|
||||||
|
by Stephen Smith The LA Times reports that Los Angeles is considering “privatizing” ten public parking garages to fill a budget shortfall. The story is, unfortunately, a reminder of how infrastructure “privatization” is often little better than the status quo, and how media reporting of the issue can doom real reform. Whereas pure privatization would mean [...] by Stephen Smith Discovering Urbanism has a nice post up about early 20th century urban planner Charles Mulford Robinson and his planning textbook, and it includes the following corrective to the notion that zoning originated as a way to separate polluting industry from places of residence and commerce: There’s a common narrative about how zoning unfolded in [...] August 22nd, 2009 | Tags: Charles Mulford Robinson, class conflict, planning, Stephen Smith, zoning | Category: history, planning, zoning | Comments |
 printable viewby Stephen Smith I was heartened to see an article about the need for mass transit in the pages of The Nation, though I was severely disappointed by the magazine’s own hypocrisy and historical blindness. The article is in all ways a standard left-liberal screed against the car and for mass transit, which is a [...] February 6th, 2009 | Tags: automobile, density, planning, progressivism, roads, San Francisco, smart growth, Stephen Smith, transit, Transportation, zoning | Category: Transportation, planning, sprawl | Comments |
printable viewby Stephen Smith While most people associate cities with pollution and the material and ecological excess of late capitalism, I’ve long believed that urbanization has the potential to be a great environmental savior. The NYT has a fascinating article that confirms what I said about cities attracting people who would otherwise live more environmentally profligate [...] January 31st, 2009 | Tags: Environment, Farmers, land, Stephen Smith | Category: Environment | Comments |
printable viewby Stephen Smith Yesterday I was listening to the pre-inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial on the radio, and one of the speakers said something that struck me as emblematic of the challenges that Barack Obama faces, though I doubt she realized the ironic significance. She was praising Theodore Roosevelt’s conservationist legacy as a model [...] January 20th, 2009 | Tags: Barack Obama, conservation, highways, roads, Stephen Smith, Transportation, Urbanism | Category: Transportation | Comments |
printable viewBrian Phillips at Live Oaks contacted me regarding the recent post by Stephen Smith on planning in Houston. Brian is a long time opponent of land use restrictions and defender of property rights in Houston. Brian has a different point of view on the subject, and has written a post on [...] December 29th, 2008 | Tags: developer, development, Houston, libertarian, planning, property rights, regulation, Stephen Smith, Urban Legends, zoning | Category: planning, zoning | Comments |
printable viewby Stephen Smith It seems to be an article of faith among many land use commentators – both coming from the pro- and anti-planning positions – that Houston is a fundamentally unplanned city, and that whatever is built there is the manifest destiny of the free market in action. But is this true? Did [...] December 10th, 2008 | Tags: Dr. Shoup, Houston, parking, sprawl, Stephen Smith | Category: Urban[ism] Legends, planning, sprawl, zoning | Comments |
printable viewby Stephen Smith The Weekly Standard has a comprehensive and compelling piece of investigative reporting on Columbia University’s attempt to acquire 17 acres in the heart of the Manhattanville section, north of its Morningside campus. The tale is a classic example of eminent domain abuse – the university worked hand-in-glove with the government to designate [...] December 4th, 2008 | Tags: blight, eminent domain, Euclid, Kelo, nyc, Stephen Smith | Category: corruption | Comments |
printable view |
|||||
|
Copyright © 2010 Market Urbanism - All Rights Reserved |
||||||
