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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.

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  • What Should I Read to Understand Zoning?

High Rents: Are Construction Costs the Culprit?

November 13, 2017 By Michael Lewyn

rent construction costs

(cross-posted from planetizen.com)I have argued numerous times on Planetizen that increased housing supply would reduce rents. I recently read one counterargument that I had not fully addressed before: the claim that no amount of new housing will ever bring down urban rents because housing in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Development, housing, Michael Lewyn, NIMBYism Tagged With: construction

HSR Urbanists: “We Are All O’Tooles Now”

August 31, 2009 By Adam Hengels

I probably won't make any friends today, but now I’ve read one too many urbanist (many who’s ideas I usually respect) use unsound logic to support high speed rail. This argument often includes something like this: “…and furthermore, highways and airports don’t come close to paying for themselves, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economics, Environment, Free-market impostors, infrastructure, Transportation Tagged With: airports, boondoggles, carbon, CATO, construction, cost-benefit analysis, high speed rail, highways, Matthew Yglesias, Randal O'Toole, ryan avent, Transportation, tyler cowen

Urban[ism] Legend: Positive NPV Infrastructure

January 12, 2009 By Adam Hengels

As Washington debates how many hundreds-of-billions of the nearly trillion-dollar stimulus will go towards infrastructure or to other spending/tax cut schemes, pundits claim that spending billions on "shovel ready" public works projects can effectively create jobs that will lead to recovery. As … [Read more...]

Filed Under: corruption, Economics, Free-market impostors, Transportation, Urban[ism] Legends Tagged With: boondoggles, budgets, construction, government, highways, infrastructure, paul krugman, roads, stimulus, Transportation, tyler cowen

Skyscrapers as Economic Indicators

August 26, 2008 By Adam Hengels

Ever hear of interesting economic indicators such as the correlation between the economy and length of skirts?  Here's one urbanists should appreciate: the skyscraper index, which shows strong correlation between the completion of world's tallest buildings and downturns in the business cycle.  Mark … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economics Tagged With: Building, business cycles, construction, development, Dubai, Economics, macroeconomics, skyscrapers

Urban[ism] Legend: Gas Taxes and Fees Cover All Costs of Road Use

July 30, 2008 By Adam Hengels

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...]

Filed Under: Economics, infrastructure, Transportation, Urban[ism] Legends Tagged With: automobile, construction, DeLucchi, fuel, gas, infrastructure, mobility, roads, socialism, tax, tolls

Urban[ism] Legend: Zoning Creates Density

June 28, 2008 By Adam Hengels

This post will be the first of many of an ongoing feature at Market Urbanism entitled Urbanism Legends. (a play on the term: "Urban Legends" in case you didn't catch that) In many public forums and in the blogosphere, I consistently encounter myths about land development and Urban Economics. These … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economics, Urban[ism] Legends, zoning Tagged With: Beverly Hills, construction, demand, density, Economics, Free-market, infrastructure, smart growth, urban growth boundaries, Urban Legends, Urbanism, Urban[ism] Legends, William Graham Sumner, zoning

Want Density? Turn the Free Market Loose

June 10, 2008 By Adam Hengels

Matthew Yglesias - What Price Density The solution, as Ryan Avent says, is to build denser communities. We ought to build more transit infrastructure, of course, but it's cheaper to use what we already have more intensively. And, of course, it's more practical to build new infrastructure if there's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economics, housing, Transportation, zoning Tagged With: Building, congestion, construction, density, development, Free-market, housing, infrastructure

Watch as “Expediters” Become Scapegoats of Corruption and Incompetence

May 28, 2008 By Adam Hengels

It's easier to look at the symptom: corruption, than treat the disease: government over-regulation:Chicago Tribune: Role of expediters under scrutiny as federal probe targets City Hall corruptionThe unsung and highly specialized role these private individuals play in the workings of city … [Read more...]

Filed Under: corruption, zoning Tagged With: bribery, bureaucracy, Chicago, construction, corruption, zoning

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