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The Geography of NYC's Children: More Evidence of Urban Popularity
Submitted by MLewyn on Tue, 05/05/2015 - 11:33amConventional wisdom is that making urban cores stronger and more pedestrian-friendly is irrelevant to the interests of American parents, who supposedly want to live in suburbs or faux-suburbs at the edge of cities.
Riot Recap: Or, Even The Bad News Is Not So Bad
Submitted by MLewyn on Tue, 05/05/2015 - 10:33amAfter the recent Baltimore riots, I saw numerous articles using them as proof that American cities really aren't on the mend after all, because there are still plenty of poverty-stricken, crime-ridden, riot-prone neighborhoods: all of which, of course, is certainly true.
But when you compare recent events with the race riots of the 1960s (or even those of the 1990s) a more complex picture emerges.
Too Much Open Space An Interesting Paper
Submitted by MLewyn on Tue, 04/21/2015 - 10:15amProf. Robert Ellickson of Yale Law School has an interesting paper up on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) website. He critciizes widespread popular support for open space, pointing out that too much open space reduces population density and thus accelerates sprawl and reduces housing supply.
Why Buses Are Inferior
Submitted by MLewyn on Tue, 04/14/2015 - 8:24amCritics of rail often argue that buses are superior; they are cheaper, more flexible and (sometimes) run almost as fast. But in a recent blog post, Houston planning student Maggie Colson explains why trains are better than buses, even if the train isn't much faster:
Reading Le Corbusier in 2015
Submitted by MLewyn on Tue, 03/03/2015 - 8:41pmI just finished reading Concerning Town Planning, a short book of essays by Le Corbusier. Before reading this, all I knew about him was a few key phrases: "Radiant City" and "towers in a park." And Le Corbusier did indeed like high-rises surrounded by greenery.
Downtowns are Booming (Sometimes)
Submitted by MLewyn on Fri, 02/27/2015 - 1:24pmThe University of Virginia just created a set of tables based on recent Census data. These tables measure the affluence, age, etc.
Rich Foreigners Like Suburbs, Too
Submitted by MLewyn on Tue, 02/10/2015 - 8:56amOne common argument against new construction (especially high-rise construction) in cities is that rich foreigners will soak up any new housing supply. This argument is of course based on the assumption that urban high-rises, and only urban high-rises, are irresistible to rich foreigners. But an article in
Don't Blame the Koch Brothers (for Low Gas Taxes)
Submitted by MLewyn on Thu, 02/05/2015 - 2:15pmAfter a variety of conservative groups (including some funded by the Koch brothers) sent a letter to Congress opposing gas tax increases, the liberal and urbanist blogospheres were chock full of stories like this one, complaining that Congress can't reach a transportation deal because (in the words of grist.org) "of the right-wing and Koch network’s coor
More Evidence that Urbanists Should Support School Choice
Submitted by MLewyn on Mon, 01/26/2015 - 10:19pmA recent article , "School Choice Programs: The Impacts on Housing Values" reviews literature relating to the impact of charter schools and various types of school choice programs on housing values.
Do Tall Buildings Attact Foreigners?
Submitted by MLewyn on Fri, 01/16/2015 - 12:31pmI was discussing Washington, D.C.'s height limits with some acquaintances on Twitter; one of them suggested that allowing taller buildings might turn Washington into a "global city", which in turn would cause foreigners to surge into Washington and drive up real estate prices (as has arguably been the case in parts of Vancouver and New York).
This argument seems to be to be based on two assumptions that are at best unprovable: