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.

Another Angle on Planning in Houston

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Brian Phillips at Live Oaks contacted me regarding the recent post by Stephen Smith on planning in Houston. Brian is a long time opponent of land use restrictions and defender of property rights in Houston. Brian has a different point of view on the subject, and has written a post on his blog, … [Read more...]

Urban[ism] Legend: Is Houston really unplanned?

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by Stephen Smith It seems to be an article of faith among many land use commentators – both coming from the pro- and anti-planning positions – that Houston is a fundamentally unplanned city, and that whatever is built there is the manifest destiny of the free market in action. But is this true? … [Read more...]

Matt Yglesias fails to make the right case against highways

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Matt Yglesias is one of the best mainstream bloggers on land use/transportation that I know of. As one blogger (who I don't recall right now) once said, his urban planning and transportation posts could be blogs in their own right. However, it's puzzling that in an article for Cato Unbound, he … [Read more...]

The Market, Zoning, and Freedom.

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J. Brian Phillips wrote a great post at Houston Property Rights about liberal property rights in Houston, but what Brian had to say applies to every place. Here's a snippet, but the entire post deserves a reading: when developers and builders see a need for greater density, they respond … [Read more...]

Dealing With NIMBYs

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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...]

Reason.org’s Staley Not in Favor of Property Rights if…

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That is, he argues that private property should be subject to government planning restrictions if a developer building densely on its property creates a traffic burden on government roads. Wooten points out that any solution to Atlanta's traffic congestion has to focus on roads, not transit or … [Read more...]

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