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CNU 23DALLAS/FORT WORTH 4/29-5/2/2015»»» In the News
Is Wal-Mart The Atomic Bomb of Retail?
Submitted by MLewyn on Sun, 08/18/2013 - 12:02pmI was reading a conversation on the PRO-URB listserv about whether to oppose an intown Wal-Mart in Washington, and someone asserted that Wal-Mart was different from all other stores because it was a potential monopolist. Evidently, some people believe that Wal-Mart (unlike Costco or Target) is... read more »
Don't Take Yearly Census Estimates Too Seriously
Submitted by MLewyn on Fri, 08/16/2013 - 2:07pmEvery year, the Census comes out with estimates of county population. Because the 2011-12 estimates showed big gains for most urban counties, urbanists were happy to declare victory, and to claim that these estimates showed a movement of population back to cities. In other years, Census ... read more »
Responding to Kotkin's Attack on Density
Submitted by MLewyn on Mon, 08/12/2013 - 11:23amIn Forbes online, Joel Kotkin came out with a ringing attack on those who dare to challenge sprawl, asking "How Can We Be So Dense"? I thought this was worth responding to, and so here are a few of his points (with my responses).
I. Social mobility and sprawl
Kotkin: "More recently densi... read more »
Sorry Ms. Dunham: Millenials Like New York
Submitted by MLewyn on Fri, 08/09/2013 - 10:35amYesterday, I posted about the relationship between millenials and cities, showing that in some cities, population growth is indeed due to growth in the millenial (20-34) population, while in others, millenials are leaving the city just like everyone else. But of course, citywide data is often ... read more »
Yes, The Millenials Really Are Returning To (Some) Cities
Submitted by MLewyn on Thu, 08/08/2013 - 3:09pmIt is becoming almost a cliche that millenials (that is, people in their 20s) are flocking to cities. But does data bear this out?
I looked at Census data on two cities that had lost population throughout the late 20th century but gained people in the 2000s: Philadelphia and Washington, DC. (W... read more »
Going The Wrong Way In Atlanta
Submitted by MLewyn on Wed, 08/07/2013 - 10:33amYesterday's New York Times contained an article about the latest attempt to reform Atlanta's public schools: an eleven-story high school costing about four times as much as the average Southern high school. The city plans to move North Atlanta High, one of the city's more racially diverse high... read more »
An Emerging Stereotype?
Submitted by MLewyn on Tue, 08/06/2013 - 8:40amThe most recent issue of Better Cities and Towns contained an article about a new urbanist project in Wyandanch, a depressed Long Island neighborhood. The article called Wyandanch "an inner-ring suburb."
... read more »
A Choice, Not An Echo
Submitted by MLewyn on Mon, 08/05/2013 - 10:09amIn the most recent City Journal, Joel Kotkin wrote an article discussing cities' alleged loss of children, and arguing that cities would be more successful in retaining children if only they could be more like low-density suburbs.
... read more »
The Myth (?) That City Growth Causes Suburban Poverty
Submitted by MLewyn on Sun, 08/04/2013 - 2:06pmOne common "story" about the evolution of American cities is that suburban poverty is growing because people are being driven out of high-priced cities into suburbs. One possible implication of this argument is that cities need to be kept poor and stagnant so that poor people can afford them.
... read more »
The End of the Suburbs by Leigh Gallagher
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 07/22/2013 - 1:13pmThe End of the Suburbs is a new book from Leigh Gallagher, assistant Managing Editor at Fortune Magazine, that bluntly assesses the future of suburbia. Gallagher says it's over; at least in the form it's taken for the last 50 years. She marshals demographic and consumer preference data in a driving ... read more »