Market Urbanism

Liberalizing cities | From the bottom up

“Market Urbanism” refers to the synthesis of classical liberal economics and ethics (market), with an appreciation of the urban way of life and its benefits to society (urbanism). We advocate for the emergence of bottom up solutions to urban issues, as opposed to ones imposed from the top down.

Poor People Move Too

By

It is well known that rent control is not particularly effective in controlling rents; cities like New York and San Francisco have rent control and yet are quite expensive. Supporters of rent control, however, often argue that rent control is valuable for a different reason: it makes housing more … [Read more...]

Rent regulation in MoCo

By

In my home county, Montgomery County, Maryland, rent control is on the agenda after County Executive Marc Elrich and a county council majority each released competing proposals to cap annual rent increases. Adam Pagnucco responded with a series of posts at Montgomery Perspective about the … [Read more...]

The fallacy of total rent regulation

By

One of the most-common beliefs many leftists in America hold is that the staggering increase in apartment rents is not a result of not building enough supply but rather a combination of greedy landlords, corporations buying out rental properties, and landlords intentionally keeping units vacant to … [Read more...]

Rent Control is How the Rich Outbid Less-Affluent People for Valuable Land

By

Several homes in my neighborhood have sold recently, each more expensive than the last. The priciest was a lovely home that drew $1.65 million at the peak of this spring's market. Takoma Park is a great place to live. It's also the only jurisdiction in the region that has rent control. As a … [Read more...]

Rent Control Makes It Harder to Vote with Your Feet

By

One advantage of a federal system is enabling people ill-treated by one government body to “vote with their feet” toward less abusive jurisdictions. That escape valve is one rationale for reserving some political policy determination for state rather than national government, or to local rather than … [Read more...]

Rent Control Again

By

A blog post in Pacific Standard seeks to defend rent control- an idea that, as the author admits, is generally detested by economists. The author writes that "rent regulations give tenants a greater stake in their community and incentivize them to put time, energy, and even money into their … [Read more...]

Meta