The Affordable Housing Flirty Social & Lunch
Disclaimer: Everything below is a mix of what I observed and heard during the event. The goal isn’t to pinpoint "who exactly said what," but to share (usually) an outsider's view and overall perspective on these industries. I’m not here to act as a definitive firsthand source—readers should do their own research. I hope this inspires you to attend events, explore new industries, and hear what leaders are presenting. These notes combine my observations with thoughts on how things could run smoother and how ideas connect (IMO). I’m not an expert, you know? Just hanging out in the room with them. Enjoy!Topics: Affordable Housing, Mayor, Opportunity, Equity, Homes, Economy, Policy
It’s been a year and I can hardly believe it. They have this yearly event to talk about affordable housing at this amazing venue that I love so much… and last year I could NOT believe my eyes cause it was the most flirty lunch scene I’ve ever seen in my life!!! Everyone was laughing and giggling and DRESSED TO IMPRESS times A MILLION. I was like - is this a freaking nightclub or a lunchtime housing networking event? Who knows. It literally gave me the idea for “flirty lunches,” which can be “a thing” where people, during their lunch work break, like, come and flirt and socialize on purpose. IDK. I’ll need to link my old blog from last year, but it was wild. So today I’m stopping by this before arriving late to a policy event… but let’s see if this year it’s as flirty as last year. (PS: no one was flirting with me, I just stood off to the side and was amazed.)
Why Attend: THE NEW MAYOR IS SPEAKING!!! I am so hyped. I want to hear her speak, feel out her vibe, and just hear more of what’s going on. I was NOT the biggest fan of our old mayor and I’m glad he’s been replaced with a busker! Lol. Let’s see what’s going on. I am hyped.
Photo Collage andCommentary:
Notes from the Event:
Okay. This event started so wacky, but it’s really a bit hard to describe. It was just, like. So obnoxious. So, I get my nametag and go up the first set of escalators.
Then I go up the second and I’m on the second floor and I look up cause a guy is hollering while leaning over a glass wall (you can see, i took a pic of the scene of the crime) and this guy is yelling at antoher guy, “hey! are you gyus buildng by the way” and he’s like, “uh, we’re kinda building yeah” (and this guy seems a bit more bored/uninterested and like “uh why are you yelling at me from a mezanine SO high and so awkard” but then the guy is like, “Great, I’ve got some land and I’m looking to build on it. Are you interested?” so then the other guy lights up cause its like, oh, money/opportuntiy involved, so he’s like, “yeah, let’s talk about it” - lol and then the guy down near me kept walking and the other guy put his head/body back from leaning over the glass wall and carried on up to the 3rd and eventually 4th floor to go to the social.
LOL. My theory is they were going opposite directions on the escalator earlier, said hey, and then the “guy with land” thought of this and hollered at him before he got away.
So then I just wandered around the social area and hear people talking about random things. Liek two people wre having a conversaiton, “if it were your money, woudl you pay for a parking lot?”
antoher duo were talking about “jam sessions”
The music was so funny, it was like i know how i feel right now. i know how i feel right now. i know how i feel right now! Part of me feels like this can’t even be a real song…but it is, I found the song →
There’s a gap to deliver, protect, and buid on different environments. We need strategy. Yes. Clap to that.
the guy next to me said. Everybody dance. Everybody dance now!
lollllll. Arrested Development joke.
I told him how I always think about Gene Parmesan and what a good character that is.
The federal protection policy. We need policy and investments. We need funding to come through. So much progress has been made but we have a lto of work to do.
we must keep people housed.
break the cycles. we plan to expand resources. We all need to support thriving communities.
Emerging hosing goals
we need to go bolder on housing. We can’t turn back time but we can change policies nnow and encourage the private sector to build more housing
We are making progress and i wnat the progress to be bolder. we need to accellerate hosng. Taller, better, faster.
More within walking distance to transit.
More growth around city centers. New expanded neighborhoods.
We need to contribute to go big in the center.
We have run out of time but I want to close on “hope”
lol! the forbidden word from my past 2 events.
Hope takes all of us. We must build, finance, and house
What give you all hope? What do you need?
the guy says this is the biggest luncheon he has ever seen
lol i say he needs to get out more. for real. he must live in a small bubble.
really… as a politician, how have i seen a bigger luncheon than him?
The mayor says people hunger for action in this city.
lol i wonder if she’s hungry, cause she’s speaking during lunch… did she eat before? or will she eat once her tlak is over? You’d think she’d eat before… but after she said that, it makes me wonder.
It takes a lot of work to make progress. But we have a room full of committed workers.
Lots of my notes from this event disappeared…
Until next time, I wish you the motivation and success to search for opportunities around your area. Search and explore: Who is out there giving talks? There are new things happening all of the time.
Find relatable or interesting topics you like and check them out! Maybe even something hosted at a cool venue, if there’s no other reason to go. Let’s see what you can learn and discover not too far from home. 😊
