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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.
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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. ... read more »
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 ... read more »
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.
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Learning from London's Comeback
Submitted by MLewyn on Wed, 01/07/2015 - 11:40amA recent post on Citymetric.com suggests that after losing population for decades, London will soon reach its pre-World War II peak of 8.6 million people. London last achieved this population level in 1939, and lost nearly two million people after World War II, bottoming out at 6.7 million in ... read more »
Rents CAN go down, even in high-cost markets
Submitted by MLewyn on Tue, 01/06/2015 - 9:59amOne common argument often used to frustrate infill development is that in high-cost markets, the law of supply and demand simply does not apply, and that new housing will somehow fail to increase rents.
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Not A "War on Suburbia" Election
Submitted by MLewyn on Tue, 11/18/2014 - 11:42amAccording to Joel Kotkin, this month's elections were really about the "progressives' war on suburbia." According to Kotkin, the Democrats lost because they are "aggressively anti-suburban." Since I didn't vote for President Obama, I leave it to his supporters to defend him.
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One (Or Maybe Two) Cheers for Cincinnati
Submitted by MLewyn on Mon, 11/03/2014 - 10:04pmA recent article in New Geography points out that some of his friends who feel priced out of San Francisco have moved to Rust Belt cities like Cincinnati. Given all the wonderful historic neighborhoods of Cincinnati or Kansas City or similar cities, why would anyone live in New York or San Fra... read more »
The Attack on Airbnb
Submitted by MLewyn on Thu, 10/23/2014 - 10:55amThe room-sharing service Airbnb has become controversial in high-cost cities like San Francisco and New York, in part because of concerns about affordable housing. In fact, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein has recently written an op-ed attacking Airbnb. (In the interests of full disclosure, I note th... read more »
Announcement: new paper on smart growth and government regulation
Submitted by MLewyn on Tue, 10/21/2014 - 10:58amI recently coauthored a paper on government regulations designed to promote smart growth and green building (published by the Mercatus Institute). The paper examines the prevalence of minimum density requirements, maximum parking requirements, and green building-related regulations. ... read more »