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1. This week at Market Urbanism
Buses and Trains: The Turtle and the Hare? by Asher Meyers
With buses a relatively safe, cheap and green form of travel, the wisdom of the government favoring trains at great public expense is dubious. This isn’t to say that trains are bad and buses are good—to each his own. But given the trade-offs involved, buses cannot be dismissed as inferior and obsolete—in the real world, budgets are limited and prices matter, so a small sacrifice of time and comfort is worth the savings.
Parking Requirements Increase Traffic And Rents. Let’s Abolish Them. by Brent Gaisford
Let’s get rid of parking minimums and allow new apartments to be built either without parking, or the reduced amount of parking preferred by developers. People without parking are less likely to drive, and less driving means less traffic. Plus, we’ll be one step closer to reducing our stratospheric rents.
2. Where’s Scott?
Scott Beyer is in Austin. His two Forbes articles this week were about how Washington, DC’s Zoning Regulations Target ‘Fast Casual’ Restaurants and Tokyo’s Affordable Housing Strategy: Build, Build, Build
The city had 142,417 housing starts in 2014, which was “more than the 83,657 housing permits issued in the state of California (population 38.7m), or the 137,010 houses started in the entire country of England (population 54.3m).” Compare this with the roughly 20,000 new residential units approved annually in New York City, the 23,500 units started in Los Angeles County, and the measly 5,000 homes constructed in 2015 throughout the entire Bay Area.
Scott’s previous article on Austin’s rail transit, already well-cited by local media, got additional coverage in the American Spectator.
3. At the Market Urbanism Facebook Group:
Adam Hengels on Stark Truth Radio with Robert Stark
Ahmed Shaker posted videos of pedestrian and street traffic in Chuadanga, Bangladesh
Roger Valdez wrote: Herbold’s New Red Line: Why Make It Harder To Build In Poor Neighborhoods? [Seattle]
Laura Foote Clark and The Yimby Party is organizing major canvassing in San Francisco
Roger Valdez wrote: Is Housing Displacement For New People, Jobs And Growth Really Happening?
Harriet Charlotte Gale announced, “Auckland Council today voted unanimously to remove Parking Minimums from Metro Centres, Town Centres, Mixed Use Zone, Terraced Housing/Apartment Zone & 1 Bedroom Studios for Mixed Housing Urban Zone.”
Andrew Atkin wrote: Isolating the Underclass – without money
Avery Hufford wants to know if you consider yourself a neo-liberal
via Adam Hengels: Why Tokyo is the land of rising home construction but not prices
via Nevram Norman, “Supply and demand running its course in LA.” As new apartments flood downtown L.A., landlords offer sweet deals
via Nick Zaiac, “David Boaz talked about zoning and accessory dwelling units here“
via Mark Frazier: Zoning Has Had a Good 100 Years. Enough Already.
via Adam Hengels, “This Canadian site has an interesting way of presenting things.”
via Garlynn Woodsong: China’s urban policy unit just met for the first time in 38 years. Here’s what it recommended
via Matt Stauffer: Editorial: Foreign buyers tax rushed and reckless [Vancouver]
via Matt Robare: How does Montreal maintain its enviably low rents?
via Mark Young: San Francisco: A City of Bridges or Walls?
via Adam Millsap: A Sidewalk Vendor Amasses Books, Summonses and Lawsuits
via Matt Robare: Luxury Housing Isn’t The Problem
via Matt Robare: Palo Alto planning commissioner resigns because she can no longer afford Palo Alto also the letter via Rocco Fama
via Neal Connor: 10 of the Largest Captivating Private Cities
via Krishan Madan: Restaurateurs enraged as D.C. bars some fast-casual eateries
via Jon Coppage: Residents of Rio‘s famed slums are tougher and more self-sustaining than the Olympic games displacing them.
via Neal Meyer: Court of appeals rules in favor of Ashby high-rise developers [Houston]
via Michael Wilson, “Elderly people, especially women, working mothers and African-Americans generally have poor access to alternative transit services which is why we need to open the market place to alternative service providers.”
via Joe McKinney: Free Private Cities: The Future of Governance is Private
via Borna Khoshand: It cost how much to park at the LA Rams game?!
via Randal John Meyer: When Over-Preservation Impedes City Growth
via John Coppage: Do (local) housing demand curves slope up? (some good responses in the comments)
via Robert Stark: Dallas Plans to Deck Over a Highway — With a Parking Garage
via Rocco Fama: The case for making New York and San Francisco much, much bigger
via David Brickford: Goldwater Institute sues Chandler over business-sign regulations
via Garlynn Woodsong: How land use regulations are zoning out low-income families
4. Stephen Smith‘s tweet of the week:
NIMBYs on parade: “The crowd erupted into applause and staged an impromptu parade.” https://t.co/VdiqfEPwDc
— Market Urbanism (@MarketUrbanism) August 16, 2016
