistic about at least two of the 15 bills that her group is supporting....