Current events being what they are, I’m happy to be writing about something positive. Once again, we’re getting an ambitious housing reform package in the California legislature. The various bills focus on removing obstacles to new housing and are a sign of the growing momentum Yimby activists have built up over the last few years. […]
The Urban Planning of the North Pole
You might think the North Pole is the most magical place on earth. But behind the magic, our deep dive into the history of Christmas movies reveals that there's more to it than that. In our firstPop Culture Urbanism holiday special, I explore the urban … [Read More...]
Are increased levels of homeownership good for affordability? No… and yes.
For over a century, policymakers have argued that homeowners take better care of their neighborhood and are just generally more desirable in other ways. As early as 1917, the federal Labor Department created a propaganda campaign to encourage home ownership. … [Read More...]
yes, minimum parking requirements do limit development
I and many other scholars have argued that minimum parking requirements increase the cost of housing (by taking up land for parking that could be used for housing, and by imposing costs that are passed on to consumers), increase the costs of doing business, … [Read More...]
Opening Arlington up to Housing
Arlington County policymakers have issued a call for ideas on improving housing availability and affordability. If you'd like to submit your own ideas, you can do so here through the rest of the day. The ideas that I submitted are below.Arlington County … [Read More...]
What’s a stickplex?
A stickplex is a dense residential structure or group of structures built with inexpensive materials and techniques, most commonly wood. Stickplexes use 2,500 square feet of land per unit or less. Stickplexes have per-square-foot construction costs roughly … [Read More...]
How to Price Congestion: The Benefits of Dynamic Variable Tolling
Find the full-length report draft here.New York’s political community and the general public have yet to come to terms with reality on congestion pricing. While COVID-19 has suppressed travel demand across the region — deeply for now and to an uncertain … [Read More...]
Get the tuck out of here
Tuck-under duplexes in Palisades Park, NJ (Google Streetview)In two previous posts, I’ve raised questions about the competitiveness of missing middle housing. This post is more petty: I want to challenge the design rigidities that Daniel Parolek promotes … [Read More...]
In praise of fee simple ownership
In yesterday's post, I showed that missing middle housing, as celebrated in Daniel Parolek’s new book, may be stuck in the middle, too balanced to compete with single family housing on the one hand and multifamily on the other.But what about all the … [Read More...]