Focus IS resistance
There’s a lot going on in the world right now—endless, overwhelming crises competing for our attention. Our focus? Feminist Urbanism.

On Threads, I came across sociologist Jennifer Walter, who perfectly encapsulates my strategy for navigating this time— Focus IS resistance.

There’s a lot going on in the world right now—endless, overwhelming crises competing for our attention. Our focus? Feminist Urbanism. That’s not to say we don’t care about other issues here on AF—we absolutely do. But our value lies in providing insight where we’re experts:
Feminist urbanism, housing, climate, and transit.
You can connect with us on Bluesky, Threads, LinkedIn, and even in the FB Group Space Is a Means of Production. We’re listening—and we’re ready to engage.
Car-Centric Planning Is Killing Us
Living through the wreckage of car-centric infrastructure has been a deeply personal experience. My grandmother passed away in 2005, far too soon. She performed all the actions you’re supposed to—an avid yogini, a lover of vegetables, and a disciplined daily exerciser. But she lived directly across the street from Los Angeles' 110 Freeway, the oldest freeway in LA and one of the busiest freeway in the US, where an endless stream of cars choked the air outside her home and INSIDE her home. Her sunless house, overshadowed by concrete and exhaust is part of what I remember about her in addition to her color coded garden. She died of high blood pressure and dementia. That freeway—and the pollution it unleashed—killed her.
Car-centric planning is a public health crisis. Air pollution from vehicles fuels chronic inflammation, heart disease, dementia, and other deadly conditions. But it doesn’t end there—this infrastructure pollutes water, destroys ecosystems, and turns disasters like the wildfires in Los Angeles and the flooding on the East Coast into mass casualties. It’s an interconnected, systemic threat to our lives.
Yes, public transit and bike infrastructure need work. But car-centric planning isn’t the answer—it’s the problem.
What I’m Reading
I’ve been diving (someone give me a cycling themed replacement for diving in, but I am an avid surfer too so…lol) into “Clearing the Air: The Beginning and the End of Air Pollution” by Tim Smedley, a gem from 2019 that I missed at the time—for reasons that escape me… This book weaves together peer-reviewed science, personal anecdotes, and solutions in a way that’s both brilliant and deeply thought-provoking. Look out for a full review soon, but here’s a brief takeaway that I can’t stop thinking about— We treat health as an individual responsibility in the U.S., but it’s inherently collective. What impacts one of us—like air pollution—impacts all of us. The book also discusses transboundary pollution, yeah the “it’s all local,” it is not exactly that simple.
Podcast Update
To our podcast listeners, yes we’re delayed, owing to the devastating LA fires (I’m from LA, so I’ve been raising money and organizing efforts there and trying to gently explain some hard truths). But the podcast IS coming, and we’re excited to share it with you soon.

In the meantime, check out our latest stories. If you’re looking to escape the Meta ecosystem, I promise you this— If you comment on our posts, wherever they are, and we’ll respond. This dialogue is a collective effort—and your voice, ideas, and thoughts matters.




Warmly AF,
Lo 💋💋💋