I just started reading Paving the Way: New York Road Building and the American State, 1880-1956by Michael R. Fein, and though I don't have time to talk as much about it as I'd like, I will say that I'm only a couple pages in and I can already tell it's going to be great. Its thesis is essentially … [Read more...]
Russia links
1. "Experts have proposed increasing road taxes for Moscow drivers six or seven-fold in an effort to alleviate the Russian capital's notorious traffic congestion."2. Moscow Mayor Sobyanin wants to regulate taxis, of which over 80% (!) are current unlicensed. Racial undertones abound ("They … [Read more...]
Even Jane Jacobs thought Houston doesn’t have zoning
"Houston has no zoning" is a very popular urban planning meme. It has its roots in Houston's lacks one very specific kind of zoning: Euclidean separation of residential, commercial, and industrial uses. Euclidean zoning happens to be the one kind of planning that people easily understand (the whole … [Read more...]
The Texas Transportation Institute’s funny definition of “congestion”
As if anybody didn't realize it before, it's now obvious that the Texas Transportation Institute, despite its prestige, is intellectually bankrupt. David Alpert at Greater Greater Washington says it better than I could: The Texas Transportation Institute today released the final version of their … [Read more...]
Links
1. A report on (Western) European parking policies. Abstract of the abstract: Big on charging market rates for on-street parking, but also big on capping private developer's ability to build parking. I'd be interested to see an analysis like this done to see if the caps are actually set lower than … [Read more...]
Why are universities so bad at managing their land?
I've lived near a lot of schools in my life. Growing up on the Main Line I could walk to (at least?) five institutions of high learning, I went to school in Georgetown, and just a few weeks ago I've moved across the street from Gallaudet University in DC. And I've noticed a common thread among the … [Read more...]
Why am I so mean?
In the past week I've been asked twice why, essentially, I have to be so mean: Steven [sic!], I'm struck by how well you couple true insight with meaningless insults that undermine your credibility to those who don't share your point of view. Stephen– I like your work here quite a bit, but I find … [Read more...]
Long weekend links
1. The NYT utterly humiliates itself with a story on how difficult it is for a kid straight outta college from "a prominent Portuguese banking family" to rent a $2,500/mo. studio in a Chelsea coop for less than 12 months. Sounds like the perfect posterchild for Sheldon Silver's rent control … [Read more...]