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Liberalizing Cities
From The Ground Up
Phasing out rent-regulation may hurt a bit, but in the long-run regulation has done more damage than good. Along with loosening zoning restrictions, freeing up apartments to market rents will help lessen the housing shortage citywide. New York Daily News: Tenants say rent-regulated apartments threatened by investment firms Curbed: Predatory Investors
Collectivists planned to join “Hands Across Harlem” to stop developers from further exercising their property rights. However, they only managed to gather a small crowd. New York Observer: 125th Street Rezoning Rally: 1968 Tries Again City Council Could Approve 125th Street Rezoning Tomorrow The Real Deal: Harlem rezoning critics want changes Latest: The Real Deal: City Council subcommittee approves Harlem rezoning NY Times
All these different players trying to “plan” economic growth could end up smothering it. Instead of letting the developer take the risk, politicians want to play hero. NY Times: West Side Redevelopment Plans in Disarray Curbed: West Side Doom & Gloom: Moynihan the Key for Megaprojects
NIMBYism and exclusionary zoning has helped “preserve the character” of desirable urban areas by driving out the economically unfortunate. Green Disparate Impact
Drew Carey discusses private alternatives to socialized highways that promote sprawl.
Richard Florida makes the case for trade, transit and density, while discouraging policies of wealth transfers among regions: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120796112300309601.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
Samuel Staley of The Reason Foundation discusses the relationship between planning and economics at Planetizen: http://www.planetizen.com/node/30142
In this blog I intend to introduce free market thought to urbanists, and introduce urbanism to market advocates. I also hope to incorporate some ideas relating to environmentalism in the built environment. Through my personal inquiry, I have concluded that free market advocates and urbanists actually share many objectives. Growing up in suburban Chicago, I felt there was something inefficient about the suburbs. Too often, it seemed that my capitalist friends thought that suburban sprawl was efficient. When I discovered urbanism in college, it made sense. But, I became conflicted between my urbanist instinct and my free market instinct. After studying economics, new urbanism, development, and urban economics I came to the realization that our problems with sprawl were the result of socialism and economic planning of our transportation system and land use, not market failures. I intend to present arguments and articles which help spread the results of my inquiry. I hope you find it interesting.
