Market Urbanism MUsings July 15, 2016

1. This week at Market Urbanism Nick Zaiac contributed his first Market Urbanism piece: The Cato Institute Goes After Arbitrary Historic Preservation Laws between municipalities they can vary, depending on the precedents set by different circuit courts. Now the Cato Institute, a libertarian Washington think tank, is filing a brief that aims to bring consistency to these laws nationwide. Your Town Is A Financial Timebomb by Johnny Sanphilippo: Do your best Ross Perot imitation and say the words, “sucking sound.” The primary difference between the older development pattern and the stuff that’s being built today has to do with the ratio of public investment vs. private value. Downtown and the adjacent residential areas are mostly small-scale, compact, multi-story buildings with a minimum amount of roads, pipes, and wires connecting them. The new stuff is overwhelmingly huge roads, attenuated water and sewer lines, endless cables and a tremendous amount of surface parking and grass. 2. Where’s Scott? Scott Beyer spent his first week in Austin, and this weekend will visit the city’s northern suburbs, including Cedar Park, Round Rock and Georgetown. His Forbes article this week was about how Miami’s Parking Deregulation Will Reduce Housing Costs While Frey was unsure yet about what kind of rents the building would command, he estimated that building structured parking–in this case 12 spaces, under the previous regulations–would have cost $300,000, or $25,000 per space. This, he said, would have added roughly $330 per month to average rents 3. At the Market Urbanism Facebook Group: Sandy Ikeda spoke about Jane Jacob’s legacy at the Museum of Eldridge Street alongside Mindy Fullilove and Ron Schiffman.  Sandy asked the MU group for some clarification on statements made at the event by Ron Schiffman, an urban affairs scholar at the Pratt Institute.  After some interesting dialogue, Sandy concludes Schiffman likely misused terms. David […]

1. This week at Market Urbanism

Nick Zaiac contributed his first Market Urbanism piece: The Cato Institute Goes After Arbitrary Historic Preservation Laws

between municipalities they can vary, depending on the precedents set by different circuit courts. Now the Cato Institute, a libertarian Washington think tank, is filing a brief that aims to bring consistency to these laws nationwide.

Your Town Is A Financial Timebomb by Johnny Sanphilippo:

Do your best Ross Perot imitation and say the words, “sucking sound.” The primary difference between the older development pattern and the stuff that’s being built today has to do with the ratio of public investment vs. private value. Downtown and the adjacent residential areas are mostly small-scale, compact, multi-story buildings with a minimum amount of roads, pipes, and wires connecting them. The new stuff is overwhelmingly huge roads, attenuated water and sewer lines, endless cables and a tremendous amount of surface parking and grass.

2. Where’s Scott?

Scott Beyer spent his first week in Austin, and this weekend will visit the city’s northern suburbs, including Cedar Park, Round Rock and Georgetown. His Forbes article this week was about how Miami’s Parking Deregulation Will Reduce Housing Costs

While Frey was unsure yet about what kind of rents the building would command, he estimated that building structured parking–in this case 12 spaces, under the previous regulations–would have cost $300,000, or $25,000 per space. This, he said, would have added roughly $330 per month to average rents

3. At the Market Urbanism Facebook Group:

Sandy Ikeda spoke about Jane Jacob’s legacy at the Museum of Eldridge Street alongside Mindy Fullilove and Ron Schiffman.  Sandy asked the MU group for some clarification on statements made at the event by Ron Schiffman, an urban affairs scholar at the Pratt Institute.  After some interesting dialogue, Sandy concludes Schiffman likely misused terms.

David Welton is curious if developers would break from their mold if zoning didn’t get in their way

via Anthony Ling: “Patrik Schumacher unleashing entrepreneurial spirits at a widely read architecture magazine!

Roger Valdez wrote: When Will Affordable Housing Advocates Push For More Supply, Fewer Rules?

Dan Bartolet wrote, Why Quashing Short-Term Rentals is a Zero-Sum Game for Housing Affordability; Seattle’s data-blind rush to regulate Airbnb is a recipe for unintended consequences.

via Matt Robare: “CT Supreme Court to decide if zoning enforcement warrants a warrant

via Marcos Paulo Schlickmann: “Some Neo-Luddism” about driverless cars

via Jim Pagels and Caleb Brown: Cato podcast, Free Parking’s High Costs to Transit

via Anthony Ling: Blockchain-powered real estate platform Ubitquity records first property ownership transfer on the Bitcoin public ledger

via Nolan Gray: Park & Rides Lose Money and Waste Land — But Agencies Keep Building Them

via Matt Robare, “Seattle could abolish neighborhood councils

via Nick Zaiac, “a wonderful case study in NIMBYism, to say the least.”

via Matt Robare, “From the Department of the bleeding obvious”: Walkability Is Key for Transit Use, Says New Study

4. Elsewhere

Vox explains the over-regulation–much of it at the urban level–that is “rigging” the economy

Reason Magazine: Cops, Blacks & Crime

City Journal: court fine policies turn citizens into ATMs

5. Stephen Smith‘s tweet of the week:

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