I'm a little slow picking up on this one, but the Wall Street Journal recently interviewed Harvard Urban Economist, Ed Glaeser. Here are some excerpts from State of the City:THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: What effect will higher gasoline prices have on urban planning in the U.S.?MR. GLAESER: I … [Read more...]
Dealing With NIMBYs
NIMBYism is the biggest obstacle to the evolution of vibrant urban communities, but the incentives for some to use public forums to impose restrictions on neighboring properties are great. Local politicians often bow to the most vocal residents, often with minority opinions, to avoid making waves, … [Read more...]
Links and Weekend Listening
I've been swamped in my day job, but want to share the following:The blog, Agents of Urbanism recently gave praise to Market Urbanism. Thanks Matthew! Please check out Agents of Urbanism and Life Without Buildings, who followed up on Agent of Urbanism's praise. I enjoy both blogs.Carl … [Read more...]
Urban[ism] Legend: Gas Taxes and Fees Cover All Costs of Road Use
No doubt, mass production of the automobile is one of the greatest innovations of all times. It has allowed for increased mobility of goods and people, which has greatly improved productivity and leisure. But, is subsidizing mobility at the expense of taxpayers taking things too far?In various … [Read more...]
Boudreaux: Roads Don’t Need New Taxes
Don Boudreaux to the Washington Times:LETTER TO EDITOR: Roads don't need new taxesThursday, July 24, 2008Upset that Virginians' taxes were not recently raised to construct more roads, State Delegate Brian J. Moran, Alexandria and Fairfax Democrat, declares that "Government has an … [Read more...]
Conservatives and Urbanism
Matthew Yglesias - Straight Talk on Gasoline on drilling and how conservative deviation from free-market principles has hurt the environment:Meanwhile, take something like the accessory dwellings issue. Here you have a bunch of regulations that make it illegal for people to live more densely. … [Read more...]
Video: Driven to the Brink
I enjoyed this short video that compares Chicago's Lincoln Square, where I have lived and Buffalo Grove, which is a suburb similar to where I grew up.The video was produced by CEOs for Cities, a Chicago based organization that advocates for cities. Their website gives this description: A new … [Read more...]
Urban[ism] Legend: Density is Bad for the Environment
This is a topic I want to cover more thoroughly, but for now I present a one hour documentary video on green buildings for you leisurely viewing.I came across the snagfilms website from a recent Wall Street Journal article. Most of the documentary videos lean towards "progressive" tastes, but … [Read more...]